Saturday, 31 March 2012

Allotment - Leeks

Had some mixed results last year with the Leeks so will be giving them a better go of it this year (hopefully). My problem last year was sowing time, I don't think I sowed the leeks early enough meaning I was always playing catch up. That said we still have a decent crop that we are eating at the moment so I wont complain too much, some are on the thin side but the majority are of a good size, this year though we will try and do better.


I managed to sow the leeks on the 31st March this year, compared to late April last year I have given them an extra 4 weeks to establish. We want around 18 decent size plants by June time for planting out so I sowed around double that to have a good chance. They are fairly straightforward to sow, I used 6 deep plastic pots and filled them 3/4 of the way to the top with good quality all purpose compost. Make sure to compact it a little. Then I sprinkled around 6-8 seeds evenly on top of the compost. and then another fine layer of compost to cover the seeds. 


That is pretty much it. I would be expecting germination in about 3 weeks as they are outside but it could take longer. To allow a little protection from the wind I made a small 'greenhouse' just out of some timber and plastic I had lying around. It is well ventilated so it wont get overly hot in there but I am hoping it will keep the worst of the wind out at least. 


Picture below (far right) shows the wee greenhouse I made. It's not fancy but hoping it will do a job.






Picture of leeks to follow....

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