I bought some leeks from the market today and want to plant them out.
I understand they need to be 6 inches apart... but what do i do??? Plan on going to the allotment soon so advice would be great.
Water the row a bit where you want to plant them
Make a hole with a dibber about 6 - 8 inches deep (watering the row helps stop the soil falling back in when you pull the dibber out)
With some scissors, cut of the tops of the leaves, so the you have about 10/12 inches from bulb to leaf tip.
Dip the leeks roots in water to get them all pointing downwards
Put the leek in the hole
Fill the hole with water around the plant
Carry on planting about 6 inches apart
Job done.
PS I always make all the holes first....then plant the leeks.
Good thinking..
May I add:
1. Raking the soil level also helps prevent it falling in.
2. 6-8"? Don't stop there!!
3. 10-12"? Yours might only be 6-8" the same as ours. No matter!
4. If they've been dry for some time, a good soak can help.
Sorry to interfere, keef.
Thanks guys! Leeks duly in a bucket of water. Looks like they have been top trimmed, so will trim the roots when i plant. I dont have a dibber but i have a thick long stick so that will have to do LOL.
Wish me luck - I'm having such bad luck down the lotty - i dread going there and i dread even more planting anything out!
Can't fail with leeks!
And so worth while.
Olive Oil, do you mind if I ask a question too?
It is my first time with leeks too. If I plant them 6" apart, how far apart would you put the rows? And can I put them closer in a raised bed? Or if I just dot them around can I put them 6" part in each direction? I have been looking it up and got different info so I am better to ask on here!
Sorry, this looks like more than one question...
Thanks
T.
Rows about a 12 inches apart will be fine.
My allotment is so stony its difficult getting the dibber in further then 6 -8 inches ;) I agree though the deeper you can get them the better.
This year I just used a broom handle to make a hole, watered it when it was in the soil and then wiggled it round. Then a bit more watering allowed it to be pulled out leaving the soil behind. I went for 12" deep ones this year to see if I can get longer leeks.
Dropped in my (untrimmed) leeks, and poked the roots down to the very bottom of the hole by using a thin bamboo cane. Filled hole with more water.
I never trim, as I figure that the plants need all the help they can get to grow, and chopping off leaves won't help that. OK so it means more water loss, but that's not a problem when they're down a soggy humid hole with their roots in mud!!
moonbells
Ok i think i have something like 50 leeks to put in...
I went with a stick a dibber and a 2 x 1... raked the area - removed stones and weeds.
Watered the holes where i was about to dib and got 3-4 inches depth MAX.
So had to dig down to 6 or so inches, the refill the LARGE hole with layers of top soil and crumbled the deeper damp soil until the whole was filled. Then got the 2 x 1 and wet the hole and just managed to get 6 inches deep!
Filled the hole with water, trimmed the tops and roots and popped them in the hole.
Got to 16 holes and leeks... got P()ssed off and chucked the rest back in teh bucket of shallow water....
to be continued tomorrow - should be done by next sunday at this rate!
hehehe OO, I did mine a couple of weeks ago and it is a labour of love! Just to mention, I think you are meant to bung the baby leeklets into the holes, then fill them with water....
These leeks were planted about 4 weeks ago 12"s apart and about 10" deep.
(http://[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/richardkinson/Alottment%20July%202006/000_0448.jpg)(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/richardkinson/Alottment%20July%202006/000_0448.jpg)[/img]
Quote from: Richard Kinson on July 09, 2006, 19:47:07
These leeks were planted about 4 weeks ago 12"s apart and about 10" deep.
Richard, don't you eat any other veg? :o Why so many? ???
lol@OO, leek planting has had its ups and downs for me too this year ::)
hope to catch up to Richard's league though ;)
Bed One 1 July
inserted dibber, withdrew dibber, dry topsoil filled it up again
scraped furrow to damp soil level, then dibbed again - OK
placed leeks in 6" apart, offset, watered each hole carefully and backfilled (tulippa - textbook raised bed method)
time to plant 120 leeks: 3 hours >:(
Bed Two 8 Julyhoed deep furrow the length of the bed
placed leeks 4" apart, watered with abandon, and backfilled with hoe
repeated three more times, rows 1ft apart
time to plant 120 leeks: 1 hour 8)
Looking forward to finding out which do better (hehehe)
120 to go! ;D
Mike - you can never grow enough leeks, surely? :P
Richard, don't you eat any other veg? :o Why so many? ???
[/quote]
Mike there is so many because my allotments are next to a main road and such a lot of people ask me for produce, and they so very generously ( Te He) give me donations for all my hard work and time which have gone into growing my veg. Well thats how I get around the money for veg of the allotment thing.
HANG ON!!!
Am i supposed to back fill??? I just watered the holes, popped the leeks in and left the holes!
Oh god - I hate leeks already.
Did another row tonight and got a huge blister on my finger which popped!
