Leek shaving

[binley100]

Can someone please give me an idiots guide to leek shaving? I have some leeks about to flower and I've read about leek grass but when you say about shaving them , exactly how do you do it . (p'haps I'm being a bit thick here but I'm sure it's not with the OH's razor)

[chris]

I think I read zaz or snadger say you cut the flowers off once they're open with a pair of scissors.. causing the plant to react by chucking up the leek grass instead!

[binley100]

then I'm guessing you plant the head ............

Fankooo Mr Mod (when did that happen?)

[rustylady]

Come in Zaz or Snadger, please

[chris]

Yeah, I think zaz planted the whole head? Or you can pull them off when they're large enough i'm doing it on a leek I've found at the back of my allotment, jsut to see how it works.

Edit: dunno, a couple of a weeks ago I think - had a pm asking.. took about a week of negotiations to ensure I'd be able to give up working and live off what they pay, then took the job!

[chris]

These may help: http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ons_44481.html

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ads_38449.html

[Snadger]

Well, first of all you need to work up a good lather then get cracking with the cut throat...............

I would suggest that if you are only doing it for an experiment you only cut the flowers off half the leek. This way, if it doesn't start to form vegetative reproduction in the form of small bulbils with green 'grass' growing from them at least you will still get some seed.
And NO, you don't plant the whole head. After shaving, the grass will hopefully grow and you can seperate each pip/pod/grass with its first cotyleydons from the head quite easily. If you're lucky you may get a couple of roots to start you off as ultimately the leek will shed its prodigy very easily.
Discard any grass with brown at the basal plate as this will cause the leek to rot at a later stage.
Simply plant the bulbil/grass into a seed tray and transplant into the ground when it has established a decent root system.
You should get hundreds from a single leek head. They will have the exact characteristics of the parent (clones) where as the seed will give varied results.
You can only do this for a few years as you start to get reversion problems, so every 2 or 3 years its best to revert to seed!

[binley100]

Fankoo Snadge ......I have a couple of leeks that will be flowering so I'll give it a go with one and save seed from t'other these were in a different part of the lottie to those that I lost and weren't touched by the leaf miner so am kinda hoping that the annoying little b.....does not like blue de solaise leeks

[zazen999]

If it's any help - my leeks from shaved heads have all bolted this week.

Bummocks.

[binley100]

Nope that doesn't help at all ........... apart from the fact that it makes me feel better that someone who knows what they're doing has problems too

[Snadger]

If it's any help - my leeks from shaved heads have all bolted this week.

Bummocks.

If you take 'grass' from leeks that have bolted prematurely you're bound to get leeks which bolt prematurely!

Pick your best leeks which have lasted at least 18 month without bolting and you should get leeks which do likewise!

[zazen999]

If you take 'grass' from leeks that have bolted prematurely you're bound to get leeks which bolt prematurely!

Pick your best leeks which have lasted at least 18 month without bolting and you should get leeks which do likewise!

The leeks were ones selected as they flowered last, and I've had seed from them for 2 years now [just flowering in their 3rd year].....

[Snadger]

Getting useable leeks throught to June from the previous year can't be bad , can it!

[Aberdeenplotter]

If a leek has bolted, the probability is that it has been stressed in some way, perhaps by exposure to extremes of temperature or a shortage of water, it therefore isn't necesarily true that the progeny of the leek which has bolted will also bolt. The idea is that you have vegetative reproduction, which as already has been said means you get an exact clone of the parent plant, which is the outcome of vegetative reproduction. I can't see where reversion would come in in that process, that is more likely to happen if reproducing from seed. John Soulsby, one of the premier leek growers in the North of England(and who has produced dvd's on growing both pot and blanch leeks) submerses his leek head in a 20:1 solution of domestos and water for a couple of days. That not only kills any pathogens present but also encourages the grass to form nice clean white roots and the grass then separates nice and easily from the leek head. The process is used by leek exhibitors as uniformity is one of the criteria on which they are judged. For kitchen use where uniformity isn't so important, there is no real advantage over growing from seed.

[Snadger]

If the leek has bolted early and for no known reason, I certainly wouldn't use it for propagation.

I would also think that a clone of a clone of a clone of a clone will pick up virus (reversion) along the way and you would get diminished returns.

As far as I know, virus isn't carried in the seed so by growing from seed now and again you would get progeny very similar to, but not exactly the same as the parent strain.

A friend who has the world record for blanched leeks and wins most of the pot leek shows locally also recommends puttting the leek stalk in a bottle of weak Milton sterilising solution.

To me its just a bit of experimentation, a bit of fun, and now and again I might get a leek pudding out of it!