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MY LEEKS And celeriac ARE HOPELESS. HELP.

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  • #1

    MY LEEKS And celeriac ARE HOPELESS. HELP.

    I have successfully grown leeks from seed for a number of years. However my success ends there. I plant correctly water correctly but end up with a very small white section and not much green either. They don't really plump up. Some are invaded by whatever it is caused them to go soft and bendy with a pink tinge. I grow a popular variety. Sorry cant recall the name
    I’m growing in raised beds with decent compost. Please will someone tell me the secret of long chunky leeks.
    I also have the same problem with celeriac. Its so frustrating.
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  • #2
    Last year I grew leek below zero. They last well into spring. I still have three left in the ground.
    I was late sowing them so I sowed in a row thinly. I didnt transplant but just let them grow where I sowed them.
    They grew perfectly.
    Jimmy
    Expect the worst in life and you will probably have under estimated!

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    • #3
      Musselburgh leeks always do well for me over winter. Surprisingly they do a bit of growing even in the cold weather. Planted at less than pencil thickness they are now broom shank thickness which is the way I like them.

      I always grow them in a large pot then plant them in a clump somewhere on the plot. Whenever I harvest another crop or space becomes available (after early tatties for instance) I just stick a few in.
      My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
      to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

      Diversify & prosper


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      • #4
        Originally posted by Snadger View Post
        Musselburgh leeks always do well for me over winter. Surprisingly they do a bit of growing even in the cold weather. Planted at less than pencil thickness they are now broom shank thickness which is the way I like them.

        I always grow them in a large pot then plant them in a clump somewhere on the plot. Whenever I harvest another crop or space becomes available (after early tatties for instance) I just stick a few in.
        I grow mine the same way. I earth them up well in Autumn to get plenty white length.

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        • #5
          I do much the same with leeks as Snadger, sow in early March (Musselburgh just germinating, no sign of the de Meziers yet) and plant out in about June. I sow in a big deep pot but don't bother doing anything else until planting time - they're usually closer to darning needle than pencil size, but most reach broom handle by the end of the season.
          I plant by dibbing, dropping one in, adding a handful of compost and then watering well.
          I'm plagued by alium leaf miner so have to cover them - the rotting the pest causes could be described as pinkish as they begin to decay. Might be worth having a google?
          Celeriac? Pff. Been trying for ten years and once achieved a golf ball ...
          Le Sarramea https://jgsgardening.blogspot.com/

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          • #6
            Leeks much as above. Mine grow anything from finger thick to broom handle, rather unpredictably.

            Celeriac is tricky. It needs light to germinate so don't bury the seeds. I pot them into modules at the 2 true leaf stage and plant out in a damp, sunny area (near a leaky tap is ideal). They need water, water, water and more water. The biggest difficulty is slugs which can eat them from underneath, but I usually manage a couple of near tennis ball size, although they do have a tangle of contorted roots round them, which may be due to transplanting.
            A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP. - Leonard Nimoy

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            • #7
              Leeks at our allotment get leek moth so this year will be covered from the off. I cut off the squishy bit of any attacked plants below the damaged part, pick off any grubs I can see and they do regrow and provide a later smaller harvest. Will try more diligent earthing up this season to improve quality. Growing Musselburgh
              Celeriac I am trying again this year (final chance) but as others have said, the difficulty is giving them enough water esp in the early stages. I got a few small barely usable ones the season before last. I spotted a few green bits in the pot yesterday about 2 weeks after sowing

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              • #8
                Celeriac are originally a marshland plant, so that should give you an idea. They need a pretty much uninterrupted supply of water to do well.

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                • #9
                  Leeks like all alliums are gross feeders. if you can get hold of it dig in loads of fym. Musselburgh for a kitchen leek are brilliant. I remember my dad never used to plant his out until they early spuds were harvested and then they went into that bed. Young plants dropped into a hole made with a long handled dibber - mine is the handle of an old spade cut off where the blade used to be - and then watered in.
                  Last edited by Aberdeenplotter; 27-03-2020, 03:58 PM.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Aberdeenplotter View Post
                    Musselburgh for a kitchen leek are brilliant. I remember my dad never used to plant his out until they early spuds were harvested and then they went into that bed.
                    I grew Musselburgh last year and they didn't go in until late June (and even then they were more like grass than pencil-thick), and by November they had bulked up very well.
                    Compare that to some leek seedlings another plot holder gave me (no idea what the variety was, but definitely not Musselburgh), which were planted put at the end of May and even now haven't reached half the size the others did.

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                    • #11
                      Useful to know other peeps’ experience of celeriac... thought it was just me having little success with them. The watering tip is something I’ll try tho.
                      All at once I hear your voice
                      And time just slips away
                      Bonnie Raitt

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                      • #12
                        Re leeks mine were Musselburgh. I already do all the above suggested. They have got to broomshank size but its the fact the theres so little white and not much more edible green. Too far up and the green is quite tough. Earthing up may be way to go. My neighbour puts old sections Of pipe around each of his. Another plants his in dibbed out holes as i do but puts loo roll cardboards in first. (Some folk will have a ton of those!) Aberdeenplotter what is FYM?
                        Celeriac. I had to laugh at the suggestion of watering often. I live in Sussex and that’s all we have had for months..In fact Ive. had up to 2 inches of standing water in parts for weeks during the rains. water. By all accounts they should be like footballs now. So that’s not the problem.
                        The very first time i grew celeriac they came out almost the size you buy in shops.i knew nothing then. Now I’m more knowledgable..golf balls!
                        Any further sugestions welcome...thank you. Hope everyone safe and well and enjoying their seed sowing.

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                        • #13
                          As others have said, plant the leeks deep - that's what creates the white bit.
                          If they in a tiddly shallow hole, you have to earth up or find some other way of blanching them.
                          A deeply dibbed hole, saves a lot of hassle later on.

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