How to grow leeks from seeds

LEEKS FROM SEED: HOW TO GROW THEM

March is the primary month for planting several vegetables, including leeks. Nevertheless, depending on the variety and the environment where you live, you might sow sooner or later. You can start planting them in May and harvest them through the fall and winter.

Leeks are best started off in a greenhouse or on a windowsill under cover, however you can sow directly. If not, they will take over the vegetable patch while you could be producing other, faster crops like lettuce.

Instead of having one glut, if you sow seeds successively every few weeks, you would have a constant supply. Check the seed packet for the specific sowing requirements for early and late types.

cultivating leeks from seed

• Small pots or seed modules should be filled with fine-til the potting soil, such as seed compost.
• One seed should be sown in each pot or module before adding a thin layer of potting soil.
• Maintain a moist but not swampy soil.
• Within two weeks, the seeds ought to begin to grow.
• Early in the summer, when the seedlings are 6 to 8 inches tall, you can put them outside.
• Make holes about 6 inches deep with a dibber or pencil, spaced about 6 inches apart in rows, and plant your seedlings there. ‘If you grow your crops closer together than usual, you can get more crops in a plot. You’ll get baby leeks that way, and you can pluck them early,’ advises James.
• Leek should be gently loosened from their pots, with the roots cut to about 2 inches long.
• By covering the stems in this manner, they will be blanched, becoming white and tasting sweeter.
• Don’t put dirt in the holes; just fill them with water. You can gently peel the soil from the base of the leeks as they grow, but don’t let it fall between the leaves or it will become trapped there.
• Feed leeks with liquid fertiliser every three to four weeks.
• Leeks can be harvested in the late summer or early fall when they are young and sensitive.
• Leeks will not grow exactly as they should if you allow some of them to blossom, but you can save the seed for the following year.
• If you want to direct-sow your seeds, use a dibber to bury each seed about 8 inches deep. Warm soil is necessary for successful direct outdoor sowing of leeks. With heavy clay soils that warm up slowly, this is especially crucial, according to James. “To help get early crops off to a flying start, cover your plot with black or clear plastic sheeting two weeks before you plan to sow.” A

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