Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: gray1720 on July 10, 2022, 19:38:22
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I use the "Bore hole. Drop leek in. Water in. Forget" method for leeks - in practice I use the handle of one of my hoes to make the hole. This year I used my Dutch hoe and, in doing so, roughed up the end of the handle enough to take a lump of skin off the palm of my hand. This is obviously a Bad Thing.
So... what do others use? I'm curious as to whether I can get something that saves me buggering up my hoe handles and hands!
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I use a dibber (though not this year, as not growing leeks), which is made from a fork / spade handle. Then drop and water.
I don't trim the roots or the leaves, but hold firmly so the smaller ones aren't buried.
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Good point - I have a fork handle that I didn't chuck when I broke the fork off the end!
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It's a bulb planter for me. It makes a wide deep hole which suits my light soil. Too narrow and it soon falls in restricting growth. I water regularly until well established, then forget them.
Mine are ok so far although I fear a week of temperatures in the high 20s or low 30s may be very bad for them.
Well very bad for everything really!
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Like Beersmith, I use a bulb planter for the simple reason I grow my seedlings in 3" pots initially, and it is easier to plant them this way!
Years ago I did the hole drilling method, but sometimes at planting out time up here in the wild & woolly North the weather/soil conditions did not always suit this method.
So I found that growing them on initially in a coldframe worked better for me!
There are a few pictures here on how I did this; https://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Content/L/Leeks/Leeks.htm (https://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Content/L/Leeks/Leeks.htm)
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Excellent advice as always Tee Gee... we dibber them in with an old spade handle which we have shaped like a dibber..
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Me too, my over enthusiastic son managed to wreck a perfectly good staining steel fork digging post holes, but OH turned the handle end to make a great long dibber! Silver lining and all that….
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Hi, I use the same method. Upended hanle of an old hoe, drop in leek,water leave. Half get top and tiled, half don't- I like to see which does best. Currently, topping and tailing when moving on from seed tray seems to work best. Very nearly got "pencils" this year :blob7
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I ended up having to use a trowel last week to plant mine….using the dibber the hole just collapsed as the soil was just too dry! 😬
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I used an old hoe this year which is no longer used for its proper job. It did OK. Ive used a long handled bulb planter too which worked weel, but forgot to take it to the plot this time. Ive used "top & tail" method and not topping & tailing. Bother seem to do as well. My leeks look a bit dry this season in spite of watering well to get them going and trying to give more after hot days. We'll have to wait and see how things go. I think theyve got the only bit of free ground that has no white rot.