[Kleftiwallah]

Good afternoon everyone, 
I finally got round to digging up the remaining leeks and I'm not impressed.  I tried blanching them with kitchen paper rolls but the outer leaves were a tad slimy.
 
Any ideas as to what to use next year?  I did think about lengths of plastic pipe (slightly larger than cardboard  tube)  but worried about moisture build up and the same effect on the leeks.  Any ideas from the leek growers on site,  what do the monster leek growers use? 

Cheers,  Tony.

[Mr Dog]

Plant 'em deep or earth up.
Could do something like this

[Alank]

I tend to just earth them up I have wrapped them in the past but if whatever you use as the wrap gets wet your leeks will begin to rot.

[Growster...]

Just dibble a hole around eight inches deep, drop the leek seedling in after trimming the long roots to about two or three inches, make sure it has reached the bottom, then just water then in!

The elements will fill the hole covering the roots pretty soon, and there you have it!

[Kleftiwallah]

Plant 'em deep or earth up.
Could do something like this

Now that looks very interesting,  I may start stockpiling 4 pint milk cartons and just have to wash soil out from between the leaves.  Many thanks for that info Mr Dog.

[Learnerlady]

I've not been very successful with the deep hole and letting the soil fall in naturally so will be trying small sections of rainwater pipes which I had better results with years ago.....different site so who knows how they will fair.
TBH seedlings never seem to get to the "pencil thickness" recommended, always planting long thin seedlings??

[Kleftiwallah]

Good morning Learnerlady, could you tell the assembled throng how you use drain pipes, do you sink them in the ground around the baby plants do you fill them with soil as the plants grow and how do you stop them falling over in s breeze?

I feel we need to know!   :DCheers,  Tony

[Learnerlady]

Hi Tony

plan on using approx 12 inch lengths of pipe, use dibber and drop in the seedling,I don't cut the roots unless very long and water. When they look to have taken I'll push the pipe in a few inches and firm around the outside of the pipe. Our ground is a bit heavy and not anticipating them blowing over, and will also be netting them.
Not looking for show standards, just an improvement on what I'm getting.
Of course I'm talking about 10years plus since using this technique and it may be a case of everything used to be better in the old days 

[Goosegirl]

If using piping on less heavy soil you could always shove a small garden cane or similar at one side of the pipe inside it to stop it blowing over.

[8doubles]

Looks like a poly tunnel is a big help !

[Snow]

I realised a few years ago that I preferred the taste of the green bit to the white bit, so now never earth up and don't plant deep. Makes getting them out a bit easier too

[Goosegirl]

Last year my OH told me not to just plant the leeks in the dibbed hole but to fill the hole with soil afterwards.
Not sure if it made any difference. Wondering why you let the rain wash the soil in because, whichever way you do it, you're going to get a bit of soil between the leaves.

[Kleftiwallah]

When I plant leeks I water them in causing the soil to fill up the holes and don't wait for the rain.   ;)Cheers,  Tony.

[8doubles]

When I plant leeks I water them in causing the soil to fill up the holes and don't wait for the rain.   ;)Cheers,  Tony.

Yep, water the side of the hole so it collapses in .
If you water actually into the hole you can float the leek out .

[Subversive_plot]

It has been many years since I've grown leeks, but what I did was dig a narrow trench about a foot deep, with the excavated soil piled on each side.  I planted leek seedlings in the base of the trench, and pulled soil into the trench gradually as the seedlings grew.  That seemed to work well.