Early & late leeks

[Newbie]

Hello all,

I have bought 2 varieties of Leek seeds this year in an effort to make the most of the entire year & harvest veg all year round - they are Bandit (Late) and Shelton (Early). I am a bit confused however as the sowing times are the same for both - March to April, does the early variety just grow quicker than the late ones?

Same question applied for my Broccolli too actually - Rudolph & Bordeaux.

Sorry for sounding a bit thick,

[Eyren]

Not thick at all - most seed packets aren't hugely helpful and some aren't even accurate! For example they'll tell you you can sow rocket in spring - but the odds are it will bolt. Or they will give the maximum range of dates for the entire UK, leaving it to the hapless grower to decide where in the range their local climate fits.

I've sown my early leeks (Pandora) already, and I'm going to start the late leeks (Bandit) off next week, but really they can both be sown at the same time. I've started mine a bit early because the seed packets were opened last year and I'm not 100% confident about germination rates - this way I still have time to buy replacement seed and sow again in April if they fail!

The late/early distinction seems mainly to do with their frost tolerance, as far as I can make out: late leeks can be left to overwinter (though they won't grow much), whereas early leeks are more frost-tender and need to be harvested sooner.

[Newbie]

Thanks Eyren, i better get sowing then!

[brooklynodog]

I usually grow late leeks as they can be left in the ground all over the winter, but will need eating or pulling before spring warms up and they go to seed

[Eyren]

It did occur to me after writing it that there didn't seem any real reason to sow early leeks, when you could just sow late ones and harvest a few earlier than usual.

Perhaps Sewer Rat or some other leek expert can explain why one would bother with both early and late varieties?