pricking out leeks

[yeti]

helo,me again,whats the best stage to prick out leeks?
thanks again...

[shirlthegirl43]

I have sown mine a pinch per cell in a tray and don't intend pricking out as such. When they get too big for the cells I will plant them on into pots still in clumps and then separate them when they are pencil thickness and being dibbed in.

[zazen999]

Never prick them out - sow a pinch to each module and they will get planted into a corner somewhere soon and go into their final positions after midsummer.

[Snadger]

My leeks I've grown from grass are about pencil thickness now and are hardening off nicely in the cold frame!

[binley100]

My leeks I've grown from grass are about pencil thickness now and are hardening off nicely in the cold frame!

Haven't even sown any yet. I'll have nowhere to put them until i've harvested my earlies.

[Pies]

Haven't even sown any yet. I'll have nowhere to put them until i've harvested my earlies.

Get a nice deep pot and sow them in there,they will be fine for ages

[rustylady]

Haven't sown mine yet either, but hoping to do so tomorrow. They will go into pots (sown more thinly than last year) and left to grow until they're ready for permanent quarters.

[tamsin]

I'm doing mine in a tray, slightly deeper than a standard seed tray, I'm going to try for about 1.5" apart in a grid. That worked quite well last year to get them to pencil sized but I didn't sow them until May so they didn't get much bigger after I planted them out.

[Paulottie]

My leeks I've grown from grass are about pencil thickness now and are hardening off nicely in the cold frame!

Blimey Snadger when did you start?...or what the hell are you growing em in.

left visitor message...basically yeti I don't bother pricking them out often.

[yeti]

im learning all the time,all be it rather slowly..

[Brengirl]

I have never grown them before so try not to laugh at me. What makes them stay white?

[yeti]

helo im new , so i might be corrected,its the white part in the ground that stays white,the more length of leek in the ground the longer the white part.. i think..

[Snadger]

Blimey Snadger when did you start?...or what the hell are you growing em in................

.

October..........potting compost!

[Brengirl]

helo im new , so i might be corrected,its the white part in the ground that stays white,the more length of leek in the ground the longer the white part.. i think..

I'm quite sure you are right there Yeti but you cannot plant them that deep so do you put a collar round and build up like spuds?

[Lovely Helen]

My mum taught me to plant them out like this:

When leeks are a good pencil thickness they are ready to plant out

Put some bone meal down and work into the soil

Dib as deep a hole as you can (hopefully 5-6 inchs)

Trim the roots and top part of your leeks (tromming the roots helps to get them into the hole as well). I trim the roots to about half an inch and take a good couple of inches off the top.

Drop each leek into the hole and water to settle the soil around them - don't push any soil back in just let the water take the soil down.

Since leek moth reached my area last year I will also be covering with enviromesh as they destroyed the crop which was coming along so nicely!