Poles Apart 
by Brian Ramsdale, Alan Pugh, Alan Long, Harry Lawson
(Published in NCS Yearbook 1981) 

EDITOR'S Note: It is a generally accepted fact that individual growers have their own methods of cultivation for specific cultivars. We have asked four growers of repute who have won National trophies to give the routines they practice for the following: 'Primrose Chessington', 'Yellow Ginger Nut' and 'Cornish'. How many poles apart are they? 

Around mid-December, stools are brought back into the greenhouse and placed on bottom heat. After a couple of weeks in the greenhouse the stools are given a sprinkle of Temik (taking the necessary precautions with such a dangerous insecticide) this one single application will last until the cuttings are transferred into the cold frames. Allow five to six weeks for cuttings to be in a good vegetative condition before commencing any form of propagation. 

Cuttings are rooted on the open bench in one part John Innes No. 1, one part sand, one part peat, 24 per standard tray. The inclusion of J. Innes No. 1 gives me a little leaway, plus the compost is even more open than a 1-1-1 mix. After three to four weeks the cuttings are re-boxed into 3m, deep plastic trays at one dozen per tray, using John Innes No. 1. 

Towards early March, I like to make a start on planting in the frame. The frame is thoroughly cleaned and 4in. depth of John Innes 1½ is placed in the bottom to bed the cuttings into. No ash or coarse sand is used because my soil (so called) is so free draining it would be an absolute waste of time and effort. The young plants are planted at 6in. spacings all ways, and the frame lights are left closed for a week or so. After this, air is applied very gingerly, usually only a brick is placed under the rear of the light with a smaller aperture at the front. The frame lights are rarely taken off before early May. Oh, one other thing, I am not one who believes in letting plants go for six or eight weeks without water and if I think they need a drink, then they get one. A close watch is kept at all times for "Mr. Greenfly" and the necessary action taken. 

The plot will be dug during early spring and F.Y.M. incorporated. Towards early May a start must be made to create a good tilth and incorporate some sort of base fertiliser. With me this has been in the form of a nitrogen fertiliser, Nitroform, and this is applied at the rate of one ounce per square yard only (none for the pot). The plot is all marked off in one square yards, using numerous garden lines and canes and the fertiliser applied. This may seem a fussy procedure, but how does one know how much a square yard is when working over a fairly large area? It is so easy to over-do it and then there is no way to get the fertiliser back. I hear all too often of growers applying gross amounts; for what, and to what avail? (Fisons and I.C.I. benefit). 

When I am quite satisfied with the tilth a start can be made with planting, I usually commence in mid-May, planting l6in. apart in rows with l5in. between rows then a path of 3Oin. This gives ample room to get among the plants without any fear of damage. Planting is usually a pressured job because we go away at Spring Bank Holiday for a couple of weeks. The wind break netting is secured all round after planting and they are left to their own devices. Upon returning from holiday, I go straight down the garden to see if they have grown, but it takes me a little while to get going again, so if the sun shines I am just as likely to lounge about as do anything. Anyway one job that springs upon us is weeding when just a light hoe through will usually suffice. In mid-June any weeding after this is done by hand. 

Counting down is commenced around mid-June when all chosen breaks are given a cane each, and tied in, using a galvanised wire ring. From mid-July onwards buds will start to appear and disbudding becomes the task, I try to go over all cultivars every two days. Three breaks are carried on both cultivars from mid-June, then down to two's in early August, which I hope adds a little size but keeps form and refinement. 

As colour begins to show bagging must be undertaken and with both cultivars bud bags are used. After five days bud bags are removed from 'Cornish' and a 10in, bag put on, which is left for a further 21 days, then removed. The bloom is now left on the plant for two or three days to allow the lower florets to unfurl. The total number of days from colour show to cutting should be in the region of 28 to 30 days. 'Yellow Ginger Nut', this cultivar is allowed to remain in bud bags for 10 days, then a further 10 days in 10in, bags, after which the 10in, bag is removed and the bloom left to 'develop fully under the covers. 'Yellow Ginger Nut' and its parent require extra care at cutting time. The neck is so thin and sometimes it has a job to support the blooms, but a lot can be done to minimise the fault, using a thin split cane to support the blooms and secured with Twist-its. This is done before any blooms are cut; at all times the blooms must be kept upright. 

When staging the 'Nuts' help is even more useful after removing the canes and staging them. It will help if a horizontal cane is tied across the back, right and left. This will support the blooms to the bitter end. Just before "chucking out" time remove all supports, and good luck. 

P.S.: 'Ginger Nut' and sport are not very partial to Metasystox. The following dates should produce flowers for mid-September shows: 

Rooting & Stopping Time 
'Cornish' Root: Early February Stop: 5th May 
'Yellow Nut' Root: Early February Stop: 10th May 

ALAN PUGH (Caldicot, Gwent)
'Yellow Ginger Nut', 'Primrose Chessington', 'Cornish'-I have grown them-all. However, these days I tend to grow mediums only, so anything I write regarding 'Primrose Chessington' will relate to my cultivation three years ago. 

