Growing Leeks

[Farmer_Gyles]

My plan has been to dig up the spuds and plant out leeks - all the info I've seen says the leeks should be the thickness of a pencil when I plant them out - and I know about trimming the leeks and dropping them in holes etc

So what I've done is start the leeks in pots - I just chucked a handful of seeds into a pot and left them - this avoids needing an extra seed bed and avoids weeds killing off the leeks (I don't like weeds, don't like weeding)

The leeks are quite tall and straight, just nowhere near pencil thickness - maybe 1.5mm to 2mm thick - and the first spuds (earlies) are being dug up soon - I've got maybe 30 thin leeks per pot

Is starting them in a pot like this a good way of starting them? Will they actually reach pencil thickness? Is it worth planting them out sooner / smaller?

Is there a better way of starting them off??

[Alison]

I tend to start mine in 5" pots - a good pinch of seeds per pot in a cold greenhouse early in the year. When they've come through like a good clump of grass I transplant to some plastic troughs and kind of break the contents of the pot up a bit to spread them out however I also know people who just leave them in pots at this point. They then sit at the bottom of the garden for ages. I've planted my early leeks out which I'll harvest this autumn and they were only a very fine pen thickness but haven't done the main crop ones yet although they are thickening up well.

What variety did you sow and when as this can make a difference.

[milly2306]

well, i'm no expert but i always do my leeks like that and haven't had any problems so far.

[womble]

When I do mine the way I should do them, I like to start them off in those long troughs, plenty of room for the roots and enough space to fit plenty of leeks into them.
What you have to remember at this point, is that the more space they have, the bigger leeks you will have to plant out and my books assure me that the bigger your leeks are when you plant out, the bigger leeks you get when you harvest them. Which I presume is true, I've always forgotten by the time it comes to harvest.

What is true, is that you can't stick a 8" leek seedling into a 9" deep hole, so the taller the leek, the lower you can drop it and the more edible part you get.

Give them more space when sowing and you get bigger seedlings, fact

[rustylady]

My plan has been to dig up the spuds and plant out leeks - go for it, that's what I do.

The leeks are quite tall and straight, just nowhere near pencil thickness - maybe 1.5mm to 2mm thick - and the first spuds (earlies) are being dug up soon - I've got maybe 30 thin leeks per pot

I don't think they will get any thicker in their present pots. I would plant them as they are as soon as you have the space. You know already about making holes and dropping them in - give them a good watering and keep an eye on them for a few weeks to make sure they don't dry out. They should do fine.

[Bountyhunter]

I have planted out leeks again this year as they grew so well before. I planted mine out when they were not much more than grass looking just after the last frosts in May. They have all now been earthed up and look very healthy. I have put some pics in my blog.

[arpoet]

kitchen cupboard leeks

After having the allotment frozen for most of last winter and unable to harvest our leeks we are running an experiment by growing them in old kitchen cupbaords under the apple tree.
They were all sown at different times over 4 months and seem to be doing ok.

Seems to be doing the old bramley apples good too for it is loaded down with good clean fruits.
roger

[Bountyhunter]

Good idea but i would worry that the wood would draw the moisture out of the soil. Have you lined the boxes with anything?

And make sure your apples dont fall on them or all your hard work ruined.

[gojiberry]

The ideal is pencil thickness but mine very rarely get to that size. As soon as you have the space get them planted out and they will soon start growing and putting on some thickness.

Ian

[teakdesk]

There are lots of ways to treat the seedlings. Mine is probably different to many folk on here but it works for me.

I find that they like being disturbed and I first sow them quite thickly into pots. When the stems are like thick grass I transplant them into troughs and boxes with about 3 to 4 inches of compost. I'm quite rough at this stage and don't worry about breaking roots or anything.

I'll leave a couple of inches between each leek and then dump them in a quiet corner and forget them apart from watering.

They soon start growing and thicken up. I've always sown more pots of seedlings than I can use and so have a comparison between those transplanted and those left in pots - the transplants always do much better.

Then I just plant as you suggest.

[arpoet]

yes B/H the cupboards still have the door on the ground side so that lets out the excess rain from this week but stops things growing up into them and easy to water as they are right next to my 250 gallon roof water tank. I will also be putting up a net to catch the apples as the fall once i remove one from the cabbage bed at the bottom of the allotment (everything needs nets as we have 1000s of pigeons that can clear a patch overnight.

[Bountyhunter]

yes B/H the cupboards still have the door on the ground side so that lets out the excess rain from this week but stops things growing up into them and easy to water as they are right next to my 250 gallon roof water tank. I will also be putting up a net to catch the apples as the fall once i remove one from the cabbage bed at the bottom of the allotment (everything needs nets as we have 1000s of pigeons that can clear a patch overnight.

Sounds like a plan. Hand having the water on tap, excuse the pun lol.

I use the swimming pool for handy watering in the summer, can never have too much!

As for the pigeons, i have the same problem but i have an air rifle and if you fire it, not at them, they dont come back all day. Now, when they see me walk into the garden the fly off. They wont come in the garden if they see me in it and they try to sneak in through the trees. They hate me now, perfect

[pjh75]

When I have tried sowing in seedtrays / modules / loo rolls, they never get to pencil thickness. Sowing direct works for me, so that's what I do now and last year my crop was great... although I'm not very good at thinning out so the closely sown ones were smaller than they should have been.

[Farmer_Gyles]

thanks all - sounds like i've done it all ok - will be digging up the spuds soon so will be planting out the leeks