Baby leeks

[rustyroots]

Hi

I would like to grow baby leeks this year, i have never grown any veg and this is my first year trying. I have 2 questions:

Firsty - Do you need a certain variety of leek for baby leeks or do you use normal leeks and harvest them earlier?

Secondly - Can i grow them in container?

Thanks
Rusty

[airconednightmare]

just dig them up early

yes in a container should be fine, you will need to earth them up if you want white stems.

[johntheeng]

I agree with aircon. The container needs to be fairly deep to help get a decent blanched length.

[solway cropper]

If you choose a variety like Zermatt which matures early you'll get baby leeks sooner. I've grown them in containers for the last four years and would agree that you need a reasonable depth. When the seedlings reach about 5-6mm across just drop them into a prepared hole in the compost about 12-15cm deep and water them in. I plant them about 8cm apart for baby leeks and make the holes with a thin dibber.

If you are using shop-bought compost you will need to feed them regularly once they get going.

[rustyroots]

The container i have is about 45cm wide and the same deep. Do you think this would this be big enough?

[airconednightmare]

yeah that should do, probs a wee bit small for full size leeks though.

as a side note to the stem blanching debate, i quite like green leeks, maybe i'm just odd...

[vegetable-gardener]

I like green leeks as well aircon. Never really bother earthing our leeks up.

[klevelyn]

I started growing leeks last year. They seem to take a long time to mature. Try some early variety's. Plant your seeds indoors early in the winter. They will be ready to plant in the spring. You can harvest the leeks at any time.

I planted some leeks last year. They were not ready when winter came. I covered them with a hoop and plastic. They grow on warm sunny days. I look forward to see how they do this spring.

[airconednightmare]

leeks are hardy, they will happily sit under a few foot of snow and be ok.

you can grow them pretty much year round but traditionally they were always sown in late spring or early summer and were planted out where a fast growing crop of salad leaves, radishes etc had already come out. they grow on until mid winter when they become a useful source of winter greens and an alternative to the stored onions which would be running out.