Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Nikkicola on June 16, 2011, 21:15
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It's my first time attempting to grow leeks and unfortunately I didn't read up on it before planting out. I grew from seed in seed trays then transplanted to my allotment as I did with other seedlings (i.e. backfilled the holes with soil). I have since read that I should have dibbed holes, dropped the seedlings in, filled with water then left. Should I replant or will they be OK if I just leave them how they are?
Any help much appreciated!
Thanks
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They'll be absolutely fine, I'm sure :D
They're tough as old boots.
P.S. Welcome to the site, feel free to pop into the Welcome section for a proper Hello!
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Thanks Yorkie!
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yeh, they'll be fine i did that last year, i ment to plant them on after they'd got a bit bigger with the hole method you've read about but never got round to it so there wasn't much of tender white bit.
i reckon you stick em at the bottom of a hole so the mud trickles in as they grow so they're kind of earthing themselves up gradually so you don't wind up with bits of grit all through the leek. could be wrong though
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As they get a bit bigger you can earth them up a bit if you want a longer white bit.
You can wrap a piece of newspaper or a toilet roll inner around them to stop the earth getting in, before you earth up if you want.
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At what stage do you put the toilet roll inner around them? Does it have to be right from the start, or do you do it later, when they're a bit bigger?
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Kajazy - complete waste of really useful/valuable toilet rolls IMO - just dib them in deep (8-12") for white shanks or enjoy green shanks.
I find all of the 'be careful not to get soil between the leaves' advice on planting a bit of a nonsense (on young plants) as all of the original leaves on small leeks are going to be paper thin and shrivled before they get to the kitchen. I do like to leave them well alone once they've established so my usual practice is to dib them in through a really thick weed-suppressing mulch so I don't even need to hoe them throughout the whole growing season.
If you have to use loo rolls around your leeks then you need to slip them over when they are small/straightaway, or slit the side of the tube and wrap it around the leek once it has matured a bit. Personally I'd do it on planting so you don't have to tread on the soil a second time.
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Dibbing them in 8-12" deep does depend on them being at least 8-12" long at that point. A slight technical hitch, I always find :( :lol:
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Indeed - mine were a bit puny, to say the least! Also, I was really rubbish at getting them properly into the holes - the roots kept getting in the way. And finally, to add insult to injury, as I was planting them a plague of flies descended on them - at first I thought they were just house flies but now, having done some research on the internet, I'm rather worried that they were onion flies - gulp! :( Should I be worried...?
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Also, I was really rubbish at getting them properly into the holes - the roots kept getting in the way
Have a look at this recent topic:
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=78696.0
This is the reason a lot of us favour trimming the roots before planting.
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Dibbing them in 8-12" deep does depend on them being at least 8-12" long at that point. A slight technical hitch, I always find :( :lol:
Very true - but mine get sown in Feb and planted out in Late June/early July into the ground vacated by the first earlies so I've plenty of shank to bury!
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At what stage do you put the toilet roll inner around them? Does it have to be right from the start, or do you do it later, when they're a bit bigger?
Kajazy - complete waste of really useful/valuable toilet rolls IMO - just dib them in deep (8-12") for white shanks or enjoy green shanks.
I totally agree but, the whole point of my advice was purely because the first poster had already planted hers :D
So add them when they are a bit taller and thicker :)
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And on this my 1000th post I wouldn't want to disagree with you mum, however I still feel that lootubes are too valuable for leeks - and dirt between the leaves at planting out time (or shortly thereafter) does not result in gritty leeks at harvesting - the shank starts from the middle so the oldest leaves are on the outside, which invariably are paperthin and peeled off before they get to the kitchen. It's only an issue mid-season or later, so I'd still earth up without lootubes fairly early on. Of course if they're closely planted and intended for late summer/early autumn harvest then earth in the small plants might be a problem.
Anyway - Nikkicola should have great leeks whenever she puts on the loo tubes, and I wouldn't want my assertations to put her off being a regular contributor to this site!
SS
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Congrats Swing Swang, I know how much you have been anticipating this momentous occasion. Feel honored to on the same thread!
I got a great tip recently and will be trying it for my leeks next year.
Sow individually into module tray with good holes in the bottom. Place on nice friable soil and grow on until drinking straw/skinny pencil size. I plan to do this in the polytunnel early on in i year,Feb if not Jan. They will be watered but not moved until 1 week before i want to plant them out. Get long bread knife and cut them off the soil, send to cold frame to harden off.
I will be dibbing them into 6" holes as usual, deeper if they are as big as i think they will be.
I reckon this is going to work a treat! Anyone tried it?
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I grew leeks from seed this year and they are so thin I'm not sure if it is worth planting them out. Sown on 27th Feb, and I transplanted them into a nursery bed last month.
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Mine are always like grass stalks, eventually I get fed up with waiting for them to grow any wider, and bung them in the plot. They tend to do OK so don't give up gillian :)
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Thanks for the advice everyone - I'll try the earthing up with newspaper tubes as I've planted about 50 leeks and don't think I'll go through that many toilet rolls quickly enough!!!