The weather is definitely warming up here in London. No one can tell you when to plant your tender veggies out for certain, you just have to take an educated guess that the last frosts are over. I have started to harden off these
Aeron Vale Purple Star runner beans during the sunny day times. They seem to be loving these long, paper pots and are putting on inches each day.
Meanwhile my
Musselburgh leek seedlings are just about ready to plant out. Over the years I have tried lots of different leek varieties. Some giant leeks, some pot leeks, some new F1 varieties and some heritage varieties. I have decided that you really can't beat
Musselburgh - a good old favourite for a reason.
Leek seedlings are pretty hardy. They don't seem to mind a bit of root disturbance during transplanting. I just separated each one.
Buried them down into the soil along the back of a trowel. Water them in thoroughly and they should be fine.
Some people trim the top of the leaves to avoid too much stress on the plant. These are still fairly small. A good rule of thumb is that the further apart you plant them, the bigger the leeks will be. I have planted different spaces apart ranging to 6" apart for small leeks and 12" for bigger ones. I also planted some of the much smaller seedlings in a patch just a few inches apart. These will make some delicate baby leeks.
3 Comments:
How do you start your leeks? Are the ones in your picture just in loose potting mix from a newspaper pot? The roots are so clean it almost looks like hydroponics. How old are those transplants? I tried the musselburgh last year without success. My transplants were much smaller and our winter turned to summer in a few short weeks.
Fabian, the leek seeds were planted in a polystyrene tray, about half a dozen to each module. They are quite hardy to handle and just separate easily.
My favourite, lovely, yum yum. We always grow Musselburgh leeks. I have an intolerance to onions so they are vital :) Ours were planted out ages ago, they're really hardy. x
Post a Comment
<< Home