How to Avoid Your Exhibit Being Disqualified (NAS)

NAS, of course, means “Not According to Schedule”. So first - read your schedule. Then, to be on the safe side - read it again and look for any changes since the year before.

The schedule is not concerned with the quality of your exhibits, only what you display and how you display it. Although an exhibit must not be given NAS just because it is grotty, a superb exhibit could be NAS because the exhibitor did not stage it according to the schedule.

What are the most common mistakes?

  1. Staging the wrong number of items. This is surprisingly common! eg.“Tomatoes – 5”must have 5 fruits not 6, nor five trusses and 2 vases, pots or stems does mean 2!
  1. Wrong accessories. This is usually pots, bowls, dishes, vases etc. of the wrong size. These should all be measured at the top across the inside diameter (or widest point if they are not round.) A vase is taller than its width at the top, a bowl is lower. Use of your own vases if the schedule requires society vases will also be NAS.
  1. Not complying with instructions on the size, including height and area, of exhibits (mostly collections or displays) or allowing exhibits to extend beyond the staging - into the foot way.
  1. Staging the wrong thing. Several fairly common mistakes come to mind!
  • Potatoes: the slightest speck of colour on a tuber means it must go in the coloured class but a tuber from a coloured cultivar that is entirely white must go in Succulents: Spiny succulents that are not cactuses often appear in cactus classes. (But cacti can be shown in succulent classes unless excluded.)
  • Dahlias: Flower size (diameter) is crucial. See Cheam schedule, the society has measuring rings. Pick blooms early on the morning of the show and keep them cool until staging. They expand very quickly in warm conditions. (If I pick them the day before, I keep them in the fridge overnight).
  • Tomatoes: Check sizes from “cherry” upwards (see Cheam schedule).
  • Fuchsias: Quarter standards must have a branch free stem of at least 10 inches (254 mm), but no more than 18 inches. Other standards are all taller (See the Fuchsia Society Judges and Exhibitors Handbook).
  • Roses: Hybrid tea roses are now called “Large Flowered” and floribunda and ramblers are “Cluster Flowered”. Where a number of flowers are required a bud with just a whisker of colour showing counts as flower. In a class for a “Three stage” exhibit each stage must be of the same cultivar but they can all be on 1 (or 2) stems.
  • Chrysanthemums: A spray is a single undisbudded stem.
  • Salads and culinary herbs: Judges have varied opinions on what is eligible in both classes. The RHS Handbook (see below) has lists of both – I would stick to plants listed!

  • In classes for pickling shallots every bulb must be 30mm or less in diameter.

The RHS publishes The Horticultural Show Handbook which offers excellent guidance on individual exhibits. You should read it (Cheam has a copy). It is not, however, a set of rules. It simply says what the RHS expects at its own shows. Nonetheless, many, mayhap most, societies (including Cheam) expect horticultural judges to use it as a basis for judging. It also includes lists of what the RHS considers to be flowers, fruits and vegetables (and also herbs and salads). As well as guidance from the RHS, several specialist plant societies publish their own judging criteria. In our schedule classes for cacti and succulents, chrysanthemums, dahlias, fuchsias, roses and vegetables could be affected. The best way to discover the up-to-date requirements is via the society web sites. Cheam expects exhibitors and judges to follow such guides.

Finally, two important notes. First, when planning your entries you should remember that, subject to any details in the schedule, exhibits of fruit or vegetables must not contain more than a single cultivar although exhibits of flowers can do so. Second, “Must” and “Should”. If a schedule says “must”, you must do it! It is compulsory and you have no alternative (except to be NAS). If it says “should” it is advice (advice I would take), but you could use any reasonable alternative.

Richard Bailey