How long do Leaks take to germinate?

[Nicky]

I planted all the seeds and chucked away the packet by mistake and now I'm left peering into pots every day when I go down the allotment to see if there's any signs of life.....
How long should they take to germinate? They're in an unheated greenhouse.

[Nicos]

Most seeds germinate within about 2 weeks, but your leeks may be slower in an unheated greenhouse.
If you are a bit worried, then why not bring them into your home for a few days to kick start them??
Bit like watching grass grow eh???

[Lesley Jay]

Having a quick look in one of my books it states up to 18 days for leeks to germinate.

[Nicky]

Thanks both for the replys, they've had just over 20 days now so I might try bringing them home for a few days as the nights are still quite cold.
Nicos - you hit the nail on the head there. With it being the first full year I've had the lottie I'm trying so many more things. I do seem to end up spending too much time checking if they're growing

[SunnyD]

Mine only took about a week to germinate (though I did dream that they germinated within a couple of hours - I obviously have veggies on the brain!), but they were on a sunny windowsill (variety = Musselburgh)

I'm still convinced I'm going to accidentally kill them all when it comes to transplanting them though

[bramble]

Hi Sunny D,
Don't worry, they're much stronger than you think. If they look a little droopy for a day or two, don't worry, they'le perk up and be fine.

[wellie]

Leek 'Tornado' pelleted seed, kindly given to me, was sown on 22nd Jan this year. 60 seeds were sown, and from 4th Feb onwards, to date, 49 have successfully germinated and are still growing happily.
I 'missed' keeping an accurate record of the 'Musselburghs' I sowed, but the germination time was very similar, and out of 64 sown, 60 germinated.
Hope this helps in some way....

[SunnyD]

Hi Sunny D,
Don't worry, they're much stronger than you think. If they look a little droopy for a day or two, don't worry, they'le perk up and be fine.

Thanks for the reassurance I'm paranoid about root disturbance

[Hazel at the Hill]

My leeks seeds (thank you Mrs D) only took a week to germinate, but they were sown in new compo in a seed tray and have sat on the cool north facing kitchen windowsill.

[johnty greentoes]

My leeks seeds (thank you Mrs D) only took a week to germinate, but they were sown in new compo in a seed tray and have sat on the cool north facing kitchen windowsill.

Hazel - shall I follow this advice when I sow mine. I have a N facing kitchen window sill.

[Flummery]

Johnty, you're not looking well! Eat more green veg.

[DanielC]

I'm paranoid about root disturbance

I trimmed the roots and tops a little before transplanting last year on advice of neighbour allotmenteer, infact they were his plants... Seemed to do just fine. I see my autumn mamouth packet this year says avoid root disturbance. Anyone know the pros and cons of trimming?

[Alice]

Mine took 2 weeks to germinate Nicky.

[Paulottie]

Trimmed leeks.

Leeks roots will only sprout from the basel plate. ie. if snapped they do not continue to grow from the end...with me??? so, if you snap most of them when digging them out you may as well cut 'em all off to give room for new growth.

It does not seem to make much difference to end product if you trim or not- as they have such a long growing season. The advantage of trimming is if you use the dibber method of transplanting.(make a hole 6" deep and drop the pencil thick leek in- then add a little H2O to settle.) It is much easier to get a trimmed leek into that hole, however, if you trim the roots then it is advisable to trim the leaves as well so they do not lose too much moisture b4 they grow new roots.

A top-tip for planting... line your leeks with the row. That is to say get the leaves to point at 5 past 7 (the row being 1/2 past 6). It looks sharp and you will find it easy to hoe/walk between rows without treading on them.

[ysb33r]

Leeks germinated ...

Just noticed that the leeks (variety Agenta F1) have germinated after 19 days. They were kept in a non-heated mini-greenhouse.