Leek question - plant straight in ground?

funkymonkey849

I planted my leeks about a month and a half ago and they are growing nicely. I planted them in my raised bed in rows straight into the soil.

I thought this would make it easier but I have since read that you should transplant leeks to make the stems white. I don't really mind about white stems as I much prefer the green.

Can I just leave them in the soil to grow or is this the wrong way to do it?

First time leek grower! Advice appriciated

x

radiohelen

I am no expert but I think you can just earth them up like potatos. I've grown mine in seed trays and potted them on into trays. Then I guess you plant them out when they are pencil thick and plant 'em deep. So if you've got a row of leeks in the ground I would leave them there, thin them out and use the thinnings, then earth them up.
That's what I'd do.
I bow to superior knowledge though!

splodger_seedswapper

you can sow them directly - so you can leave them where they are if you want to. they will probably need thinning out though and as this is quite fiddly (when trying to thin an existing row) many people would just opt to lift the lot and transplant them, with correct spacings (about 6 inches apart)

funkymonkey849

I think I will just leave them there if possible and thin them out when they start to get bigger. They are like blades of grass at the moment!

It is good to know that they transplant well as next year I can use the space for something else until July and then transplant the leeks.

Thanks for reassuring me

valk_scot

funkymonkey849 wrote: »

I think I will just leave them there if possible and thin them out when they start to get bigger. They are like blades of grass at the moment!

It is good to know that they transplant well as next year I can use the space for something else until July and then transplant the leeks.

Thanks for reassuring me

No, you don't want to be doing that. If you transplant them out after they're pencil thick at the very most then they won't take.

Best way to do it is to sow a short row early in the season and transplant them from that. Or a pot full in the greenhouse. Make a hole with the end of a broom handle or similar, drop in the baby leek right up to the tip of the leaves than water them in so that muddy sludge settles round the baby plant.

As for your leeks at the moment I'd thin them asap till you have perhaps three together every six inches or so. Then thin to one per clump as they get to pencil thickness and transplant some of the thinnings as above in between your original rows so you have a staggered grid of leeks. Best use of space and biggest yield if you have them at 6" spacings right across the bed rather than in rows. Use any left over thinnings like chives...very tasty.

Farway

The reason for transplanting / earthing up is not just for eye appeal with white stems, the green parts of leeks can & likely will be coarse, fibrous & tough.

Celery was the same until breeders managed to breed varieties that do not require earthing up to remain succulent

Primrose

I'm sure you could probably use them as they are, but if they're all crammed together the stalks won't grow very thick. They're greedy feeders ad that's really why they need to be planted out separately. I have a pointed "leek dibber" which makes individual holes. My leeks, grown in seed trays, are usually tiny spindly seedlings when I plant them out, and never the "pencil size" that the seed packets seem to recommend for planting out, but they quickly start to grow because, I think, once they're planted out, each plant's root has room to spread and isn't fighting so much for all the nutrients it needs as it would be if they're all crammed together.

alixandrea

You can apparently also put the cardboard inners from loo rolls/kitchen towels over the leaves the exclude leeks and help them blanch. :-) I say appparently because I've not done it yet; having terrible trouble getting my leeks (and onions and carrots) to grow at all...

Alixandrea

Primrose

The problem with using loo roll inners in this way is that the leeks have to be a certain size first before you can slip them over the greenery, otherwise they won't be anchored and will simply blow away in the wind. Also, if you get a very wet season, the cardboard will quickly rot down and disintegrate. I believe people who grow leeks for show slip more durable covers over them such as rigid plastic drainpipes.

valk_scot

Yes agreed, pencil thickness is the very biggest you should allow them to grow before transplanting but you can do it a great deal sooner than that. Drinking straw thickness is a good size to handle but you can plant pathetic wispy little threads of leeks and they'll still thrive.

I've done the kitchen roll inner trick once the leek got to about the thickness of my thumb but i've also mounded up the soil outside the tube to keep it in position. That way grit doesn't get into the leek shaft as easily. The green bits have more taste than the whites though, imho. So I don't much worry about earthing up anyway.

Sambucus_Nigra

Primrose wrote: »

I'm sure you could probably use them as they are, but if they're all crammed together the stalks won't grow very thick.

Actually, they will get nice and thick, as they will push each other apart.

OP - they probably won't need thinning out if they are in rows - just let them get on with it. Like all leeks, they will start to thicken up over the autumn and you can start harvesting smaller ones in early winter. They will carry on growing all winter and will bolt in about a year's time.