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Leek is a popular and at the same time versatile leek vegetable. It can be grown in any garden, no matter how small, and in almost any garden soil. Depending on the variety and the time of sowing, leeks can be harvested well into winter. You can choose between summer, autumn and winter varieties, with the late varieties in particular having a particularly long shelf life. Late onions also differ from summer onions in terms of sharpness.
sowing
Best sowing time
Before buying seeds, you should know when you want to harvest. Summer leeks can be grown on the windowsill or in the greenhouse from January or sown in a sheltered spot outdoors from April to May. From the end of March to the end of April, the plants that have been brought forward are planted out in the garden. Harvest time is then around June/July. Autumn varieties can be preferred from February to the end of April or sowed directly from April to May and transplanted from mid-April to mid-July. Depending on the time of sowing, harvest time is from August/September to December.
Leeks in the garden bed
Last but not least, the winter leek. It is sown from April to June. It can then be pricked out from mid-June to the end of July. Or you can sow it directly from the end of April. It can be harvested from around mid-October to April of the following year. Even when planting outdoors, the plants should be pricked out when they reach a certain size so that they can develop well.
Tip: Plants that are sown directly outdoors are usually more resistant to diseases and weather conditions than those that have been grown in advance.
Sowing Instructions
preculture
The right time for sowing or preferring depends on the variety. You need a suitable growing vessel, growing substrate and appropriate seeds.
- first fill the cultivation vessel with substrate
- Scatter seeds on top and cover about 1 cm with soil
- Distances between the seeds approx. 2 - 3 cm
- then water and put the whole thing in a bright place
- optimal germination temperature is between 17 and 20 degrees
- Cover with translucent foil or glass to support the germination process
- or grow the young plants in the greenhouse
The cultivation substrate should be evenly moist but not wet throughout the germination process. The germination period is about 15 - 20 days. After emergence, the seedlings can be separated at a distance of 5 x 5 cm and cultivated in a bright place.
Tip: If the temperatures fall below 17 degrees during the cultivation phase, you risk bolting. The young plants shoot up, are weak, powerless and no longer usable.
no-till
Direct sowing is usually not as efficient as growing on the windowsill. As already mentioned, the soil should be prepared accordingly before sowing in the bed. The planting area should be cleared of weeds again and kept weed-free throughout cultivation. Immediately before sowing, water the area in question and then make seed furrows about 2 cm deep. Spread the seeds in it and cover them loosely with soil. From a size of approx. 5 cm, the seedlings can be separated or transplanted.
Tip: If you sow early, around mid-March, it is advisable to cover the bed with fleece or brushwood, especially at night. If it is winter leek, you should pay attention to a protected location for sowing.
Leeks in the vegetable patch
Site and soil requirements
As far as location is concerned, leeks are relatively undemanding. It should be bright, sunny and somewhat sheltered from the wind. Due to the fact that this vegetable is a heavy feeder, the soil should be nutrient-rich and light but constantly moist. Deep, neutral and humus-rich loamy soils that are good at storing moisture are best suited. It is all the more important to prepare the soil conditions accordingly before sowing or planting.
Plant soil preparation
If you want to grow leeks in the garden, you should pay attention to optimal growth conditions. Preliminary soil preparation is essential for this, which should be done about three months before sowing or planting. If planted in spring, that would be in the fall of the previous year.
- to do this, enrich the soil with plenty of ripe compost or well-seasoned manure
- alternatively use nettle manure
- Remove weeds and other soil obstacles
- then loosen the soil thoroughly
- loose, finely crumbly soil structure in the planting area optimal
Green manure with lupins or bee pasture (Phacelia) can have a particularly beneficial effect on the quality of the soil when growing these vegetable plants. They enrich the soil with nutrients, loosen it deeply and can drive away pests or keep them away. These green manure plants are then lifted under the ground when digging up.
Planting Guide
If the outside temperatures are relatively stable, the plants are about as thick as a pencil and at least 5 cm tall, you should prick them out or move them outdoors. If planted early, from mid-March, they should be protected from the cold with fleece. From April it can be planted out without any protection.
- It is best to plant leeks in rows with a spacing of approx. 30 cm
- to do this, make deep furrows or grooves in the ground
- Using a dipper, poke a hole about every 10-15 cm
- Take the plants and the soil out of the seed pot and insert them
- Roots should not be damaged if possible
- Leek plants must be at least half underground
- do not cover with soil after planting
- mix it all up well
- Furrows should close by themselves through rain and hoeing
If you want to grow or plant leeks in summer, it can be helpful to reduce the leaf mass of the young seedlings to keep the evaporation surface as small as possible. Otherwise, trimming the leaves only makes sense and is sometimes even recommended if their roots are damaged. Otherwise this leek would probably die. Leeks develop elongated stems. The part of the shaft that is in the ground is white and particularly delicate. The aerial parts are light to blue-green. For particularly long white shafts, the little plants have to be piled up several times.
