Growing Leeks - The Haxnicks Way

The leek is an unique vegetable which belongs to the allium family and is also a relative of the onion.

Leeks are often overlooked as vegetables and yet they are the most undemanding and one of the most rewarding vegetables that you can plant. The plants are exceptionally easy to raise and are relatively pest free as well as not minding cold conditions.

The leek is usually grown in the cooler part of the year and prefers a lightly limed soil. Leeks are usually grown alongside carrots, onions, garlic, parsnips and other root crops, but rotation is important and where possible leeks and onions should not be grown on the same patch for at least three years.

The leek grows slowly and steadily over a relatively long period of time (4 to 6 months) and so the sooner the seeds are sown the larger the leeks will grow. In gardens leeks are usually transplanted from seed beds when they reach a length of 15 – 17cm and are as thick as a pencil (about 3 months of growth).

1. Fill a Slim (Rannoch) Rootrainer Tray with good quality peat free compost
2. Sow the seeds thinly into each cell in at the earliest mid-February/March (about 4 to six seeds in each cell)
3. Cover the tray with the clear propagating lid
4. Leave to germinate in a warm but not too warm place
5. Remove lid once plants have emerged and use as a drip tray under the tray and grow on in good light

Once the plants are ready, plant out into a deep, rich well composted and moist soil.

Make 15cm deep holes with a garden stake and place the seedling into the hole. Don’t close the hole with soil but rather water the plant, which will close the hole with the right amount of soil.

As the leeks mature mound up the soil to keep the shanks blanched white.

Watering of the young plants is vital until they are well established and weeding is just as essential.

Leeks are harvested by first loosening the plant with a fork pushed vertically downwards several inches from the row and then they can be pulled out with no damage and not too much soil disturbance.

We like to end on a Tip and so why not use our Speedhoe to keep those weeds down. Speedhoe is a well recognised easy and chemical free way to keep vegetable patches free of weeds.

Which Rootrainer? - What Size Cell To Use

How deep? That is the question.

Before the appearance of Rootrainers, growers had little opportunity to experiment and compare the merits of different depths of plant pots and in many cases they chose to downsize.

Air pruning of the root (the process whereby roots stop growing downwards when they meet air) occurs more quickly with a smaller pot. This process is not dissimilar to normal pruning that produces a bushier plant. In the case of roots, the air pruning encourages lateral growth and thus develops a stronger root system.

Some growers claim the quicker a plant is in its final growing habitat, the better. Plant too deep and the roots may be below the best top soil and be inhibited by poorer soil. There may also be a better balance between root development and top growth.

However, deep plants may be stronger and more mature, more resistant to disease and environmental changes. Under-bench heating will promote even quicker root growth, without plants having their top growth inhibited.

Deep pots enable growers to plant out earlier and to take advantage of well prepared beds, and good top soil. Growers will find they have different answers and Rootrainers can meet these different needs.

Basically, fast growing root structures, which is true of most vegetables grown in deeply well prepared beds, prefer deep pots, particularly for early growers. Plants that have to over-winter, like perennials may also benefit from deep pots. But annuals that go out after the frosts, into warm, shallow flower beds, and plants required for pots and hanging baskets require a shorter pot.

Most cuttings benefit from a shorter pot to encourage early air pruning; likewise, plants with slow root growth. Some such plants may need to be deeper before they go on out. They can be started in deeper pots and left, or they can be started in smaller pots for early strength and potted on into larger pots if required. This is a particularly easy process with Rootrainers because the pots are identical apart from the depth, meaning that the plant is not disturbed at all.

The ultimate choice is in the hand of the grower which is perhaps what makes plant growing so interesting.

With Rootrainers, instead of "pots" we talk about "cells", where each cell grows a single plant. The shape of the cells is designed to generate a far stronger root system than conventional plant pots. However the choice of size is no different whether you are dealing with a Rootrainer cell or any other plant pot.