[LivvyW]

When, and by how much do you trim the roots and tops by?

My leek seedlings are matchstick width at the moment, if i pot them on do i cut roots/tops or both, and how much root/top do i leave?

Or do i wait until pencil thick and am planting them into final position?

[iwantanallotment]

I keep mine trimmed (tops) all the while they're in pots, Liv. They get quite a haircut, leaving them at 3" tall max. As they grow up again they also grow fatter.
When I transplant or re-pot them the roots are trimmed as well, pretty ruthlessly....leaving around 1.5cm of root.
That's just my way though, expect we all have our own preferences  

[gobs]

it just came to me today :roll: , I do snip my onion seedling roots on planting, as I grow them from seed, I don't do large or show, etc, so there.

[SkipRat]

I always thought the idea of snipping leeks was so that they didnt loose as much water due to evaperation while they got themselves re rooted.

[Ropster]

I have just planted my leeks out and on the advice of a plot neighbour have trimmed top and bottom.

he said it stops them going to seed, from the looks of his plot he knows what he is on about so i thought I would give it a try

[Swing Swang]

Thoughts:

If trimming the tops makes for thicker, bushier leeks, then if you want early leeks and have decided to plant them closer together than 'standard' because you're not going to let them get too big, then a taller, thinner leek is actually what you want so you'd be wise not to trim the tops.

By the time I've dug up my closely sown leeks to transplant the roots have been pulled  off and bashed around a bit anyway.

SS
 

[Swing Swang]

Planted out my leeks this week and didn't snip any of them due to lack of time:


Didn't snip last year and got a decent crop:


SS

[Anton]

My leeks have been in the ground untrimmed for about two weeks now (I did this hoping to avoid the leaf moth so prevalent here in in Belgium). Is it worth snipping off the tops now to enjoy all the benefits some of you claim (less transpiration,...)?


Anton

[HilaryG]

I snipped and trimmed all mine and they look great. I have experimented putting looroll round some of them to keep them clean and pale.........does anyone else do this or is it just a waste of time?

[Salmo]

If the tops are not trimmed any tips that touch the ground are often pulled by worms into their wormholes. When they do this they can damage the leaf, pull it down to slug level and even sometimes pull leeks out of the ground.

[Swing Swang]

Did the loo roll thing last year to half of my leeks, then one month later mulched all of them to prevent weed competition and reduce need for watering.

By the time the blackbirds and 'rain splash' had moved the mulch around there was no difference in included 'grit' within the leeks (which was negligable in any case).

The mulch/earthing up also blanched the extra 4" of leek shank that the loo rolls did.

The 100 loo rolls could have been put to better use elsewhere.

The time taken to slip loo rolls over leeks could have also been used more productively.

What's wrong with green shanks anyway?

I haven't used loo rolls this year and I shan't in future.

Regards,

SS

[Swing Swang]

Salmo - I've heard the worm thing before. Have you actually seen worm losses? I grow 200+ leeks every year and have never had a pulled out leek (heavy clay/high organic content/lots of worms and slugs) although I'll conceed that it's more likely to happen on much lighter soils.

I've considered it to be one of the many gargening urban myths that does the rounds, and have never paid it much attention, but I'd love to hear from someone who can verify this hypothesis/assertation.

Regards,

SS