Leeks are a member of the Allium family, known for their mild and sweet flavor. They are easy to grow from seed sown in spring and early summer, either indoors or outside. They can be grown temporarily in a seedbed, then moved from one plant to another. To sow leeks from seed, fill small pots or seed modules with good quality, multi-purpose compost and firm gently. Scatter the seed thinly.
The ideal soil temperature for leek seeds to sprout is around 70°F, but they can germinate in cooler temperatures at a slower rate. Leeks can be sown in your greenhouse in late March or indoors 8 to 10 weeks before your last hard frost. Sprinkle leeks seeds and cover with 1/4 inch of soil in a container. Plant two to six inches apart, with 12 to 36 inches between rows. A transplant solution of half-strength 20-20-20 or 10-10-10 fertilizer will get the plants off.
To plant leek seedlings, gently remove the seedling from the planting pot, using the lead tip of a pencil to help ease it out of the soil. Keep the seedlings warm (at least 10°C/50°F) and in the container. The best time to sow leeks is when there is no frost, but they can be started in January if there is no frost.
In summary, growing leeks from seed is an easy, low-maintenance, and trouble-free process. They are easy to save seeds, grow again, and preserve after harvesting.
📹 Growing Leeks from Sowing to Harvest
Leeks need a long growing season but the end result is worth it – big, beautiful plants that withstand cold weather and can be …
Are leeks hard to germinate?
To cultivate leeks from seed, one must adhere to the following step-by-step instructions. In order to cultivate leeks from seed, it is necessary to gather the following materials: leek seeds, multi-purpose, peat-free compost, a seed tray or small pots, a garden fork, garden string, dibber, watering can, and fleece. The next step is to fill the pots or seed trays with compost, then gently firm the soil. The seeds should then be scattered thinly over the surface, covered with a further layer of compost, and watered.
What not to grow in a greenhouse?
Greenhouses are ideal for gardeners as they provide controlled environments that extend growing seasons and protect plants from harsh weather. However, not all plants thrive in enclosed spaces. Some common mistakes to avoid include large trees and shrubs, which can outgrow containers and damage structures. Invasive plants, such as mint or certain ivy species, can quickly overtake other plants and become difficult to eradicate once established in a greenhouse.
To avoid these issues, it is recommended to reserve your greenhouse for compact or easily pruned plants. Additionally, plants with high temperature requirements, such as long-lived perennials, should be kept outside for easier control. By avoiding these common mistakes, you can save time, effort, and disappointment in your greenhouse gardening endeavors.
Why are my seedlings dying in my greenhouse?
Damping off disease is a disease that affects seeds before they germinate, where a pathogen that thrives on too-wet conditions can grow and kill the seeds before they can emerge. Common reasons for seedling failure include poor soil conditions, such as too little or too much water, and inadequate light. Some of the most common mistakes made in gardening include not having enough water, not having enough light, and not having enough light.
To prevent seeds from failing to germinate, it is essential to maintain a suitable soil temperature of 65°-75°F, which is generally recommended for most seeds. This temperature should be maintained at a level that is neither too hot nor too cold, and that the light should be evenly distributed throughout the plant. By addressing these common mistakes, gardening can help identify what is working and improve the overall success of your plants.
Do leeks need light to germinate?
To grow leeks from seed indoors, fill a shallow tray with moist soilless potting mix and lightly cover it with light. Use a heat mat to maintain a soil temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit and place the container by a bright window or under grow lights. Germination should occur within two weeks. Use a quality organic vegetable potting mix and compost for a boost. Repotting is usually unnecessary, but choose a container that accommodates the leeks’ mature size.
In cold climates, harvest leeks before freezing temperatures set in and start with new plants the next growing season. In warm climates, leave leeks in the ground over winter and grow them in raised beds to maintain a suitable soil temperature.
Can you plant leek seeds straight into the ground?
Leeks can be sown directly into soil and thinned later, but a more reliable method is to sow into pots and transplant seedlings when they are about 20cm high. Seedling leeks can be purchased from nurseries or mail order. Leeks require a sunny, sheltered site with well-drained, well-prepared soil with added manure or fertilizer. Traditional planting involves making a hole with a dibber, 20cm deep, and dropping a seedling in. However, an alternative method involves planting in clumps, spacing them apart, and setting them deep.
What is the best month to plant leeks?
