Leeks

I bought some leeks from the Home Depot. I'm not sure on how to plant them I read that they are much like planting onions. Anyone care to share some advice?

I've recently finished reading current advice from loads of research done in Belgium where they take their competion veg growing very seriously.

It is dibber a hole 8 inches deep , slip the whole leek plant in DO NOT CUT THE TOPS OR ROOTS as this will slow the plant ..it will not as I used to think make the plant grow a profuse root system .

Add a cup of slightly warmer than the air temp into the hole & leave it to back fill on its own for a week or two . Then start earthing up when 5 inches of leek stem starts to poke above the ground level.

To do that in 6 inch of MM will require the use of lifts / extender boxes to make the available depth of theMM greater. they should be made of 4 inch wide wood , set the first lift ontop of the MM and fill it with more , dibber your holes in at the rate suggested by Mel if you want to harvest thin leeks .. of go to the four inch spacing if you want long thick leeks .

For the latter add the second lift or third when the leek body comes four inches above the top of the lift.

You can gently wrap some one sided corrugated carboard round the leak stem and gently tie it in off a bow using wool or soft hemp string .. tie in a bow so you can undo it easily , as when the stem expands it may need untying and leaving in place . These collars can be added one over another as it is only to keep slugs , wood lice & MM out of the leeks. The leeks done like this will have a long blanched whitish body and great green leaves .

You can eat both parts though for some unearthly reason lots of people do not use the greenery ....which I think is a crying shame as is really the best part if cooked in 3 inch long bits.

Here are links for a few other threads about leeks

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

Leeks Growing fact sheet from UMN

Yum Yum! LEEKS!!!!

Thanks for the help

will those instructions count if you grow leeks from seed?
I have them growing about 6" high. My neighbor told me just to put the seed in and wait for eternity but he never said to pool up the dirt around the base.
How the heck do you water them?
Thanks, Kitty[b]

jdepce wrote:will those instructions count if you grow leeks from seed?
I have them growing about 6" high. My neighbor told me just to put the seed in and wait for eternity but he never said to pool up the dirt around the base.
How the heck do you water them?
Thanks, Kitty[b]

I am not quite sure what you are asking...

Did you start your leeks from seed in the garden bed and they are now 6 inches tall?

Yeah, and they have about 4 onion like leaves on them, but do I need to put dirt around that or will they just grow down into the soil?
kitty

Let them keep growing where they are for a few more weeks so they can get a little bigger. Basically you can transplant the leeks back into the same bed.
If it was me, I would lift them gently the way to do this, take a garden fork and slide it into the soil, under the roots. While holding the green tops, in a bunch in one hand, push down on the fork handle with the other hand, this should gently lift the leeks and loosen the soil around the roots. Gently pull up the plants and put the roots in a jar of water.

Level out the soil in the bed, then use a dibble to poke holes 4-6 inches deep into the bed, as seen in the video above. Gently separate the leek seedlings and place one seedling into each hole. Water the hole, and over time the hole will fill in. Let the leeks grow there for a few months and then you can start harvesting...
I know it sounds complicated, but really, it's not.

The video was an eye opener.
It does seem like too much trouble but when you make cauliflower and leek mashed potatoes, it's all worth it. I'll wait another 2 weeks and dig mine up. Now that I see how big they should be and how to dig the hole, this should be really fun.
Thank you, Kitty

You substitute a head of cauliflower for the potatoes. Use about 2 large leeks. Chunk the vegies into boiling water (salted if you're still able to have it) and cook for 15 minutes on med Hi. Drain and then add all the same ingredients that you use in mashed potatoes like milk or cream, salt, pepper and paprika, butter, etc. I always put in some fresh dill. Smash with a hand mixer. Be careful of how much liquid you use as the cauliflower can hold too much if it's not drained real well.
They taste so close to potatoes that the kids who hate cauliflower may not even know what their eating.

My favorite leek recipe is Creamed Corn with Bacon and Leeks. You'll have to Google it since I can't post links yet, but it can be found on MyRecipes.com. I made up a huge batch last night. Yummmm.