All year Alliums Challenge 2016/17

[Cadalot]

I normally start off in vending machine cups and plant like



Just drawn around a cup and drawn how I usually eyeball them in so around 10 - 15mm apart, but they go into the ground as a bunch once large enough, so If start them off in the square flower buckets at 20mm centres in both directions they have some growing room.

You have me thinking that cutting the bottom off one and using it to make a jig to flatten the soil then make the holes in a pattern is what I need to do next !

[veggiechicken]

If that the spacing that works for you, you could sink several bottomless cups into the pot and seed one a week.

[Snadger]

Today I cleared the leek bed of leeks that should have been picked in spring. Since then, they've bolted and suffered leek rust Most of the heads were cut off when they started to bolt but I left a few - 'cos they were pretty
To my surprise, they've been splitting underground and look more like elephant garlic than leeks.

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There are plenty more!!
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Ted's impressed................

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The plan is to replant them all and see what happens next!!

The growths at the bottom of leeks are what show leek growers call 'King Pods'. Once planted, thay will bolt very quickly and produce seed pips and grass for next years crop.

[veggiechicken]

When do I plant them Snadge? Straight away?
or can I plant & eat them quickly before they bolt?
I get very confused with allium jargon! Seeds, pips, pods, bulbils, grass............

[Cadalot]

Got to thinking about how to make setting out the seeds easier and decided to make a marking out jig.So I cut a bucket to the same size as the one in the posting above and marked out the sowing pattern on the bottom of the bucket



Got my trusty soldering iron out, warmed it up and then made the holes in the base of the bucket



The template will be used to flatten the compost in the growing flower bucket and to create holes with a dibber for sowing the onion seeds.



Made the jig up - now to look at when I can sow the next batch of onions

[Jay-ell]

VC, was it Two Sheds who only grew regular leeks this way?

Can you remember the variety of the leeks, I wonder if some may be more prone to reverting than others which have had the tendency bred out. I pulled a couple of the variety Elefant (not to be confused with elephant) and they were not only bulbing up but had a couple little baby bulbs on the bottom so I've left the rest to see what happens.

The ones I planted to let them go like this (Musselburgh I think) struggled because they had a cauliflower on them. They survived but their bulbs were small so I've moved them to see if they get through till next year (planted last year)

[veggiechicken]

I "think" 2S used to cut the leeks at ground level and let them grow back. Could be wrong though.
As to the leeks, I'll have a gander through last year's notes - see if I can identify them. I may be some time..................

[veggiechicken]

Sorry, can't find out what the leeks were There were at least 2 types. I have a few more to dig up and they will be a 3rd type. Not sure what I'll find but these are hooooooooooooge.

Meanwhile, these are self seeded leeks from 2 years ago and left to their own devices - as they will be this year.

[Cadalot]

I've decided to try an overwintering spring onion SoilFixer SF60 Experiment so there is SoilFixer SF60 at 20% in one bucket and just multipurpose compost in the other one

First thing was to stick a copper band around the flower bucket as I don't want the slugs and snails eating my experiment over the winter. I don't know how the little buggers get into the greenhouse but they do manage it somehow.



The Compost was put into the flower bucket and the jig used to compress the compost and a dibber used in the holes to mark out the spacing for the Mr Fothergill's Eiffel Spring Onions. Looking at the back of the packs I have found some other onions that can be sown in August & September they are, Mr Fothergill's Evergreen Bunching and Suttons Ramrod so I may do a few more buckets using them.



I was quite impressed with how well the jig worked



A little time consuming but I do find this kind of thing fairly therapeutic



Watered in

[Cadalot]

Then placed in the space saver Greenhouse with the other Bucket

[veggiechicken]

Today I cleared the leek bed of leeks that should have been picked in spring. Since then, they've bolted and suffered leek rust Most of the heads were cut off when they started to bolt but I left a few - 'cos they were pretty
To my surprise, they've been splitting underground and look more like elephant garlic than leeks.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]75331[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]75332[/ATTACH]

There are plenty more!!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]75333[/ATTACH]

Ted's impressed................

[ATTACH=CONFIG]75334[/ATTACH]

The plan is to replant them all and see what happens next!!

Finally planted all the bolted leeks Here's 2 that have dried off and you can see the side pods, which Snadger says will quickly bolt and produce grass. I'm hoping to pull them young as baby leeks. They look a bit like gravestones now!

[Cadalot]

Ummmm I love to watch spring onions grow

[veggiechicken]

How many weeks did that take, Cad?

[Cadalot]

That's actually 11 days from the first sign of germination on the 12th August and I took a photo each day but there is three days between the last two photos as I was busy or it was raining,

Now they are long grass they seem to move around a lot but the length growth is not as noticeable, I would really love to do a stop motion camera on them and watch them unfold and then follow the sun around

[Jay-ell]

Caders, if you took a photo every 15 min (would need a light at night time) 11 days would give about 40 seconds of video at 25fps. Even a cheap camera can do 8 megapixels so once rencoded it could be a 4k video.