Growing leeks in your garden are in general promiscuous to do , low care and ordinarily trouble - free . Leeks are also prosperous to save seed and grow again and preserve after harvest ! Learn how to uprise scallion from ejaculate step by step and try growing this gourmet vegetable in your garden this time of year .
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What are Leeks?
Leeks are a relative of the onion family with a mild oniony flavor . The stem is the part that is eaten and highly is seek after by chef for heating and hearty soups , stock , gratin , Italian rice , casserole , tarts , and tempting side beauty like scalloped spud with scallion and thyme .
Types of Leeks
There are 3 types of scallion
other and mid - time of year leek are quick for harvest time in fall and are not as Robert Frost resistant as belated - season varieties . previous - season varieties are ideal to leave in the background over winter for continual harvests through to jump the following year .
How to Sow Leek Seeds
Leek seeds evolve at elbow room temperature and can be start in3 column inch potsor inseed starting module traysindoors as ahead of time as January or February .
See other source to come out in January here .
you could start 4 - 5 seedling in the 3 inch pots , if you are using the module tray , only plant life 1 or 2 seeds per faculty . Watch how to seed leek source in this picture :
Sowing Leek Seeds Step By Step
I like to utilise a grow brightness level as I keep my germ take up out of the way of the dogs . Start the light close to the stain and advance as the seedlings grow .
As your seedling maturate with child , pot them on which is where you softly split up the plant life and transplant them into large pots , toilet report tubes ormake newspaper potsthat can go in the compost heap later .
How to Transplant Leeks Outside
When your leek seedlings are 6 - 8 inches ( 15 - 20 atomic number 96 ) tall , they are ready to transpose outside . Make indisputable you inure off your seedlings so they get used to the weather condition outside before planting them in their last growing patch .
Place your seedlings outside in a sheltered smear for periods of time during the day over 1 - 2 week , institute them within at night . Acold shape or greenhouseis ideal to aid protect seedlings during the curing off appendage .
Leeks postulate a sunny spot in the garden with loose , rich land . dig up over your garden bed and add homemade compost to give your leek seedlings the good jump in their growing office . Since leeks are part of the onion plant family , do n’t plant them in the same space where you have grown onions orgarlicthe class before .
embed out your seedling using adibberto make the holes . Make holes with thedibberso the holes are 9 inch ( 22 cm ) aside and 6 inches ( 15 cm ) deep .
Tease out the stem of your leek seedling so they are loose and start them into the holes . Don’t fill the holes with soil!This will help the prow keen .
rapidly water in the leek seedlings using awatering canwithout the rose affixation . Fill the dibber holes all the way to the top with water . If possible plant your seedlings on a cloudy day so they do n’t dry out out too quickly . The soil will wash into the dibber holes , this is normal and o.k. !
If it is still frosty in spring and you have harden off your leek seedling , engraft them out underfloating dustup cover charge as frost protective cover .
Caring for Growing Leeks
Leeks are known as wakeless feeders and appreciate aliquid feedingwith a natural liquid state feed or compost tea leaf once every 2 weeks . you could also side - dress each leek works with a handfull of well - rotted compost once a month .
To get nice snowy and tender root word , you need to hill up the soil around each leek works by piling up soil or mulch like grass clippings around each stem . you may also wrap composition board around each stem and tie it with twine but I find this encourage earwigs to coiffe up a plate in there and they freak my family out ! So I deposit with pulling grime up around the leek usinga heavy - duty hoe . And the hoe pulls duple duty take care of any weed that come up in the leek bed 🙂
Water your leeks deeply on a regular basis , especially in blistering , dry weather .
If you plan on keeping Allium porrum in the ground over winter , mulch your Allium porrum with chaff and usefloating row cover as frost protection .
Leek Diseases
Leeks are generally trouble - free but can develop problems with fungal diseases in area with high humidness . Rust is common and look like an orange or rusty colored plot on the leave .
Allium cepa white rot is another problem that can be made worse with over head water splash soil which then receive onto the leaves . Mulch the soil and use drip irrigation to decoct the exit .
Because leeks are part of the onion family , they can get onion downy mildew . The crest of the leaves shrivel and descend over and pale green - yellow smirch form further down the leaf . This is a common issue in high humidity or long periods of dampish weather condition . reduce off affected role of the flora and remove junk from the area .
Most leek disease can be supervise by ensuring plenty of infinite around each plant for right air circulation whilst originate . Avoid growing leek where you have previously grown onions or ail .
Leek Pests
When growing leeks , keep a lookout for aphid , lick , and snails on the plants .
If you have plants that expect like they are struggling , you might have Allium cepa theme maggot which can be see when you dig up the leek . Remove affect plant from the expanse and invalidate growing leeks in the same place as onion or ail .
Harvesting Leeks
Leeks are ready to harvest when the stems are about an column inch or more wide . Carefully excavate out the leeks using agarden forkto loosen and revoke the leeks . clip the leaves and part of the ancestor into the compost bin and lap thoroughly before using in the kitchen .
How to Preserve Leeks
The bang-up thing about homegrown leeks is that even if you ca n’t pass on them in the ground over wintertime , they are pretty easy to carry on . scallion can stack away in the refrigerator for a number of weeks and even longer in a root cellar . Leeks also stop dead very well and are great to use throughout the residue of the year .
How to Save Leek Seeds
If you want to raise leeks without the trouble of buy more source and startbuilding your own seed backand nutrient security measures , then you will need to save seeds .
Leeks wo n’t cross with onions or garlic but they will scotch with other leek varieties grown within a mile . Like onion , leeks are two-year meaning they will institutionalize up flowers in their 2nd class of growth . If you live in an area with very cold-blooded and hard winters , you will need to dig up your scallion and store in a root basement or a cool , teetotal and dark location in your home plate then replant the leek in spring to flower .
Choose leek for seed saving that are growing well and do not show signs of pests or disease . To check upright seed caliber , redeem from at least 5 plants . Tie coloured yarn or ribbon around leeks you will save for seed output and countenance household members screw so they do n’t circumstantially pull your seed leeks up !
Bees adore the flower earth produced by leek and the seeds are mature when the pods or ejector seat divide open and you could see the black-market seminal fluid inside .
ascertain more about seminal fluid saving tools right here .
Always ensure to operate safely . All task are purely “ at your own risk of exposure ” and are for information purposes only . As with any project , unfamiliarity with the tools , animal , plant , and processes can be dangerous . Posts , podcasts , and videos should be read and interpreted as theoretic advice only and are not a substitute for advice from a fully licence professional .
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