Leeks grow 55 to 180 days after transplanting, depending on the variety. They thrive in temperatures between 55-75°F and can tolerate hotter weather. Leeks can be planted in spring or late summer to fall in mild southern climates. They prefer full sun, ample consistent water, well-draining soil, moderate nitrogen and organic matter, and are frost-tolerant once mature. They have few pests, including thrips, maggots, and fungal diseases. Leeks can be classified into long season and short season varieties.
Short season leeks, or “early season” leeks, are smaller, mild-tasting, and less hardy than long season leeks but are ideal for gardeners with a short cool-season growing window. Popular short season leek varieties include King Richard, Varna, Rally, and Lancelot.
What is the easiest thing to grow in a greenhouse?
Salad vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, and lettuce are easy to grow and have high yields. They thrive in greenhouses and can be grown up a trellis or wall to save space. Other staples like pole beans and snap peas can also be grown in this configuration. Greens, such as cut and come-again lettuces and microgreens, are essential for a salad and require shallow containers. Onions, carrots, kale, cabbage, and broccoli are also suitable for greenhouses. Cold-hardy plants like leafy and bitter greens and root vegetables can keep you eating fresh all year. Remember to leave space for harvesting these vegetables.
What is the secret to growing leeks?
Leeks thrive in deep, fertile, friable soil with organic matter, making planting and harvesting easy. They prefer a pH of 6 or higher and can be treated with agricultural lime or dolomite if the soil is too acidic. Thorough land preparation is crucial to kill weeds and create a suitable planting tilth. If the soil is not very fertile, apply a liberal dressing of well-rotted animal manure to the preceding crop. Organic animal products should not be applied immediately before planting as they attract the corn seed fly.
If a liberal dressing of animal manure was applied before the previous crop, use a mixed fertiliser like Grower 11® at a rate of 150-200 kg/ha. Band the fertiliser into the soil below the crop row before planting or side-dress with a nitrogen fertiliser at 30 kg/ha if growth lacks vigor and is not bright green.
How long do leeks take to grow from seed?
Leeks, a gourmet vegetable with a mild onion flavor, require a long growing season of 120-150 days. They can be grown indoors and transplanted in early spring. Leeks have shallow root systems and require frequent watering. They can be harvested after the first frosts. Leeks are easy to grow in Minnesota and can be eaten in soups, raw, braised, casseroles, or quiche. They look like overgrown green onions with a long, cylindrical white shaft and thick, flat, folded leaves. Plants grow two to three feet tall and can have a width of two inches.
How do you germinate leek seeds indoors?
Sowing leeks is a simple process that involves sieving potting soil into pots or trays, gently tamping it down, and sowing seeds thinly. Two seeds per cell can be sown in a plug tray. Cover the seeds with more potting soil and water them regularly. Early sowings should be placed on a sunny indoor windowsill or in a greenhouse for quicker growth. As the seedlings grow, they can be separated and potted into individual pots. Before transplanting, acclimate young leeks to outdoor conditions by leaving them outside for longer periods. They are ready to transplant when they are six to eight inches tall.
Can you grow leeks in a greenhouse?
Initiating the cultivation of leeks indoors from late winter can facilitate an earlier harvest and provide a head start. The seeds should be placed in small pots or modular trays, filled with seed compost, watered gently, and sown thinly. It is essential to maintain optimal conditions for the seedlings, including warmth and adequate light, while ensuring regular irrigation. Once roots emerge, the seedlings should be transferred to larger containers. This method is particularly advantageous in situations where outdoor space is limited during the spring season.
📹 How To Grow Leeks | Easy Method for BIG Harvests
Today’s video shares the exact step-by-step process I use to grow Leeks, without fussing about starting them in modules. Leeks …
I have wild leeks spawned from original plantings. I love the flowers, as do the bees so I leave a few each year… which in turn begets me tiny sweet leeks.. about the size of scallions really, but they are delicious. in past years, I have tried thinning them out but they tend to go to seed; so I just leave them in their natural clumps and tease some out when I want to use them. Health dictates lazy gardening now… but my leeks are still helping me out.
I tried growing leeks for the first time 2 years ago and lost the whole crop to allium leaf miner. I found out that this is a new pest in the US and that was about the year it was first identified, right here in Pennsylvania. Last year I grew them with an inexpensive black tulle fabric covering and they did well. Still got a few miners when I took off the fabric in late October; I should have left it on through November. Thanks for the article.
