Struggling with leeks :( lots advice needed

Foxy0810

Last year and already this year I've not been successful with leeks I plant seeds in propogator they grow like grass then go limp and die I water them and feed them but don't allow to get too wet just don't know where I'm going wrong

Advise great fully received

Also what should I be planting now and where? In the allotment or in proper gators?

Should I plant some stuff then wait a bit and plant more so pick at different times? How long should i leave time wise?

Linda32

Hi, With regards to the leeks, may I ask, are you leaving them in the same seed tray that you originally planted them in, or have you pr-ick=ed them out? They do grow like blades of grass in the first instance. At this stage you need to take them out of the propogator.

When they are pencil thickness (assuming they don't die off) they can be hardened off. Then planted out. When you plant them out you need to make a hole with a dipper and drop the leeks in the hole. The hole needs to be wider than the leek. Then you water the hole with the leek seedling in the hole. The soil fills in the hole. Hope that makes sense.

With regards to what you should be growing now, well that depends on what you would like to eat and in turn, that depends on where you plant, wether indoors or direct into the ground at the allotment.

It also depends on where you are in the country, Cornwall or Scotlands or somewhere in between

Its not quite as complicated as it all sounds, these just a few things to consider at the beginning. :)

HTH

poppysarah

The propogator is for starting them off and might just be too warm and wet for them...
I use a plastic bag around a container for starting seeds but once they come through you have to leave the bag open otherwise you are just cooking them

Lotus-eater

I start leek seeds in large pots in a cool room, then they can go straight outside, you're starting them too warm I'd say. They need minimal attention.

If it turns really cold again, you can bring them into a cool room for a bit.

Conrad

I could be wrong but shouldn't leeks be started in quite sandy compost? It sounds as if your'e putting them in too rich a medium.

valk_scot

I start my leeks off in April in a seed bed outside. They're perfectly happy there, no hardening off needed, then they get transplanted out in June when they're a bit bigger...drinking straw thickness or thereabouts. Any left over I just leave in the seedbed to thicken up a bit more and then eat them in stir fries.

I'm in Scotland btw. But leeks can withstand a bit of cold weather. They don't need mollycoddling.

Foxy0810

I'm in stoke on Trent so fairly central, I will try again and put them in a tray and leave til they get thinker to replant, thanks for the advice
Just wondered what was best planted now either inside or out can anything be sown direct to ground now?

valk_scot

Foxy0810 wrote: »

Just wondered what was best planted now either inside or out can anything be sown direct to ground now?

Away and buy yourself a copy of The Vegetable & Herb Expert. £5 from a garden centre near you and has the timetables for growing every kind of veg, with sowing, transplanting & harvesting times. Something like this is an absolute essential for veg growing as otherwise you'll end up either being far too late or, like your leeks, a bit too early. I've got two copies, one for the house and one for the allotment shed.

ALIBOBSY

Book wise I love my river cottage handbooks and no 4 is purely about the veg patch.

Peas, beans, carrots and parsnips tend not to want to have their roots disturbed by transplanting, but even these can be sown indoors or in the greenhouse in root trainers or loo roll inards. I supsect many of us this time of year have windows cills and greenhouses starting to fill up with seedlings lol.

Some stuff is quite hardly and even likes a bit of cold. So rubarb, garlic, strawberries can all be in the ground now. Broad beans can go out quite early, but I find if planted in toilet rolls now and planted out around easter they seem to catch up with earlier sown seeds anyway-we have wet soil as we are on clay so things tend to rot over winter.
There are veggies that can go out but may need a bit of protection against the occasional drop in temp (my potatos and carrots/parsnips will go in under fleece now).

Some stuff is very tender and can't take any cold-I tried courgettes and cukes under fleece and it didn't work-ones planted later did better and romped away. So squashes, sweetcorn, cukes, etc leave till May.

Everything else can be started on window sills/cold frames/greenhouses-if unheated consider a bit of cover on cold nights as well. Half my toms are outside in an unheated GH and the rest as back up on window sills lol.

Ali x