Medwyn Williams brightens things up for his leeks and onions
It’s time to brighten things up for leeks and onions to get them ready for Chelsea in May
Irecently had an email from the RHS show team saying they’re looking ahead with genuine positivity that the Chelsea Flower Show, and others, will go ahead next year. I can only hope they’re right as all us exhibitors need these shows as much as the RHS does! I’m now committed once again to compete at the most prestigious flower event on earth, and I really hope that the show will go on!
I’ve already got the leeks and onions potted up and they’ll be moving into 25 litre Autopots in the next few weeks. Both leeks and onions are potted up into Canna Coco Professional with 60cm (2ft) canes and supporting plant support clips to keep them as upright as possible. I’ve collared the leeks with black builder’s damp course material rolled up to be 30cm (1ft) in height. The idea being is to get the ‘Tryfan’ leek to pull early enough while at the same time putting the girth on.
I turned on the heating in the greenhouse in early October. The problem I have is the battle against nature in my attempt to get August-quality leeks and onions ready for the middle of May. They’ll need artificial lights to keep them growing to their optimum. Looking at the average hours of daylight in Britain, it varies from eight hours in
January to 16 hours in August. I do my calculations and it’s obvious looking at the figures that I’m going to lose the battle against nature unless I take action, as the daylight hours from now on only diminish. I couldn’t, therefore, leave them any longer without giving extra light. So I switched the lamps on in early October at 14 hours of daylight and these will be kept on until midApril, when they’ll be switched off as natural daylight at that point will be approaching 14 hours.
I have two Horizon Maxigrow lamps installed inside a BudBox grow tent which has been erected on one of my benches. The lights will come on at 7am until 9pm. When the plants get too big for the BudBox, they’ll move to the benches to make way for more seedlings.
■ Why not follow me on Twitter throughout the season as I grow vegetables for show displays – @medwynsofangles.