Leeks: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar
How do you sow leeks under cover?
Sow leeks under bright cover in late winter or spring, adjusting timing to your climate and seed packet. Use free-draining seed compost in pots or a tray. Sow thinly about 1–1.5 cm deep and water gently.
Keep the growing medium slightly moist without standing water and ventilate the shelter. Give seedlings enough light to prevent legginess. Harden them off before transplanting outdoors once sturdy enough, ideally approaching pencil thickness. Height alone is not enough to decide when to transplant.
How do you sow leeks outdoors?
Sow in spring in workable soil that has warmed up, following the packet for your climate. Prepare a small sunny, weed-free seedbed with fine soil. Sow thinly in drills about 1–1.5 cm deep, cover and water gently.
Maintain moisture during emergence and remove competing weeds. Transplant seedbed plants to their final site once sturdy. If sowing directly in place, thin later to about 15–20 cm apart, with 30 cm between rows. These distances are for mature plants, not each seed in a nursery bed.
How do you plant leeks?
Transplant sturdy young leeks in late spring or summer, according to sowing time and climate. Choose a sunny, fertile, well-drained plot where you have not recently grown onions, garlic or leeks. Prepare the soil and moisten plants before separating them.
Make holes about 15 cm deep, 15–20 cm apart, with 30 cm between rows. Drop one plant into each hole without bending roots, then water to settle a little soil around them. Do not pack the holes with soil or bury the centre of the leaves. Water during establishment and then as needed.
How to care for this plant
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Earth up plants
Once your leeks are established, draw soil around them gradually if you want longer white shanks. Keep soil out from between the leaves.
How do you harvest leeks?
Harvest leeks once the shank reaches your preferred size, following your variety’s cropping season. Loosen the soil with a fork and lift the plant gently, especially in heavy soil; do not twist the shank to pull it out.
Hardy winter varieties can remain in the ground for harvesting as needed while plants are healthy and the soil is accessible. Harvest before flowering makes the centre fibrous. Refrigerate lifted leeks and use promptly. Wash carefully between the leaves before cooking; freeze prepared leeks for longer storage.
Leeks
- Type : Vegetables
- Botanical Family : Liliaceae
Characteristics
- Lifecycle : Annual
- Exposure : Full Sun
- Frost Hardiness : Frost Resistant
- Cultivation Difficulty : Medium
- Mature height : 50 cm
Sowing & Planting
- Greenhouse Growing : Not Required
- Sowing Depth : 1 cm
- Plant Spacing : 15 cm
- Row Spacing : 30 cm
Maintenance
- Maintenance : Moderate
- Water Requirements : Moderate
Other characteristics
- Soil Type : Humus-rich
- Soil pH Preference : Neutral
- Pest Sensitivity : Moderate
- Disease Sensitivity : Moderate
- Weed Sensitivity : Moderate
- Pollination : Insect-pollinated
- Propagation : Sowing