Leek haircut ?

[Kirk]

Bought 20 leeks, not sure which variety as the lable said Type: Vegetable.
All were clipped to 4" high.
Planted them and they have grown happily, however the leaves are tall and falling all over the place.

Can I clip them again ?

Or will I end up murdering them if I do so?

[roitelet]

I clip mine three times. When they are planted, about six weeks later and again at the beginning of October. Just don't cut them down to ground level leave 6-8 inches of stem and they will romp away.

[PyreneesPlot]

Gosh! I've never heard of doing this and therefore never have. My leeks have always done really well, but could they be better? What's the thinking behind the haircut?

[lyndonj]

I am intrigued never heard of this before

[Penellype]

Not sure about this. My thinking is that if a plant grows leaves its probably because it needs leaves. If you cut off some of the leaf, surely thats just less energy that the plant has to go towards making nice thick juicy stems.

Maybe I am missing something here.

[roitelet]

In the first haircut it stops the leaves flopping and the worms dragging them into the soil. The second two are suppose to encourage the production of leaves and fatter plants.

[Bigmallly]

I'm lead to believe that when transplanting Leeks, the roots are cut to a half inch so it's easier to plant them plus encourages new root growth. At the same time, the leaves are cut by 50% so the plant does not lose moisture through transpiration & also makes it more difficult for birds to pull them out. They are planted about 9" deep. No further trimming is required.

[Kirk]

I knew that trimming them when at transplant size was "normal" wasn't sure about later on.
They have grown happily several have leaves 24" long and they are starting to trail all over the place, think they went in 3 weeks back.

[Martin H]

I like the theory that if you trim the leaves it will grow more leaves, giving you a bigger, thicker leek. I just planted some out last week, I think I'll trim half of them next month and see what difference it makes.

[Kirk]

Does seem to be 2 trains of thought.
First is to trim leaves amd roots at planting out then leave them.
Second is two or even three trimmings later on.

The second approach is covered here:
How to grow Leeks - Know your Vegetables

Where they say:
Leaves which grow too long can be trimmed back slightly so that they do not rest on the ground.

Cut the long dark leaves back by about 5 cm (2 in) in early summer and again in mid summer, and a third time if it is necessary, in early autumn.

I suppose it is a case of you make your choice.

Wouldn't have been asking if they did a "short" leafed variety that didn't flop.

[Snadger]

Never had a problem and i don't trim leaves or roots for planting and deffo wouldn't trim leaves afterwards. You are creating an open wound which could be susceptible to a number of conditions. It wouldn't encourage more 'flags' as you are only cutting part of the leaf. If left, more leaf area on the leek will aid in photosynthesis and consequently make for growing bigger leeks.

I have heard of people cutting the leek right back to the basal plate at maturity for table use then getting extra growth out of leek crown at a later date but I haven't tried this myself.

[Bill HH]

I am probably havinig a senior moment. but if this works for leeks why not onions? my onions have leaves falling all over the place.

[PyreneesPlot]

I have a mole trimming my leeks at the moment, I doubt it will help!!

[Lumpy]

When I put mine in I trim half off the top and a third off the roots - done that 2 weeks ago.

At the end of Sept I trim again by a third - my Grandad did it so do I as I believe (probably wrongly) that it keeps the little bluggers shorter, which suits me but makes them a lot thicker.


I am now running towards the corner to hide.

[BUFFS]

I trim neither roots or leaves, I make a hole with a dibber made from the shaft of a shovel trimmed to a point so the hole is about 2ins/50mm across and 6-8ins deep so no need to trim as roots get lightly covered as I water in, I cant be doing with faffing about with them, if something doesn't want to grow dump it and put in something that does. I get a great crop of I think its called Hungarian giant, we still have some in the freezer, enough till this years are ready...