[MICK WARREN]

Hi everyone I am trying leeks this year and have grown about 40 plants indoors which are about 2 inches high at present. When is the best time to plant them out individually. I live in the North West of England but my garden is sheltered.

 :?:

[Small Potatoes]

Hi Mick,

I'm not sure that the time matters so much with leeks as the size. The way I did them last year was to grow them in modules until they were about 4-6 inches tall and then make planting holes about 5 inches deep. Then I cleaned the soil/compost away from the roots, dropped them in the holes and then watered the holes without filling them with soil. The water disturbs enough soil to bed them in, the idea with the hole not being filled with soil is to allow room for the stem to grow fat in a dark environment which blanches the stem. I did them for the first time last year and that's how I went about it, mine turned out very small, I think that was cos I didn't get round to planting them out until about mid-august, so plant them well before then, I think the books recommend may-june time.

Cheers, SP

[Ruth Cross]

I plant mine out when they are about as thick as a pencil, they seem to cope with the move better.

[gobs]

You do want to harden off indoor sowings, don't forget, otherwise, it doesn't matter , as said.

[Aidy]

the pro's (so to speak) snip the roots when they transplant, not to the end but leaving enough to gain water, this developes the roots futher, I snip, then drop them in the hole and fill with water, never backfill just leave the hole. My leeks will go in towards end of may and into june, I grow two  types, Autumn Giant and mussleborough, AM go in first as they need a longer growing season followed by Mussleborough which I will be sowing in the next week or so.

[Wombat]

Do you sow them outside, Aidy?

[Scribbler]

When as thick as a pencil, make holes with a dibber, put the leeks in and fill the holes with water. 6" apart, 12" between rows.

[Cazzy]

Probably a dumb question Scribber but if a leek only needs 6" between it and the one next to it in the same row, why does it need 12" between it and the one in the next row.  I've read this about other plants but can't work out the technical reasoning

[Eristic]

if a leek only needs 6" between it and the one next to it in the same row, why does it need 12" between it and the one in the next row. I've read this about other plants but can't work out the technical reasoning

You have to leave room for the gardener's feet for weeding etc.

I plant mine much more than 6" apart and always try to turn the plants so that the leaves line up neatly along the row. That makes it easier to shuffle up and down with the hoe.

[Cazzy]

Thanx Eristic, it makes sense if planting up larger area than I had in mind.

[Ruby Red]

Thanx Eristic, it makes sense if planting up larger area than I had in mind.

   
    Yeah like a plant pot lol

[shaun]

i usually grow 2 trays of leeks and most of the time when there ready for planting out the ground is taken up by something else,if thats the case just prepair a bit of ground as you would a seed bed.then just tip the trays out and rip em up into small bits and transplant the small clusters of leeks,they will stand there for ages until your ready for the final position.
ohh keep em well watered  

[Aidy]

Do you sow them outside, Aidy?

Shauns answer is pretty much what I do, I use 4 inch pots and sow around 30 leeks in each indoors, once germinated after a couple of days they go out into the greenhouse, I prefer pots as the roots have deeper compost to develope, then when around pencil thickness or the bed is ready they get snipped  (:cry: always bring a tear to my eye that word) and dropped into me hole.

[WhippetMaster]

I have no experience of growing these but have a question...

I put seeds in a 6 inch deep pot in mid January and they have grown to about 3 inches high and don't seem to have changed in the past month. They have been thinned out to correct spacing for growing on.

How long do they usually take before becoming "pencil thick??"

[Aidy]

they can take a while, you will notice with the increase of size and thickness once the days get longer.