Leeks in Trenches

[the beadle]

Old Bill the 89 year old whose plot is next to mine told me to dig a trench, then put my dibber in six inches deep and drop the leeks into the holes and as they grow backfill the trench. Lovely long white shanks, thanks Bill. There's also another Bill called Young Bill two plots down, he's only 87 and has had the same plot for 66 years and what these guys can't grow has not been invented yet

[Nicos]

I've never heard of making trenches first. clearly he gets good results!
Thanks for sharing that with us!.

[Aberdeenplotter]

I've never heard of making trenches first. clearly he gets good results!
Thanks for sharing that with us!.

Leeks are gross feeders and a good deep trench filled with FYM or home made compost will more than sustain them and will also help keep their feet moist which they also appreciate.

We see lots of folks on here complain that their leeks don't grow beyond the pencil stage and there is maybe a lesson here for them.

I remember when I wasn't one of the old guys down the plots

[Penellype]

I'm one of the strugglers when it comes to leeks, but I don't have room for trenches. However, I had already decided that one of the issues might be water as I tend to grow my leeks in pots at least for the first half of their lives, so I was considering trying them in a self watering pot next year. Earthing them up also sounds an interesting idea.

[astraman1]

i usually start mine off in a 1l icecream tub nice and deep plant out at pencil thickness but i dib a hole about 8 - 10 " deepand drop them in and water in we got attacked bu allium leaf miner this year tho

[fishpond]

Young Bill has had his plot since 1949, amazing.
I know people that have lost the plot and they are not that young.
I will try trenching some leeks next year, sounds interesting.

[alldigging]

Can you ask Bill if you can take photos of his plot to share with us here?
Would love to see that.

[Penellype]

i usually start mine off in a 1l icecream tub nice and deep plant out at pencil thickness but i dib a hole about 8 - 10 " deepand drop them in and water in we got attacked bu allium leaf miner this year tho

Mine don't get to pencil thickness...

[lottie dolly]

Now that is something else to write down in my book to try,the ground maybe would not be so compacted,thus easier to get them up

[BUFFS]

Young Bill has had his plot since 1949, amazing.
I know people that have lost the plot and they are not that young.
I will try trenching some leeks next year, sounds interesting.

so has young bill thought about becoming a regular down the plots then?

[Chippy Minton]

Mine don't get to pencil thickness...

I bought thinner pencils to make me feel better

Mine never get anywhere near pencils, but this year, possibly as I got them in the ground earlier, possibly because of the mild weather they actually look like leeks now. Some are even worth cropping Whoo hoo

[ESBkevin]

We did the dropped in the dibed hole and watered in approach this year and the results are much better if not quite show standard. Soil was well fed with organic matter and crumbled nicely. I should have added more FYM but didn't have any then. We did also put seed directly in the bottom of a trench but ended up transplanting them all into holes in the bed beside.
I'm wondering if the Huglekultur bed idea might work for big feeders like Leeks, probably not in year one. I'm sure I could lay my hands on a bit of rotting forest debris and leaves.

[Scoot]

My leeks don't quite get to pencil thickness before i transplant them and they done ok. When i do transplant them though, i drop them into dibber holes about 6 inches deep and water. As they grow i keep a load of toilet roll middles and cut them from top to bottom and then wrap them around the leek so no light can get in and masking tape it shut. By the time the toilet roll middle is all wet, the leek has grew enough to do it again with another toilet roll middle which this time isn't as tight around the leek. This seems to keep the light out quite well and i had very well blanched leeks this year by doing this. I literally keep loads of toilet roll middles as they always come in handy.

[Snadger]

I imagine you could only do this if the ground had been double dug and mucked. If not, the roots would be in the subsoil which has less nutrients and is usually quite compacted.
That is why in the North East the leek trench is formed above ground with various surrounds (tin sheeting, bricks,breeze blocks etc) and filled with FYM and topsoil , so that their is a good 18 inches to 2 foot of good growing material.

Or so i'm told!

[Mr Bones]

For some years I've made trenches with earthed up sides (about 8 inches top to bottom), trod down the base of the trench then dibbered and planted. Over the following months through the actions of weeding and weather the trench fills in until the leeks are nicely blanched and ready. Sadly though, yesterday I dug up and binned all 300 leeks, spoilt by the allium leaf miner.