Delicious Tips! Many great suggestions on planting and harvesting. I particularly like the ‘blanching’ idea – though my wife enjoys the green part almost all the way to the tip. We use ALOT of leeks – they are tasty in their own right, but also great substitutes for onions which we’ve not had much luck with in our soil. I have had issues: first year direct sowed two varieties – they only got to about 1/4″ (7 mm) diameter. Puzzled I left them in through the winter and let grow the next season – they stayed green but did not grow at all! – weird. Then that season also planted some xplants from a nursery – THEY took off and got 3 feet (…excuse me 1 meterish) tall and were wonderful. Thanks for another great article!
I have had only 1 failed attempt on growing them last year, but I’ve loved eating them forever! My favorite is leek creamy soup: ground beef/pork, creamy sauce base couple cups of cream, water, leeks and a few potatoes – voila, deliciousness! I’ve eaten it for several of my birthday dinners over the years.
I’m in Australia, and a new/intermediate level gardener whom is 90% reliant on pots and containers to grow anything (small unit). I’ve sort of been timid to try onions of any sort, had some bad experiences with bunching/spring onions and shied away from them after. I’ve recently become interested with trialling leeks as a experiment. But I will probably do this in September when it’s spring here in Oz. Also trialing garlic and ginger this year. My fingers are crossed. I found this article informative and enjoyable. I find most of my guides for veg growing are from mostly English or USA based gardening YouTubers. Keep up the great content
I’m new to growing leeks, I bought a punnet of seedlings today, they’re all quite tiny. After perusal this article I think I should probably up pot them all for now and let them grow stronger and larger before putting them in the ground. It’s the first month of autumn here in Australia (Canberra) so I think I have time to do that before the really cold weather hits. I’m fairly new to vegetable gardening, I guess I will learn more as the years go by. Thanks for a great article.
Wish I had a tip to share, but I do it the exact same way as you detailed, and I always get amazing results. I guess the only thing I could suggest that most folks already know.. if you choose to get a headstart with leek plant starts, Dixondale farms sells Lancelot Leek starts that are hearty and delicious, and affordable to buy. Cheers!
leek griddle scones to accompany a lamb and leek casserole, that’s how we roll around South Yorkshire. I’m a fan of square foot gardening in VERY raised beds. 4 leeks per square foot. Thankfully Leeks can be grown in pots too, great for my small garden. As you can imagine, I do not plant anything in rows, I do not have a farm nor a tractor. I crowd plant everything, I harvest produce as baby veggies when they really need thinning, no waste.
Rather than hilling or covering the stems with cardboard I have had good success by planting them in a large block quite close together ( about 2-3 inches). The sun finds it hard to penetrate and they naturally blanch. I also place straw or sugar cane mulch around the outside of the block to protect the outside ones from direct sunlight.
Leeks are extremely hardy plants, I planted some last spring, harvested some last fall, and let the rest overwinter in the garden uncovered. Our winters are very cold with snow and the ground freezes hard for months, but yet this spring the leeks were still alive and are now growing again, and no sign of them going to flower.
A very timely article. I will sow seeds today. I will try using the block method this year. We still have a good crop of last year’s leeks in the ground for use as required. One of our favourite recipes is French Leek Pie, similar to the cream and cheese recipe in the article but in pasty. Decadent but yummy.
I absolutely love this article,amongst others too,fantastic advice Ben,your articles are to the point,good tips and I love articles that go from germination right through to harvest,with the care and upkeep too,why not involve a few more recipe suggestions also to all your articles.it brings another branch of knowledge to the learning tree👍
I have had exceptionally good luck with leeks. I have a small crop planted at the outside edge of my greenhouse (about 2 ft x 2 ft.) They thrive abundantly and weather over the winter. I have planted them only once and this is their 3rd year that they are producing. Do they reseed themselves? I had no idea that they would be this proliferate.
