leek seedling help

[STHLMgreen]

So I planted some leek seedlings and more than expected grew. They've been up about two weeks. Now I have a tray filled with a nice lot of leek seedings. They're too small to plant out and only a few have their second leaves. But they're too densely packed and I'm sure I'll have a mess of roots later... do I leave them a little longer? Do I try and replant indoor until they get big enough to go out?

Thanks for the help. I have grown leeks before but only 5 as they were going on the balcony (before we had an allotment).

[STHLMgreen]

[saddad]

I'd prick them out into those 24 cell trays... that will hold them for about 5-6 weeks...  :)

[GodfreyRob]

If the seedlings are growing really close together I would separate them asap as if you leave them longer it will impossible to disentangle the roots.

I would get out the compost/soil and plants  from the seed tray (in one piece if possible) and place it in a bowl of water that is just a bit deeper than the soil. That way you can wash off the soil and tease apart the roots with the minimum of damage. Prepare some pots/modules first already filled with compost/soil and pop each rescued seedling straight into them.

[STHLMgreen]

Can I use toilet paper rolls for this?

[SPUDLY]

Don't worry to much about tangled roots on leeks. Most people cut the roots back to about 2cm before replanting

[Eristic]

If you were to use the recycled greengrocers boxes like I do you can plant 6 to the row and 8 rows for a box of 48.

If roots are too tangled, separate with a knife or scissors.

[sunloving]

I'd just plant them out, they are really tough plants.
x sunloving