Cunning ;D ;D
Quote from: OliveOil on July 09, 2006, 22:03:01
Am i supposed to back fill
NO! - not with the hole-and-water method. But with it being so dry and windy, and no rain forecast, I figured they'd be happier with a thick dust mulch. The furrow-and-fill method for bed 2? - first year I've tried it ::) :)
Quote from: OliveOil on July 09, 2006, 22:03:01
Oh god - I hate leeks already.
lol when you have big fat leeks early next year you'll love them to bits ;D
Quote from: supersprout on July 09, 2006, 20:27:26
6" apart, offset, watered each hole carefully and backfilled (tulippa - textbook raised bed method)
SS thank you, I had a feeling there was a different spacing for a raised bed, Hopefully I shall get them in on Tuesday - my weekends are never my own! :(
Have you seen Steve Partridge's updated website & video? - he's giving a masterclass in leek planting - great stuff. This forum, further down the page.
Steve's video and blog are fantastic! More please ;D ;D ;D
Edited later: deep bed planted textbook style (except for the backfilling, which I know is wrong):
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/20060710_0005.jpg)
Experimental furrow-and-fill method. Got in deep about this with the site rep this morning, he said I'd done it all wrong :-[
I said I certainly had ;D
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/20060710_0006.jpg)
Pencil? My leeks are the thickness of a drinking straw - well, the big ones are ;)
Dont back fill , stick the leek in the hole, then fill with water around the leek.
I havn't planted mine out yet - will proably get round to doing it this week sometime.
SS, some of mine are no more than blades of grass, but they will do the business and create that perfect continual cropping that we all strive to obtain! ;)
Phew e-j, that's reassuring!
I assume that if my 'backfilled' leeks are successful they will be grittier than normal - extra work for the cook, otherwise no harm done. When they are stout, I'll mulch in the autumn instead of earthing up.
I have been keeping an eye on this thread and have said nothing simply because I don't use the method/s used here and have (I guess) equal success.
I just cant see the point of cutting off roots, shortening leaves etc.
Then there is the other thing, are you growing 'pot' leeks or 'blanch' leeks?
For those who do not know; pot leeks are fat and the blanching is short, usually no more than 6"
Blanch leeks are as long as you desire, the object is, is to get the blanched part as long as possible.
The only thing I seem to have in common is the sowing and growing on to pencil thickness, although I don't even bother too much about thickness either.
Lets take pot leeks first, as I think this is what most of you are attempting to grow. I base this on the fact that many of you bury your leeks 6"-10" deep.
My way; at the 'crook' stage I prick out into 3" pots, I then grow them on for a few weeks, possibly to the infamous 'pencil thickness' stage then I plant out.
To do this I use a bulb planter to form my planting hole, this is much easier than using a trowel, particularly if the ground is sticky, plus the fact the 3" rootball sits snugly in the hole.
I plant the plants out to the same level as they were in the pots, perhaps about an inch deeper (depends upon how deep I made the hole)
Now for the reason I have chosen to do this as opposed to the 'deep hole' method and filling with water.
To my mind (with the deep hole way) when the leek wants to swell it gets a resistance from the the soil surrounding it. Which might be fine in some soils that has a bit of give in it but what about for example; baked clay? stony ground? not much give in those as a rule is there?
Whereas my way everything is above ground apart from the roots (which were never cut) so plenty of space to expand/swell, and depending upon variety you will get as much natural blanching taking place as you would under ground.
With blanch leeks you just surround them with pipe sleeves and you will get extended blanching.
I hope you don't mind my rant but I just had to share with you all, another way of growing leeks.
Is there no one from the North east of England on this forum, they should know what I am on about.
Because I don't have a dibber, I dig a hole and drop them in. Last year I did similar to you TG and grew them on in little pots, this year I thought I would try the more 'by the book' method and see how they go.
I grow blanched leeks and later in the year I earth them up using my leaf mould that was made last autumn. My ground is quite stony which can cause odd shaped leeks (and other veg) but as they aren't for showing or selling, and as I am chief cook and bottle washer (or leek washer) then I really don't mind.
Feeding though, should one be feeding ones leeklets yet? If no, then when and what with??
;D
Like EJ I grow blanched leeks, in my case I use toilet rolls as leek collars.
Very neat mike :o
Do the collars last til Spring?
They did when I did it last year.
My you must use a lot of toilet paper Mike :o by my calculations approximately one and a half rolls per day ;D
Very tidy plot!
Oh tee gee, one asks one's friends to save them up for one, does one not? ::)
Quote from: supersprout on July 12, 2006, 13:41:03
Oh tee gee, one asks one's friends to save them up for one, does one not? ::)
Even M.I.L's
The plot is part of my garden TG, so I had better keep it reasonably neat otherwise OH would be quite vocal :D :D. Also I've got cement paths so easy to sweep etc. BUT I don't have any ripe toms yet, so not a happy man. Mind you I did get some rain this week, so not all bad.
Pics are last winter.