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Back To Basics -Leeks

Each month gardening expert Joe Maiden will bring you down-to-earth advice on growing our most popular crops and use his lifetime of gardening experience to offer top tips to help you to produce your best ever harvests. Joe begins his series with a look at that most rewarding of winter veg – leeks

Leeks are an extremely versatile vegetable that can be produced almost all year round. They are one of the most hardy of all our vegetables and can withstand anything the elements throw at them.

Leeks can be very expensive to buy and often difficult to clean, as soil gets down between the skins. This is often due to large areas grown on a field scale with mechanical cultivation.
Following a few simple guidelines, leeks are easy to grow at home and to keep clean so that you don't have to spend ages washing soil from between the skins.

Sowing indoors

I sow leeks from January through to August.
Sowings made between January and March should be kept in a greenhouse where the night temperature is between 13C and 15C (55-60F). The sowing medium should be either seed compost or a suitable multi-purpose, and I like to sow the seeds thinly in seed trays. Cover lightly with compost and when the seedlings have germinated and are large enough to handle, they can be transplanted into modules or small pots. When the leeks are growing away strongly, place them in a cold frame until they are large enough to plant out.

Sowing outdoors

Sowing of leeks outdoors should take place from mid March to August and should be made in drills 3mm (¼in) deep. The outdoor seedbed needs to be of good, clean, fine soil with moisture retentive material added. Well-rotted garden compost is ideal.

Planting out

When the early leeks from pots and modules are ready for planting, ensure you leave the rootball intact and plant with a trowel. But when grown outside in a seed bed, the young plants can be lifted, taking care not to damage bare roots.

 

My method of planting is to take out a small trench about 15cm (6in) deep, then go down say 10cm (4in) with a dibber. Place the leek plant in the dibber hole and water in. This ensures the soil is washed onto the roots to anchor them into the hole. The lower leaves should be just sat on the surface. Already there is potentially 25cm (10in) of stem below the soil surface which will blanch (remain white and delicious).

If extra blanch is required, put over a collar of plastic pipe or drainpipe. These could be offcuts you may find lying around.

Pests and diseases

The following will all affect leeks and will need to be tackled as they appear.

Slugs and snails are most troublesome on young leeks and should be controlled using your favoured slug control as soon as the plants are planted out.

Sap-sucking pests such as aphids, whitefly, red spider mites and thrips will cause occasional problems and can be controlled with a suitable insecticide if applied as soon as the pests are seen and at regular intervals. However, they rarely cause serious damage, except in seasons that particularly favour them.

Rust is perhaps the most common disease of leeks and was particularly common in 2009 in many areas. Symptoms include tiny yellow spots followed by orange or red rust-like raised bumps or pustules on the leaves and shaft of the leek. There are no suitable chemical controls available to gardeners, but fortunately damage usually only occurs on the outer skin of the leek which is peeled away after harvesting, leaving clean skin beneath.

Leeks are members of the onion family, which means that they can be susceptible to onion white rot – a long term soil-borne disease. If this occurs on your plot, the best 'cure' is to grow your leeks and onions in containers, pots or beds of clean soil, or if possible to rotate crops and avoid contaminating clean areas by moving diseased soil on tools, boots or hands.

Baby leeks

These can be grown in florists’ buckets which are often available from supermarkets and florists; make holes in the base of the buckets prior to use. Alternatively try them in raised beds. The compost needs to be well drained but moisture retentive.

As the leeks develop, start to thin them out to give the rest space to develop. You can eat the leeks when they are thicker than a pencil. Baby leeks are an eating experience to behold!

Month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

Sow

Plant

Harvest

 

 

For more see this month's issue, available to buy online!

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