[hanssg]

 hi been away a few days and my leek seedlings have gone mad all bent over and intertwined can i carefully take some out and repot them and if so in what thx.

[Beetroot Queen]

They start off bent when they first come up, they straighten after a while.  or are yours bigger. ?

[hanssg]

there about 3 inch long 

[jondav14]

Mine are about the same, and they are ok, but not yet ready to pot on (too thin). I will do that in about 2 / 3 weeks time depending on growth and temperature 
50/50 mix is what I use, compost/topsoil -  never had any seedlings struggling with that mix 

[DD.]

I note that these have grown 3" in a few days, whilst you were away.

Can we assume they were in some sort of propagator and the lid wasn't taken off as soon as they germinated?

[Jackypam]

Mine have been going for about a month and are still 3 inches tall and look more like grass than leeks. I seem to remember having the same worry last year though, and I still have several fat ones in the onion bed, so it all worked out in the end.

[Goosegirl]

I pot mine up after they have 3-4 leaves and the seed had dropped off and use a 6" pot with nine to a pot. I find that watering them with dilute Maxicrop after a month or so as a foliar feed or whatever helps them along and they seem to develop a thicker stem more quickly.

[JayG]

Having taken such great care to sow them 1" apart I certainly don't expect to have to transplant mine before their permanent move outside.

As has been noted before, getting them to reach 'pencil' rather than 'biro refill' size can be a long wait, but for those like myself hoping to plant them to follow early potatoes there's still plenty of time (especially as I've not planted my spuds yet!)

A liquid feed does help them along, especially if you think they're not bulking up fast enough to make your planting out deadline, but don't overdo it.

[Jackypam]

I just threw the end of last years seed in a 10cm pot to see what happened.  What happened was that they all germinated I will take your advice and feed them now.  I only have baby bio here at the moment ( on kitchen windowsill. Will that do?

[JayG]

If you sowed them like that and haven't thinned them I think you need to do that first - they won't enjoy being overcrowded to that extent and no amount of feeding will compensate.

About 1" apart should be sufficient to keep them growing until planted out.

[hanssg]

dd yes they were and there looking very sad at the minute just lying flat on the soil could i rescue some and pot them on in something thx.

[Sparkyrog]

sowed 2 to a cell in 40 cell trays ,only about 60 germinated 

[DD.]

dd yes they were and there looking very sad at the minute just lying flat on the soil could i rescue some and pot them on in something thx.

To be perfectly honest, I think it'll be easier to start again. It's still very early.

I only start mine off in a frost free greenhouse. Too much heat can lead to weak plants.

[JohnB47]

Something I noticed last year was that, whereas I held mine back waiting for the fabled 'pencil thickness', a neighbour transplanted theirs much earlier (ie thinner). Theirs romped away, whereas mine took a while to get going and they were picking much earlier. I've decided to get mine in the ground earlier this year.

[Growster...]

Ours only got sown this week. They're a late variety, as we don't want them until December/January.

A couple of years ago, they got away far to quickly, grew very tall, and didn't last the winter.

If they're sown now, moved into position in about mid July, then feed regularly, they peak around November/December, and that's when we really appreciate them!