I take cuttings of 'Primrose Chessington' in mid-January, but with regard to 'Yellow Ginger Nut' and 'Cornish', the cuttings are best taken in the middle of February. The cuttings are inserted into equal parts of loam, peat and sand. When rooted I pot them on into 3finch pots and for this move I use John Innes No. 1. The plants are then transferred to 5-inch pots as they become ready, and this time I use the following formula: 

Seven parts loam, three parts peat and two parts grit. To this mixture I add fertiliser Vitax Q4 (14 ounces to every two bushels). I also add four ounces of Seagold in place of lime. 

I like to firm the beds before planting, then work up a tilth with the dutch hoe and finally add Vitax Q4 as a top dressing, using four ounces to the square yard. I consider that the high potash helps to firm the plant. In addition I give one small feed of Vitax Q4 in mid-June. 

Stopping dates: 'Primrose Chessington', 20th April; 'Cornish', 'Yellow Ginger Nut', mid-May. 

Early in July when the buds are being born and before I can even see them, I give each plant about a pint of Vitafeed S., in order to take them through this period. I have tried doing this at a later stage when I can actually see the bud, but I find that the best results are obtained when I feed earlier. 

When growing 'Primrose Chessington' and 'Yellow Ginger Nut', I bag them as soon as they show colour, dusting the bud with a little Orthocide before the bag is put on. As the blooms develop I puff a little Orthocide dust up into the bag, being very careful as I open the bottom of the bag not to rub the bloom. Both these cultivars have a tendency to "damp" as they develop. 

In my area I have achieved good results with 'Cornish' which grows well in the sandy-type soil of my garden. Once again I bag in the maimer stated, but I find that in respect of 'Cornish' I have to take off the leaf which comes just below the bud in order to place the bag. I am of the opinion, however, that when the blooms are staged they look better without this particular leaf sticking up against the florets. 

ALAN LONG (Paulton, Bristol) 
The most important part of the season in my book is stock selection. Having marked the plant or plants which produce the best blooms, I am satisfied that the material from them will be the best for the following season. The stools are lifted and washed in cold water, dried off and boxed up in equal parts loam, peat and grit. The stools having a fairly dormant period for approximately seven weeks, which brings me to the 20th December and are then transferred from the cold frame into the staging in the greenhouse where a fan heater keeps a minimum temperature of 45 deg. F., and given a good watering to induce new growth. 

I expect to take the first batch of 'Yellow Ginger Nut' during the first week of February, followed by first batch of 'Cornish' during the second week and thereafter batches at ten day intervals I continue to take cuttings until I have 36 of each cultivar which I intend to grow for show purposes. 

The rooting medium I have been using is Levington Universal and after rooting they are moved on into a compost consisting of equal parts sterilised loam, sieved peat and cornish grit. By mid-March they are transferred into the cold frame and here I prepare a bed 4in. deep containing a mixture of seven parts chopped loam, three parts coarse peat and one and a half parts grit, and no fertiliser. The plants are spaced 5in. by Sin, and left to grow on in the frame until the 10th May when, weather permitting, they are moved into the growing plot. 

The plot is rough in the Autumn when a good layer of farmyard manure is incorporated into the top spit and then left to weather during the winter. In the spring it is rotovated before having a top dressing of 4 ounces to the square yard of Bentleys or Eclipse Fish. However, last year this was changed to l~ ounces to the square yard of Nitroform as a test had shown the plot to be high in phosphates and potash. 

When planting out is complete, it is time to stop the second batch of cuttings of both 'Yellow Ginger Nut' and 'Cornish', the first batch having received their stop (which is just the smallest tip) whilst in the frame on the 5th May. Second batch stopped on 15th May and third batch on the 25th May. 

When the breaks are about 9in. long, I count them down, leaving four to each plant which will eventually be selected to three. With 'Cornish' it is a case of obtaining three if I can as I find it very shy of producing breaks and I often have to be content with only two. 

I look for buds on both cultivars about the 15th July for the first batch. These will be secured as soon as the side shoots can be removed safely without damage to the bud. Once all the side shoots are off, each plant will receive a small pinch of sulphate of ammonia to encourage bud swell. Should the weather turn hot, all plants will have an overhead spraying, relying very much upon the co-operation of my wife. 