I have been looking up “winter leek growing” and all of the articles I can find appear to be from the UK… For me winter is a very different world as I live in the wilderness of Northern Idaho in the US. I quite enjoy leeks and after learning that they are good winter crops I checked through my seed packs and found two packages of them. Granted, right now I have one to two feet of snow on the ground (thankfully most of it has melted off no more 3 to 4 feet). I will likely have a few inches to a foot on ground for the next 6 to 8 weeks and then just intermittent snows after that. I have been planning on trying to grow squash/zucchini and pumpkins in the edges of my forest this year and I went scouting the forest today for areas that will get good southerly light while still being protected by the tree branches. While I was out I noticed that all of the soil beneath most of the trees is wide open with no snow, the soil is also quite moist . Could I plant leeks in under those trees where they good southern light exposure “now”? Would I need to germinate the seed inside and then maybe grow it outside in the covered porch like maybe in a milk jug greenhouse? Then transplant to soil under the trees and keep the milk jug atop it for protection for a while? There must be some relatively cold areas in the UK where people have experience with leeks in an “actual” winter like situation. Any advice or ideas?
First time growing leeks! I just harvested the last two (miss them already!) to use in a butternut squash soup. Wow, what a treat having lovely things from the garden even in winter! Next I’ll be starting my own from seed. Not sure of the variety I had grown…but, they seemed hardy. If you grow a shorter season variety, what can you do to preserve the harvest?
I’m having a go at growing St George Leeks which are an early variety and I’m in Australia. I am a foodie first, so Leek is like garden royalty to me and my kitchen. Last season I grew Leeks in a clump as they came out of the seedling container. This season, I am going to separate them and plant them out individually. I will definitely try not to backfill the holes and let the water do the work. Wish me luck! Cheers!
It made me want to cry, seeing the leek greens go straight to the compost! They might be a bit leathery when fresh, but they cook down and almost disintegrate into soups, stocks and stews. I’m growing leeks this year strictly for the greens, in fact. I can’t eat the bulb of any onion, but I can eat the green part. So I’ll be saving the greens, all chopped up in the freezer, and giving the white part to my parents. It’s super difficult to find leeks with enough of the greens attached, so that I can use them. Not to mention it costs about $2 a leek at my local grocery store.That’s why I decided to grow my own this year. But people, please, try the green part! It’s delicious and oniony, just like the white part! And that makes leeks a 2-for-1 veggie for most gardeners! It’s such a waste just tossing them in the compost without a second thought.
I only grew leeks once and it was a disaster. I bought the slips {bare root}. I recently learned that elephant garlic is actually in the leek family. What do you know? I have been growing them without knowing it. The only thing is that leeks are started from seed and elephant garlic is started from cloves or seeds. I bought Giant Musselburgh leek seeds and I think they are for fall growing and have already planted some in trays. Will I still be able to harvest any. Should I wait until late summer to start new plants to grow through the winter?
I have a question about the tip to cover the leeks with tubing or soil to get a nice white stem. Is there a taste or texture difference for the white stem verses letting it be green? I’m growing leeks for the first time and all of the ones I buy at the store have the white stem and I am wondering if it is actually preferable or just to make it look nice. Thanks!
I have a dream of having one part of my backyard where some vegetables grow freely here and there and I don’t dig them out. But when I wish, I just come along, pick them out and eat. Can carrots, onions or some similar veggies grow this way and not rot out if not dug out after they are ready? And can they reproduce on their own? 🙂
Informative article. I thought a load of grass had invaded my leek seedlings at first. Good to know that the blades of grass I see are actually the seedlings themselves. … But honestly, who the hell buys an implement solely for the purpose of poking holes in soil?. Honestly – that’s the most ridiculous, absurdly consumerist and pointlessly wasteful thing i’ve seen today. And i’m immersed in an entire society based upon those qualities. Even when we humans are involving ourselves in nature, we remain stubbornly disconnected from it. Ever heard of a stick? They literally grow on trees.
hi ok I was thinking the other day about what veg I wanted to plant, I thought to myself why do we not have wild vegetables growing anywhere? I’ve never seen any veg outside of a farm or garden? just another thought no wild fruit trees either, there are wild berries, anyone got an answer? I’ve asked lots of people and apart from the oh dear she’s finally lost it looks I’ve been getting, followed by mm she’s got a point looks, no one has been able to answer my question, just wondering if you or anyone does knows why, or if anyone has seen random patches of vegetables anywhere.
Trouble free ? No chance. I’m in SE England and my whole crop was destroyed by Allium Leaf Miner. The eggs must have been laid in September because now the crop is a goner. This pest arrived in the UK in 2002 and is spreading north so watch out because there is no treatment yet available. The flies are active in March/April and again in Sept/Oct.