Topic: Leeks

[teresa]

Today I was given a load of leek plants. Family so kind but they were dry so are in water to liven them up.
I plan to plant them tomorrow but will they grow in the comming months or do I need to pamper them.
HELP

[Mrs Ava]

It was probably almost exactly this time last year I was given a bunch of teeny leeks by my lottie neighbour when I had first cleared a couple of foot.  I planted them, and left them to it, and they were great!  Very slow and by Christmas time, as I recall, they were only about the size of pencils, but as soon as the weather started to warm, they grew like mad, and come March we were tucking into them.  I pulled the last one just in time to fill the bed with summer lettuce.  Bung them in and forget all about them I say.  ;D

[tim]

Keep them bunched straight in the water - if they bend, they are hell to get into the holes! = Tim

[teresa]

Thank EJ and Tim,
Will get them in this afternoon, just looked at them they look so much better than yesterday.
Hardy little devils.
many thanks both

[Merete]

Good luck with your leeks!

Does anyone know how much cold leeks can stand - that  is, should I harvest at the first sign of night frost, or just leave them in till the snow comes? They're still very thin and puny...

[tim]

Most leeks overwinter. Unless you know the type, can't tell.
They're planted so deep, anyway, that it would take a lot of even your frosts to harm them.
How long have yours been in? And what size are they now? And are you using them as you need them? Big isn't beautiful. = Tim

[john_miller]

We can harvest leeks up until Christmas when we will be experiencing temperatures at night down to         -20C. The 'bluer' the foliage the hardier they will be, green foliage leeks will not stand so much cold. As we don't tend to get above freezing during the day by late December harvest them for immediate use as they will be frozen and once harvested will not come out this condition without some damage.

[tim]

Trust you, John - I'd forgotten the problem of digging them out when you have permafrost or whatever!!
I spent some months in Murmansk but, fortunately, I wasn't trying to grow veg then. Just trying to keep our engines warm enough for take-off. = Tim

[Wicker]

One of the women on the allotment site who lives right next to the site says that she has been known to pour a kettle of hot water on the ground around the leek she wants to pull when it is frozen hard - can't verify this as have never seen her do this! :-\

[tim]

More difficult if you have to cycle there?? = Tim

[sarahr]

Oh can you sow any old leeks now then? The back of the packet said to sow them in jan to transplant in march.

[john_miller]

I know exactly what you mean Tim. I don't know much about keeping aircraft engines warm but do you have any tips about stopping diesel fuel gelling? I have to keep a second car for winter use as my diesel M-B 240 refuses to start below -20C. Even the second car gets a new battery every 2nd year as petrol can be reluctant to ignite below -30! Many years ago now almost the whole of Alaska was rendered immobile one January when it got so cold that the air in car tyres contracted to the point of causing repeated deflations! I imagine that could be a common problem in Murmansk too?

[tim]

Sorry to interfere with leeks, folk, but no John, no help with diesels.

But they did invent a catalyst to stop our engines cutting out at altitude with freezing gasoline.  = Tim

[ina]

Again not about leeks but about cold, sorry.

Total technofobe I am but.......when I lived in Alaska there were three things on the car (not a diesel) that needed to be plugged in at night.
An oil pan heater, a little electric blanket around the battery and some thingemejiggy that kept the water circulating.