Page 57 - Simply Vegetables Spring 2024

are re-potted into 2 litre pots in March and placed in a cold frame. The remainder of his cuttings are treated similarly in April with the aim of planting out all pots of plants into their final positions in May.
His final growing beds are rotavated and undergo a soil analysis. He aims for a pH value of about 7, a phosphorous value of 150 ppm, a potash value of 250 ppm and adds sufficient nitrogen to make up for the losses sustained by natural leaching over winter. It is important to provide shading from the sun and protection from heavy rain in order to prevent colour bleaching and physical damage. He liquid feeds his rooted cuttings with Chempak 2 and reckons that they will grow an inch a day during June. Chrysanthemums only flower during the period of shortening day length which, depending upon variety, typically occurs between end-August and early December.
Protection of the blooms using flower bags is vital for show purposes since they are judged principally on the qualities of form, size and freshness. He uses electric fans to provide necessary cooling and air circulation during hot days which he claims produces better flower form.
John claims that it takes from 4 to 5 weeks for a coloured flower bud to produce a fully-formed bloom for showing and, before bagging, he will batch mark those stems showing equal amounts of bud colour with the same colour of tape in order to assist his selection of potentially- matching blooms required for each intended show date. Before bagging, he will spray the flower buds with Dynamec to deter thrip attack but always chooses a dry
John Peace, Champion Chrysanthemum Grower
sunny day for this particular task. The principal pests and diseases
affecting chrysanthemums are white rust (he uses Signum), thrips (he uses Overture) and red spider mite (he uses Dynamec). His full chemical armoury also includes Decis, Admire and Conserve.
John offers a range of chrysanthemum cuttings for sale and details are on his website johnpeacechrysanthemums.co.uk
At the time of writing, we are planning to hold our AGM at the end of January. To encourage more people to attend, we are also providing a finger buffet followed by a light-hearted talk to be given by our Treasurer.
For those able and willing to participate, the NVS Zoom presentations over the winter period have continued to prove
informative and popular. The technology may have proved a challenge for some but once mastered, Zoom meetings clearly increase the opportunities for our members, as well as potential NVS members to participate and access information directly from nationally-important speakers from the comfort of their own homes.
Reports on our Spring events will feature in the next edition of Simply Vegetables but, in the meantime, our programme of planned events and current news can be seen on our website http://nvseyda.uk
and dedicated Facebook page National Vegetable Society - East Yorkshire D.A.. Our continued aim is to provide a variety of interesting topics and events throughout the year that will appeal to our existing members, as well as attract new ones.
Dr Peter Williams, former University lecturer/ scientist and local gardening expert
Steve Ryan winning the 3 Plates of different Potatoes
West Yorkshire DA
The West Yorkshire DA are back up and running with talks being held a in February at Mirfield where John Smiles gave a talk.
In April we had a talk by 4 times National Dahlia Champion grower Ian Sutherland at Keighley in association with Keighley Horticultural Society.
In June we have Fiona Farrar giving
a talk on from allotment to showing. This will be Fiona’s first talk ever; she regularly shows at the Northern Branch Championship and is always in the cards. Her talk will be on Tuesday 11th June at 8pm at the Lancastrian School Room LS12 5HY.
Adjacent are some photos of our DA Show held last year which will more
West Yorkshire DA Newby Hall
than likely be the last one we will hold at Paxton Hall in Leeds as the building is up for sale. Also, a photo of our Silver Gilt Stand at Newby Hall where we went one better than in 2022. A big thank you to committee members who helped set up the stand and grew produce and a big shout out to Steve Bundy and Peter Ridsdale for helping out as well.
Steve Bundy winning with 9 Cherry Tomatoes
John Smiles winning collection at our DA Show
The current DA Committee; Top Left; John Goodall (Chairman), Top Right: Mick Shipley (Show Secretary, Public Relations & Communications, S.V. Reports), Above: John Croot (Treasurer) and Geoff Butterworth (Secretary).
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