[thestens]

I am aiming for an early crop of leeks . I also want a large crop so will plant a lot. Am I right I can start them in Jan in deep tubs in a cool greenhouse for planting out later ?

[Kristen]

I sow mine in polystyrene fish boxes (I suppose about 4" - 6" depth of compost).  I "painstakingly" sow the seeds individually on a grid pattern 1/2" apart, so each seedling has enough room to grow. I find that I fairly easily get "pencil thickness" by the time I plant them out.

I don't start especially early as I think that might encourage more to bolt, however we consider Leeks to be a winter vegetable, so we don't harvest any early and as such if you want an earlier crop you might need to start earlier.  Perhaps also use an early maturing variety (along with a later / main crop one too perhaps?)

[surbie100]

I can recommend Zermatt as a speedy-leek. Great strong flavour too. Am not sure how they would do as earlies, but I'm going to give it a go for a few too.

[BabbyAnn]

You could try growing an early maturing leek such as

King Richard http://www.thompson-morgan.com/vegetables/vegetable-seeds/onion-and-leek-seeds/leek-kong-richard/921TM

or Pandora http://www.thompson-morgan.com/vegetables/vegetable-seeds/onion-and-leek-seeds/leek-pandora-duchy-originals-organic-seeds/gwd0900TM (also http://organiccatalogue.com/product_info.php?products_id=2116)   

Personally I haven't tried either so wouldn't know how well they grow, sorry but worth trying

[beesrus]

I grow early leeks down here, and deep containers like ice cream tubs are perfect. Once they've germinated early January in a propagator and grown a bit, mine go out to the cold greenhouse, and under secondary domes when any real cold nights are about, but we don't get that many. As Kristen says, spreading them out a bit is a good idea. Also the compost will need a bit of a boost or feeding as the leeks will be in the compost for a fair old time.
One other thing, the earlier crops ain't half more vulnerable to the leek moth, so cover them right from planting out.

[JayG]

Leek moth is a pain, but I suspect that the allium leaf miner can do even more damage, with little hope of recovery - if you have neighbours or fellow allotmenteers who grow leeks it may be worth asking whether theirs have suffered from either pest, because securely netting at lot of leeks for the entire growing season is also a pain!

Being a bit further north than most of the outbreaks I remember reading about on here, you may get away with it for another year or so. 

[Kristen]

you may get away with it for another year or so. 

Not seen either beast here, but I am netting starting from next season.  I'd prefer not to lose a season's crop (and let the blighters get a foot hold) prior to deciding to net.

Plot is going to look like a sea of netting though

[solway cropper]

I love leeks and grow loads of them. Zermatt are good for an early crop and I start lifting in late August from a January sowing. Most 'maincrop' varieties will stand through the hardest of winters with no problems so it's fairly easy to have them fresh from August to April with frozen ones for the rest of the year.

[New shoot]

I have grown Jaune de Poitiou as an autumn crop leek for the last few years.  It is a really fast grower and bulks up well for early crops  - available here :

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/leeks.html

Next year I am also trying one from T&M called Nipper, which promises baby leeks in 10 weeks through the summer.  We shall see, but it sounds good in theory 

[AnneB]

I have grown Jaune de Poitiou as an autumn crop leek for the last few years.  It is a really fast grower and bulks up well for early crops  - available here :

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/leeks.html

Next year I am also trying one from T&M called Nipper, which promises baby leeks in 10 weeks through the summer.  We shall see, but it sounds good in theory 

Another vote for Jaune de Poitou here.  I tried it for the first time this year and was very impressed.  I have been harvesting since late August / early September.