Leek planting

Leek planting has started, about 3 weeks later than I would like but growth in the frames has been slow, I think because of the cold nights lowering the soil temperature.

We plant in the region of six to eight thousand plants every year, so far this week we have got about five thousand in. The rest will be finished this coming Tuesday, in all approximately 7,000 plants

Below you can see the transplants prepared for planting they have grown well since the 1st June when we last looked at them. The roots have been trimmed and the tops cut back so the transplant is about 9" long. Any longer and the transplant is liable to wilt and much smaller they are slow to establish. These have been grown in the cold frame and will be planted bare root after being placed in a root dip of seaweed solution.



Below shows the dibber we use for planting leeks, as can be seen we are planting through the plastic ulch which was laid in April so capturing the high soil moisture at the time.

This final picture shows the depth that the leeks are planted at, they are watered in by filling each planting hole individually with a hose. Unless there is a very dry spell the leeks will not be watered again during the life of the crop.


In September we will compare the bare root transplants with the module leeks and see which produces the better crop.