[DD.]

I gave logical reasons on a previous post of mine.

We go through this every year, nothing is ever concluded.

I'll sit back and wait for next year's thread. 

[Beetroot Queen]

Nope but i do think I might let Florence do it she needs some scissors practise.  maybe not then.

I just let mine be as nature intended.

[rubberfrog]

Does anyone trim the top their leeks, when they are still in the cat litter trays.  The same as giving the onions a quick trim when small???

RF

[DD.]

I just let mine be as nature intended.

If we let be as nature intended, leeks would still be grown in Egypt, and spuds and tomatoes would still be in the South Americas. 

In fact, there's very little about what we grow that's as nature intended. It simply shouldn't be here by that maxim!

[andy dewar]

I was always advised to trim one third of tops and trim roots to one inch and it works ok for me

[Benandbill]

Thank you everyone, so it seems there are some good reasons to do it but also if don't it probably won't matter.  One thing I will research a bit more though is how deep to plant them as last year was the first time I grew them but the white was very short.  I reckon I might drop hem in a bit deeper 

[JohnB47]

I don't snip when planting but I do know that leeks regrow extremely quickly when cropped. I discovered this when I accidently chopped off all of the top growth of a leek when hoeing. The leaves grew back again to full height in only  a few days.

So my view is - it doesn't matter if you snip or not.

But why not snip half of your crop and compare to the other half, then you'll know the answer  and you can tell us ?

[BussinSpain]

I always top n ' tail my leaks.  It makes it easier to drop them into the holes   And they look like little soldiers all lined up on parade once planted

[JayG]

Only started growing leeks about 5 years ago, so was able to participate in the forum merriment about whether they had achieved 'biro refill' or pencil thickness at planting out time. 

Needless to say mine were the former rather than the latter and if I'd trimmed anything off the leaves I felt there was a risk I'd never see them again after dropping them into their holes! 

Bit better at getting them to pencil thickness now, but it does seem a little counter-intuitive to lop off even part of their food-manufacturing apparatus, so I don't, although I do sometimes trim a bit off the roots if they are too long to easily feed into the hole.

Seems it doesn't make that much difference either way, so we're ALL right for once (or leeks are an exceptionally forgiving crop!)