Leek seed germination.

[Penellype]

I grow 3 sorts - Musselburgh which are the old reliable variety, although with slightly tougher leaves than some of the newer ones, Albana (Autumn Giant 3) which seems to self-blanch the stems, and Oarsman, which is an expensive F1 hybrid that is supposed to be rust tolerant, but gets rust anyway. I won't be growing Oarsman again once I have finished the seeds.

I always find leeks slow to germinate and the earlier I sow them the worse it seems to be. Early sowings also seem to bolt in summer, so I tend to leave my main sowing until late March or early April.

[Kristen]

Have you started yours yet, Kristen?

Not quite. My schedule's sowing date for Leeks is 15-March.

[Thelma Sanders]

I just sowed Neptune leeks today, they're in the cold greenhouse - so fingers crossed

They're also supposed to be rust resistant, we'll see.

[rustylady]

I ordered them off amazon only this year. Can't remember what kind they are either. They have been on my window cill since the start of February, but still absolutely nothing. Looks like they are knackered. Bloody rip off haha!

Top tip - don't buy seeds from Amazon. Go to a shop or garden centre and make sure the seeds are well within their sow-by date.

[Kristen]

Top tip - don't buy seeds from Amazon

Hmmm ... not sure about that tip.

Amazon themselves sell both Suttons and Mr Forthergills. Premier Seeds and Just Seeds have Marketplace stores on Amazon. All well respected (and DEFRA certified/whatever)

I expect there are some box-shifters on Amazon Marketplace too.

I've had seeds from T&M, direct, which never germinated ... I don't think that germination failure of one packet should count against the supplier (although I would expect them to refund / replace them) - that's bound to happen for one reason or another.

There again my local garden centre is a tin warehouse, gets very hot in summer and freezing cold in winter - until they fire up the heating in the morning. I would think its not a good environment for seeds to be stored.

[Penellype]

I agree about local garden centres - I do try to support mine whenever possible, but the whole place is a large greenhouse and gets incredibly hot in the summer. I've given up buying seed from there, although I will happliy buy onion sets and seed potatoes in the spring before the temperatures rise, because I know they are fresh into stock and haven't had time to spoil.

[Kristen]

Tangential point is that many of the Big Name seed companies ship seed potatoes regardless of the weather, so they may well (in a cold snap) get frosted en route to the customer. Small special companies (JBA certainly do) suspend shipment during cold snaps.

I suppose seed could be subjected to sub-zero temperatures in the post if sent at the wrong time. Not a problem for vegetable seeds I expect, but I have plenty of [ornamental] exotics that I grow from seed, which the Big Names sell, which might well not be so happy.

Perhaps I should make a concerted effort to buy my seed in late Autumn and make sure its stored how I want it to be ... can't believe I'll ever be that organised though!

[spamvindaloo]

Never grown leeks before (never had an allotment before) so don't know what time frame is normal but I bought some Musselburgh seeds from premier seeds this year, sowed them Tuesday this week and they've started coming through this morning.

Bought some root trainers (somebody on here mentioned using them for leeks) and sowed in those.

[Kristen]

I think the need growing in a "Nursery bed" at 1/2" to 1" spacing sot hey are not crowded and can fatten up then around June they are planted out by "dibbing" holes and dropping a leek plant in each one (soil removed so the roots go down the hole OK) and then water the hole (which washes some soil in and down onto the roots, don't actually backfill the hole).

In olden times a "Nursery bed" was just a corner of the plot, probably the bit with the finest soil. Nowadays I use a polystyrene box from the fishmonger and I painstakingly sow the seeds 1/2" apart and then just water and occasionally feed them until I'm ready to plant in June.

No need to grow individual plants (e.g. in root trainers), however they do need some space, sot hey are not crowded, otherwise they won't fatten up and they'll be too short for deep dibber holes (in which case you won't get much white / blanched stem when you harvest them) so I am doubting that, for example, several seedlings per root trainer will work.

[spamvindaloo]

I am doubting that, for example, several seedlings per root trainer will work.

I sowed three seeds per cell with the hope of 2 germinating (or being thinned to 2 if they all germinate). That's 40 cells x 2 and I don't eat a huge number of leeks so it will suit me but might not be suitable for somebody who eats a lot of leeks.

[Kristen]

I think the format of root trainers is not ideal for raising Leek transplants. They need some depth (more than a seed tray, which they get in my Fish boxes) but root trainers are (I thought?) designed so that deep roots are encouraged and the things then planted out whole? That's not how transplanting Leeks works - they need all the soil removed to get the plant into the hole (or a very deep hole to plant them in sufficient for the rootball AND the full depth of the blanched shaft ... and would need only one plant per cell, otherwise separating them is going to break up the roots anyway)

Olden times the Roots & Shoots were always trimmed. Side-by-side research has shown it makes no difference (I only trim roots if I cannot get them roots down the hole, and leaves if they flop to touch the ground which might transfer fungal infections), so root disturbance on planting is not something that needs care.

[Scoot]

Well I have ordered some more leek seed. The Musselburgh ones.

I shall be planting them exactly the same way as in this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Iyd5TWkYY

[Penellype]

Mmm, impressive leeks there! Makes mine look completely pathetic.

[Scoot]

Mmm, impressive leeks there! Makes mine look completely pathetic.

That's what I thought, they look great. It's my first year of growing Leeks and once this new seed arrives, this is certainly the way I shall be growing them.

[Kristen]

Lots of ways of growing things, and disagreement amongst gardeners of course

So with that said I wouldn't grow mine the way the YouTube video shows:

Have to grow a single row to have enough soil to earth up. Appears to need a lot of space / width for that reason.

Sowing in modules means they have to be planted out "soon" so can't plant them deep as the plants are too small. That in turn leads to them needing earthing up.

Earthing up will introduce soil into the leaf joints (unless you are very careful, as mentioned in the video) which will make them gritty to eat

The ones harvested had just a couple of inches of white blanched shaft. Far too little for me ... I dibber mine in, as deep as I can make the holes, here's what they look like when harvested - lovely and sweet blanched shaft



Here's the fishmonger's tray that I (painstakingly) sow the seeds in 1/2" apart