When hobby gardeners plant leeks in their garden, they aim for the longest, pale shoots possible below the light green foliage. Find out here how you can effortlessly produce premium quality leeks.
How to properly plant leeks in the garden?
Planting leeks is best done in a sunny location with nutrient-rich, well-drained soil. Plant summer and winter leeks young in the bed and choose either the method with planting holes or trenches for cultivation. Please note a planting distance of 10-15 cm within the row and 20-40 cm between the rows.
Where do leeks ripen?
Leeks are both sun worshipers and heavy eaters. These two attributes largely determine the choice of location:
- sunny, well-protected, warm location
- nutrient-rich, humus-rich soil
- fresh, moist and well-drained
When is planting time?
Thanks to a strategically clever combination of summer and winter leeks, the he althy vegetables in your garden are in season all year round. If you sow behind glass in January, plant in the heated cold frame in February/March. Optionally outdoors from 20 degrees Celsius.
Winter-hardy varieties can be planted in the bed as young plants from May to August to enjoy them throughout the winter. It is not advisable to sow seeds directly outdoors due to the many risks posed by pest infestation.
How to plant leeks correctly?
When the young plants, grown by hand or purchased ready-made, are planted in the ground depends on the variety they belong to. For the actual planting process, you can choose between two different methods:
Growing leeks in planting holes:
- weed the bed soil thoroughly, loosen it up and smooth it out with a rake
- poke 15 cm deep holes with the planting wood and insert the leek
Planting leeks in trenches
- draw 20 cm deep trenches in the bed
- the excavation remains between the rows
- Insert young plants so that their green foliage is still clearly visible
Whatever planting method you choose; In the last step, the leek plants are carefully slurried. The earth must not be pressed down. Over the following weeks, pile up the stalks repeatedly to develop beautiful, creamy white shafts.
The correct planting distance
The following planting distances offer the best growth and sufficient freedom of movement for maintenance work:
- Distance within the row: 10 cm to 15 cm
- Row spacing: 20 cm (when growing in a trench: 40 cm)
What should you pay attention to when harvesting?
Summer garlic certainly has enough growth energy to be harvested twice. Therefore, cut the ripe stalks just above the ground in the first pass. If the weather conditions are good, narrower sprouts will thrive once again, but they have lost none of their taste.
Since winter leeks will not grow back given the season, dig up each sprout when harvesting. On a frost-free day, the soil is loosened with a digging fork in the morning hours in order to pull the leeks out of the ground in the afternoon.
Tips & Tricks
Even the particularly winter-hardy leek varieties cannot tolerate a sudden change between frost and thaw. Under such stress, the tissue cells rupture and the vegetables become inedible. It is therefore recommended to protect winter leeks with foil or to pile them up thickly with soil and leaves.
