[Irene]

My husband brought home some leeks for me...but they seem awfully small compared to what we are used to.

How large do our leeks have to be for planting? Am I worried over nothing?

[Annen]

You should see mine, they are like blades of grass!  It generally seems to accepted that they should be "pencil thick" when they are planted out, but mine are rarely as thick as that when they go in. Mine might be thicker this year as they are waiting for space in the garden.  I've just had to transplant them into a big deep tray in the meantime.

[Irene]

Annen:

Next year I simply MUST keep track and plant my own starts.

The ones I planted last year weren't pencil thick by any means and they produced really well...but these are just teeny. I don't like planting leek or onion starts but I'm not sure what to do in this case. Perhaps I'll just set them in and give it a go. The space is certainly there.

What is the danger if you plant them to small? Any advice.

[shedmeister]

My old grandad always told me to start my leeks from seed the day the first early potatoes went in the ground.
Pot them up when the potato leaves start to show and then dib them into the same ground as the spuds a week after you have lifted them.
I have followed this pattern all my growing years and despite the variation in size of plant. I have never had a bad crop.

[al78]

Has anyone tried sowing leeks direct outdoors in April? I was thinking of doing that next year as it is a faff starting off in modules and having to pot on and then having to do the dibbing. I thought it would be simpler just to sow thinly in a nursery bed and leave them to it until they are the required size for dibbing into their final positions.

[Irene]

Some great information.

I think I will go ahead and pot these on. Is there anything specific I do for that or is it just like other plants?

Shedmeister, a very capable gardening fellow in the U.K., if I remember correctly, followed the same rule as your grandfather regarding his leeks.

I'm interested in seeing if al78 receives any replies to his question. It would be nice to be able to start them outdoors.

[Nobbie]

My dad used to just sow in a row outdoors and then transplant to final positions when pencil thick and he got decent crops. I always worry I'll forget about them and they'll get overgrown with weeds, so sow in a small trough. I've just transplanted to 3" pots and will be putting a toilet roll around them to get a long white bit before planting in a trench once the early spuds are out.

[Robster]

I sow a packet of leek seeds in a well prepared seed bed in about 3x 4 foot rows.  This year in around late February.  Covered with fleece and left to germinate and grow on.  I'll give them plenty of water as I dig them up to transplant them as this helps the untangling process.  They mostly come away OK.  I'll have leftovers and I'll give these away.They will get transplanted to their final growing positions starting around mid june and be all done by end July.  I think this is about the same as Nobbie's dad.  No modules no potting on. 

[Snoop]

I buy leek plantlets here rather than grow my own from seed. Usually, they have just a few leaves and are nowhere near pencil thick (more like biro refill!). I just plant them straight out in the usual way: dib or dig a hole about 20 cm deep, bob leek in and then water in. They didn't look great this year when I planted them out, but they're now well past pencil thick. I rarely lose leeks using this method. This year, I've lost one - splatted by a dog paw.

[JayG]

The simplest technique, and it works for me, is to sow them individually into a deep tray somewhere between 1/2 and 1" apart in early March, and plant them out after the early spuds.

That's it, no thinning, no potting on, just an occasional liquid feed to keep them going. Sometimes, like last year, I have to find a different spot for them if the spuds are late because I like to get them out before the end of June.

Edit: forgot to mention that when ready to plant out they look very similar to Irene's bought ones! 

[Annen]

Like Snoop I have always bought mine as seedlings in a pot, but this year I am growing from seed for the first time.  I just sowed them in a pot the way I have always bought them, but then I had to move them to a bigger tray, as above. 
Next year I will probably sow them straight into the big tray and miss out the pot stage. 
I never have any spare space to grow in a seed bed outside, bringing them on inside means they can be started earlier. We have quite a short growing season so things have to be ready to go out at the first opportunity.

[Goosegirl]

I'm just about to pot mine on from their original tray and have given them a dilute liquid feed twice in this last month - they seem to appreciate it. After potting on, I'll liquid-feed them again in about 3-4 weeks then they get  planted out in early July. This really helps to thicken them up.

[RaptorUK]

I moved mine to a nursery bed,  they had stopped growing in their individual cells . . .  I should have moved them earlier but other things got in the way physically and time wise . . .  lets see how they do now . . .

[Totty]

I start in trays in mid feb for early sowings, they are then transplanted, 15 per deep rose pot. I always mix half compost and half soil from the leek bed when transplanting. Soil in the mix helps avoid drying out too quick and gets the plants accustomed to the soil they will finish off in.

Totty

[Welsh Merf]

Leeks are about the only thing that I am absolutely and totally confident about growing. I have never had any issues (and neither should anyone else, to be fair - they're that easy to grow!)

Irene: have you got a mouse attached by a wire to your computer? If so, have a look at that wire. My leeks go into the ground when they're not even that size! Simply prod a hole in the ground, drop them in, fill the hole with water, and walk away. Some people trim the tops before planting them, others trim the roots, and others do both - I put them in as they are (not to say that there's anything wrong with the other methods, by the way).