Throughout the season every care is taken to keep pests under control, using both insecticides and fungicides. As the buds develop a constant check is made for any form of damage, particularly the cocking of heads, although the two cultivars under review are not so prone to this problem. As the calyx split, 1 commence applying bud bags to all the light coloured cultivars. When the buds of 'Cornish' fill the small bag it is removed to allow the bloom to finish without any further bagging. I just keep a check on the lower florets as it is sometimes necessary to remove the top leaves which are often too close to the florets. With 'Yellow Ginger Nut' when the bud bag is full it is removed and replaced by a lOin, by lOin. bag for another fourteen days, otherwise I find that on cold nights the lower florets will tend to drop and turn sideways and distort the form of the bloom. However, during a hot season this does not occur. This would indicate that 'Yellow Ginger Nut' prefers to be grown in a warm area, whereas 'Cornish' produces better form in the north. 

HARRY LAWSON (Hartlepool)  'Chessington' and sports Stopping dates: 15th to 25th March  'Ginger Nut' and sport Stopping dates: 10th to 20th April  'Cornish' Stopping dates: 12th to 20th April  Rooted in early January, one part turf (mole hills riddled), one part peat, one part coarse sand. No fertiliser. This applies to all my cuttings. When rooted in 14-21 days normally, they are transferred into 3finch square plastic pots using a mixture of seven parts turf, three parts peat, two parts coarse sand, 2 ounces Superphosphate to the bushel. No watering direct to plants, only overhead spray. Insecticide used: Pirimor and BHC at quarter strength.

Planted into ash base beds which consist of eight parts top soil or turf if available, three parts peat, two parts coarse sand, 2 ounces Eclipse Fish fertiliser to each bushel. Well watered in and no more water until two days before planting out. Planted into ash base 20th to 31st March. Planting distances in frame Sin, each way. Planted out into open land 15th to 31st May. Growing bed prepared in November and plenty of farmyard manure dug in. 20th to 30th April, 2 ounces of Eclipse to square yard and rotovated in. Planting distances lSin. all ways and allowing 3Oin. for pathways. Four rows of plants so one can manage two rows each side of pathways. Temik applied around plants at the end of May and July. Liquid feed consists of Bio 2-0-1 and 1-0-2. These packs can be purchased from Boots Farm Sales and are good value for money. Each packet contains one kilo, which in turn makes two gallons of solution. I use 1 ounce of solution to two gallons of water, approximately 1-320. Cost per kilo packet approximately £1 60. 

You will notice there are no phosphates contained in 2-0-1 and 1-0-2. If you wish to use phosphate content they make One's and this is slightly more expensive. 

During mid-June, I use 2-0-1 every ten days at 1-320 solution. if you wish you can put it in your spray as it does not harm the foliage. It is compatible with Malathion, Pirimor, BHC, Ambush, Parthion, Combinex and Volk. I also used Vita-Feed 1-0-3 and 3-0-1 last year to be honest there was no noticeable difference. Vita-Feed is compatible with the above insecticides. 

During July, I spray with Combinex which contains DDT and Thiram. This takes care of all the biting insects (Codling moth, caterpillar and capsid bug). Once the buds are secured and starting to swell, I change to 1-0-2, using 2 ounces of solution to two gallons of water, equal to 1-160, every ten days until colour show, then stop feeding. 

Before I use my bud bags, I give them a dusting of Doff, which contains Fentrothian, using my Kyoritsu midget dusting machine. I bought this in 1969 and it cost £4 and is one of the best buys I have ever made. I keep overhead covers off for as long as possible. My covers are PVC sheets. 

I started an experiment a number of years ago regarding bloom feeding. I found that providing the plant is in the right condition, it will accept feed once two-thirds out. It does not work very well with incurveds and I should say that 'Chessington' and sport, and 'Ginger Nut' and sport will accept. I would be very cautious about 'Cornish'. 

'Chessington' and sports and 'Ginger Nut' and sport would be included in my "bankers". 'Cornish' I would class as good, but not a banker, as I find that it is inclined to damp. All produce good sized blooms and are ideal for large and small growers alike. 

I have had 'Chessington' in my nine large at Harrogate for the last four years and it has never let me down. I had it in my nine Large in 1976, six Large in 1977, 1978 and 1979 in London, and in Jack Oldham Trophy in 1980 with its 'Primrose' sport. I had 'Ginger Nut' and 'Yellow Ginger Nut' in my nine medium in 1978 and 1979. 'Ginger Nut' in the six medium in London in 1976, 'Yellow Ginger Nut' in the Jack Oldham Trophy in 1980. I had it in my six at Harrogate in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979, also in nine mediums with 'Yellow Ginger Nut' in 1980. So I would say they are very consistent. 

With regard to faults, and I am now being very critical. 'Chessington' and sports are very tall growers-dwarfing agent required and they need an early stop. Foliage develops badly and then grows out of it. 'Ginger Nut' and sport-foliage becomes pitted; very thin necks needing dwarfing agent. These finish well when bagged and as with me the birds love to nest on top of them, I find bags most useful. 

'Cornish'-ideal height and strong grower when flower is on song-it looks majestic. I had this one in my 1978 nine vases of mediums and it was right on song!

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