virgin leek transplanter may have come a cropper

[smilingshoe]

Oh dear, have just spent 2 hours transplanting my leek seedlings into a larger container for growing on.

They don't look very happy at all. The seedlings were growing on the windowsill. I have now put them in the unheated conservatory... right move ?

Any other advice very welcome, would hate to have killed them

[dave_norm_smith]

Hi

Most things sulk after being transplanted, I wouldn't worry about it at the moment.

Dave

[Kristen]

I reckon they will be fine. Don't pamper them with heat - unheated conservatory will be fine, then they can go outside once the Spring arrives and plant out when you are ready for them ("Pencil size" is the normal advice, mine rarely get that fat before planting out, and if yours will be planted after New Potatoes they will probably be quite large by then)

However, I think they are rather early - personally we like Leeks in the Winter and I sow later (mid March) so they don't come too early, and I also think that early sowing encourages them to bolt, so you might want to sow some "extras" a bit later on - you could then see which batch perform best and make a note for next year.

[smilingshoe]

Thanks so much, will definitely do another sowing in mid March. I'm quite new to all this and have an allotment to populate, once the raised beds are ready probably around mid March so wanted to get a few things on the go. Will let the leeks "recover" from their trauma and check them again later . Thanks

[zazen999]

You don't have to transplant this early.

Sow into a half size seed tray quite thickly.

When they are a good 4 inches tall, dig a hole in the corner of a bed somewhere, the same size as the seed tray and about 2-3 inches deep.

Life the whole tray full of leeks and roots put of the tray, plonk down in the hole, and let the soil cover up the leeks to ground level.

When you get space in the beds after midsummer, dig out bunches of the leeks, and transplant in their final positions.

You can do this in pots as well; sow, transplant pot by pot, put in final position in the summer.

[Two_Sheds]

transplant pot by pot, put in final position in the summer.

I'm definitely doing leeks that way this year. I hate the faff of digging a hole, trimming the roots, puddling in and then watching the whole lot get infested with maggots (leek moth)

I'm going to have a much smaller leek patch which can easily be covered with netting

[rana]

I've lost the whole crop to leek moth in the past. Now I sow late and bring the leeks on in the greenhouse. They are not planted outside in the veg plot till late September. The resulting leeks are not as fat but there are no losses to leek moth.

[Two_Sheds]

They are not planted outside in the veg plot till late September. The resulting leeks are not as fat

I did that this last growing year - the leeks are intact, and no netting, but are only pencil thickness still

[Alison]

I did that this last growing year - the leeks are intact, and no netting, but are only pencil thickness still

I did that with some last winter, they did start to fatten up a bit as the weather warmed up in the spring and we ate them at market pen thickness before the started to bolt. Very tasty though but I prefer mine thicker and thankfully don't suffer with any nasties on my leeks.

[AmyRose]

Hi All,

First year growing leeks; i like the sound of sowing in pots, moving them into the bed sept

What size pot would you reccomend?

Much appreciated

[Pies]

One of those orange B&Q buckets, ive drilled a few drainage holes in the base.Perfect

[Jono]

I reckon they'll be fine. Mine have done that before and then recovered.

I would definitely recommend another sowing. I don't normally transplant my seedlings until April so that the leeks last until the following spring, so they're available through the months when I don't have much else.

[zazen999]

Hi All,

First year growing leeks; i like the sound of sowing in pots, moving them into the bed sept

What size pot would you reccomend?

Much appreciated

Any...it doesn't matter.

[Two_Sheds]

My leeks are up in a week and looking nice
They'll stay in these modules until May when I'll plant them out, under fleece (we get leek moth here)

[Tom Goode]

I wondered if my leeks were o.k still, they haven`t been moved yet,
they started of fine most germinated but over the last week they don`t seem very happy , they have been kept in my kitchen and the compost has never dried out, i wondered if they could have had to much water ?

They started to wilt last week and they don`t seem to be doing much growing either ..

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_2214.jpg