Leeks, a versatile leek vegetable
maintenance
As far as subsequent care is concerned, leeks are quite frugal vegetables. Nevertheless, a certain amount of sensitivity is required, especially when watering and regularly piling up. Furthermore, occasional hoeing and the regular removal of weeds are part of the care program. This ensures that the soil is loosened and nutrient competition with the leeks is avoided.
pour
An important factor when growing leeks is watering. Leeks need an evenly moist soil and therefore regular watering that is adapted to the natural amount of precipitation. In summer in particular, it must be supplied with sufficient and continuous water. The soil should always be well moistened but not waterlogged.
It is best to water in the morning and evening during the summer months. Dry phases, whether short or long, are not what leeks like at all. In order to keep the moisture in the soil longer, it can be useful to apply a layer of mulch, for example grass clippings. Not only does mulch keep the soil moist, it also keeps it largely weed-free.
Fertilize
Leeks generally appreciate nutrient-rich soil, with a particularly high need for nitrogen. As already mentioned, to cover the requirements, it should be well enriched with nutrients before planting. In addition, it is recommended to add some plant manure, e.g. nettles or comfrey, to the irrigation water every 2 - 4 weeks. Alternatively, a commercially available organic vegetable fertilizer can also be used, which is worked into the surface of the soil when piling up.
Crop rotation and mixed culture
Observing the crop rotation and the right mixed culture partners can have a positive effect on the development of leeks. On the one hand, they can affect the growth of vegetable plants, protect against diseases or prevent them and, on the other hand, keep pests away. As a result, leeks thrive when planted with cucumbers, carrots, kohlrabi, celery, radishes, marjoram, strawberries, tomatoes, cabbage or various types of lettuce.
On the other hand, it is better to avoid growing close to peas, French and pole beans, other bulbous plants and beetroot. When growing leeks, early carrot varieties, spinach, lettuce, early potatoes, kohlrabi and especially legumes (legumes) are very suitable as a preliminary crop or preliminary crop. Leeks themselves are often used as a previous crop, for example to improve the structure of the soil. New potatoes are very suitable as a follow-up crop for leeks.
Leeks come in different varieties
hibernate
Overwintering mainly affects late varieties. They tolerate temperatures from minus 15 to minus 20 degrees. Even if these varieties have good winter hardiness, icy cold and wind can lead to crop failures. It is therefore advisable not to leave them completely unprotected in the freezing temperatures. So that the ground does not freeze too quickly, it is advisable to cover it with dry autumn leaves, a thick layer of mulch, brushwood or fleece. This protects the plants from frost (frost near the ground without a protective layer of snow) and also makes harvesting easier in winter.
harvest
The best part of growing leeks is the harvest. Depending on whether the leeks are summer, autumn or winter, the harvest time extends from July to April of the following year. Summer and fall varieties are harvested by loosening the soil around the leeks and then pulling them out of the ground. With the winter varieties, you should only get as much out of the ground as you can use or process immediately. The remaining poles can easily remain in the ground until they are needed.
When harvesting winter leeks, there are a few things you should pay attention to, otherwise there is a risk that the leeks will become soft and mushy or lose their aroma. To harvest the leeks, loosen them up in the morning with a hoe or spade. Then leave them in the bed for a few hours. Only in the evening do you carefully pull the poles out of the ground or cut them off.
Diseases
leek rust
Despite good conditions and care, diseases cannot always be avoided with leeks. One of these diseases is leek rust caused by the fungus Puccinia allii. It often shows up in early summer with deep orange rust pustules on the leaves. The upper skin of the leaf is torn open like a slit. An infestation is favored by temperatures around 20 degrees, dew formation and occasional precipitation. This fungus spreads the most in the months of August and September. The most effective and only possible control is the complete removal of affected leeks. Otherwise, neighboring plants will also be infected relatively quickly, so that they are no longer suitable for consumption.
Tip: Plants infested with leek rust should never be disposed of in the compost, but always in the household waste.
purple spot disease
The so-called purple spot disease is caused by the fungus Alternaria porri and occurs primarily in autumn and in permanently wet weather. It is initially recognizable by its greyish, elongated oval spots, which later turn black and have a purple edge. In most cases, an infestation only occurs towards the end of the culture, so that major damage is usually not to be feared.
However, this fungus can be transmitted through seeds. Consequently, affected plants should not be used for growing seeds. To combat this, all affected leaves should be removed and disposed of accordingly. As a preventive measure, when buying seeds, you should look for particularly resistant varieties.
harvested leeks
pests
onion fly
The dreaded onion fly lays its eggs near the root and its maggots then eat into the stems of the leek plants, where they can penetrate to the heart and render the plant useless. Yellow and wilting leaves can be an indication of this. At the latest when you pull the leeks out of the ground, you can see the feeding marks or the small tunnels of the maggots and often the small maggots themselves on the lower parts of the shafts. Only preventive measures make sense here, such as a mixed culture with carrots or laying out close-meshed crop protection nets in spring to prevent the onion fly from laying eggs.
Leek Leafminer and Leek Moth
These two pests also lay their eggs on the leaves of the leek and their maggots then eat their way through the leeks and cause significant harvest losses. When the leaves are infested, they usually show small black dots and the tunnels that the larvae have eaten into the leaves. Only preventive measures such as the use of crop protection nets can help against these pests.
Tip: Crop protection nets should be deployed before these pests can become active and lay their eggs. If the eggs have already been laid on the leek, these nets are no longer of any use either.