Medwyn Williams advises on swede varieties raising eco-friendly show veg and feeding early-sprouting broccoli
Daphne Woodard, by email
Medwyn says: Eco-friendly means not harmful to the environment and using products that contribute to green living or practices that help conserve resources such as water and energy. To me it’s gardening without the use of man-made chemicals and pesticides.
Many exhibitors, myself included, have used many chemicals in the past. Today there are hardly any pesticides available at garden centres that could be called dangerous, yet we still have to conform to the judging criteria as laid out by the RHS and NVS. In every case the absence of pest and disease damage is quite often mentioned under ‘advice to judges and exhibitors’. To keep the crop clean I now use SB Plant Invigorator, which can keep a host of pests at bay while still being kind to the environment.
I've also been carrying out trials for Canna using Canna Coco Professional, a pure, organic product with a homogeneous structure and has had a full buffering, eliminating the side effects of growing on coir. Our trial on long carrots in 15cm (6in) pipes produced some interesting results. The short carrots also did really well in the same material but in 25 litre pots. They were sown on July 18 and fed throughout with Canna A and B liquid fertilisers. They were harvested mid-October with beautiful smooth skins and good colour and given more time could have been spectacular.
Another eco-friendly method is the use of the Autopot growing system that doesn’t waste any water as it is targeted directly at the root system. This system grew some marvellous leeks for Chelsea in 25-litre pots but there are 10 and 15-litre pots available as well. This system uses a clever valve in the bottom of the pot that doesn’t need any electricity. The valve releases water and nutrients to the
plant as and when the plant requires it from a pre-mixed tank.