musselburgh leeks

[smallblueplanet]

Thanks Haze!

[Seahorse]

But I think Piglet also said early sowings made for nice early baby leeks?

*Has to justify those itchy sowing fingers somehow

[kernowyon]

sowed mine quite late (end of april) and still have some standing on the plot.
the taste gets better the colder it gets! fantastic in veggie lasagne

[shirlthegirl43]

sowed mine quite late (end of april) and still have some standing on the plot.
the taste gets better the colder it gets! fantastic in veggie lasagne

I sowed mine late and still have pencils standing in the garden - the darned things are getting planted early this year!!! Really grudge paying for leeks for soup when I have so many planted!

[Hazel at the Hill]

But I think Piglet also said early sowings made for nice early baby leeks?

*Has to justify those itchy sowing fingers somehow

LOL! Yes - I stand corrected! Just make sure that you scoff all the early ones up before they bolt!

[sewer rat]

I'll be sowing my leeks in March/April - I sow them in 1 litre pots (approx 30 seeds per pot) and they stay in these til planting time. At planting time, knock the leeks from the pot, trim the roots to between 1 and 2 inches in length, seperate the plants, drop them into 6" deep dibbed holes, water the soil to settle them and leave to grow !!
At the moment I have both Musselburgh and Tornado standing and next season I'm having Tornado and Oarsman.

[gojiberry]

Hi all, I think the answer is to sow a pot now so that you get a nice early crop i.e. Aug onwards, but the bulk of your crop doesn't want sowing till March onwards. I notice that Sewer Rat says to trim the roots when transplanting which is what I have always done and have always had good leeks. However one of the latest gardening books said do not trim roots. Comments on trimming please.

[Flummery]

I sow in March/April and plant out in July - to follow my early spuds. Otherwise you can have ground tied up for a long time and they can either bolt or stick. I'm sure there are other ways of doing it but I use the one that works for me.

[pigletwillie]

Oooerrr, so many different ways of doing things.

Here's what works for me.

BABY LEEKS FOR PULLING IN SUMMER

Sow now varieties such as imperial summer, hannibal and pancho although to be sweet, any will do, in pots (30-40 seed to a 1 litre pot). Plant out about 2" apart when pencil thick and harvest when as thick as your finger. Eat them small as chances are they will bolt if you leave them to over winter.

MAIN CROP LEEKS FOR WINTER STANDING

I sow in late February to early March, again 30-40 seeds to a 1 litre pot and plant these out after the last of my early tatties come out (July) as I generally use leeks to follow them. They are planted 8-10" apart with 12" between rows. Good varieties are bleu de solaise, oarsman, toledo and many others. If you have too many seedlings at planting out time (as if), again plant some of them really close and these will keep small like baby leeks for Christmas dinner.

To plant out my maincrop leeks, I plunge a dibber made from an old wooden spade shaft about 12-14" inches deep and just drop a plantlet into the hole. When all are in, they are well watered and left to it. Do not back fill with soil.

As for trimming roots and leaves at planting out time, well personally I never bother now as I found no difference in the result, life is just too short.

Evington Hilltop Adventures: Leeks and more leeks

[bluemoon]

I use Flummery's method and it works perfectly. I still have enough leeks standing on the plot to last until late March. A small number plants of an early variety sown in February will give me leeks from October, with the bulk of the crop (Musselburgs) being sown late April/early May to take over at the end of November and keep us in leeks throughout the casserole season.

[carlseawolf]

sowing into pots in feb and plant out after early spuds.

[Flummery]

Ah, leek and potato - a marriage made in heaven!

[veg4681]

Oooerrr, so many different ways of doing things.

Here's what works for me.

BABY LEEKS FOR PULLING IN SUMMER

Sow now varieties such as imperial summer, hannibal and pancho although to be sweet, any will do, in pots (30-40 seed to a 1 litre pot). Plant out about 2" apart when pencil thick and harvest when as thick as your finger. Eat them small as chances are they will bolt if you leave them to over winter.

Thanks for the detailed growing options. I've saved these (along with others' comments) on my Leeks doc . Finger thickness as baby leeks not good enough for me so I'll go for the maincrop option. BTW my seeds spreadsheet was in working order, how dare I questioned its integrity !

[kittykat8]

just sown some leeks will sow some more soon when they come through can I take my seed trays down to the polytunnel too sit there.

Marion

[moggssue]

Would there be any merit in sowing in individual modules, or is this too much faffing? I was thinking of saving disturbance when transplanting outside?!

Oh, and I read somewhere (BBC Gardening I THINK but not certain!) that the reason for trimming the roots is so that the plant sits neatly in the bottom of the hole and is deep enough to blanch well. I take it you 'seasoned growers' dont see this as necessary?

The same site said dont plant them after early tatties because the ground will be too soft? Again, I take it this isn't true in your experiences?

Final question (for now haha) - why don't you backfill the holes with soil? How do they grow this way? Can't you tell I've never grown leeks before, sorry for all the questions folks!