planting leeks

Hi, I planted leeks, for the first time ever, in my garden last month - transplants I bought from my friendly garden center. Some time after planting I saw the DVD "Behind the scenes with Gardeners' World". To plant leek transplants they made holes in the ground with a broom stick and dropped the leek transplant in it without closing it. They suggested to just water it as is and with time the soil would naturally embrace the little leek. This to ensure nice plump leeks.
Now, of course, I didn't do anything like that. Infact, I pressed the soil tightly around my little transplants. So I am wondering: am I going to get a decent leek out of this?

 

Your leeks will be fine Frances but if you want nice white lower stems you'll have to earth them up and you'll need to take care that they don't become too dry over the next couple of weeks.

 

Thanks Dave, I'll follow your suggestions.

 

No problem, you can do the hole-and-water method, I think that would be preferable in dry conditions. I have also made a furrow about 4" deep, watered the furrow, planted every 3" or so, and filled the furrow in again. Like Dave says, it might be worth watering in the early days if we don't get rain :rolleyes:

[ 17. June 2006, 07:42 AM: Message edited by: supersprout ]

 

3" seems very close , are you going to thin them?

 

No thinning - Yates Empire seem to like playing sardines! The rows are 1 ft apart to give them room to breathe :eek: I tried it with a few last year and was very pleased with the result. They are not a fat leek

 

Thanks for sharing your experience Supersprout. I'll try that next time around and see what the difference is.

 

i was recently given a clump of leeks, don't know the variety. my question is should i thin out the leeks and put them into individual pots. I am keeping them in a plastic greenhouse cos i have a bunny problem in the garden at the moment.

 

You'll certainly need to split the clump as leeks are quite hungry feeders and also need space. You might get away with potting them, but it would be a lot of work for a fairly small return. Making a bunny-proof patch in the garden would be worth thinking about.