Leek seedlings

Hi, I've just started planting seeds for my new allotment (v exciting) but have got a problem with my leeks. I planted the seeds in about 5cm of compost about two weeks ago and now the seedlings are c.3cm tall but they are very close together. Can I transplant the seedlings into other containers before planting out later or will I damage them? All advice gratefully received!
:cnfs:

 

Hi there pimnimmin and welcome, unusual name you have.

I usually leave them to grow in the pot until they are about 5-6 inches high and pencil thickness before splitting them. Then turn the whole lot out of the pot, plunge them into a bucket of water and they all come apart easily. Then trim the roots slightly.

Make a hole with a dibber in the plot and drop a leek in so that the point where the leaves split is just above ground level. Don't fill the holes back in, just water them and the holes will gradually fill in themselves.

Very best of luck with your allotment, I am sure you will get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

 

Do you need ALL of them? if not you could just thin them a bit and throw the thinnings away.

I think better not to transplant them twice, but that would be better than them being a forest though.

They don't need to be THAT far apart for Stage One. I've got about 40 or 50 seedlings in a 15" pot

 

Hi, thanks for the reply. Should I thin the seedlings out - some of them are nearly touching. I didn't realise all the seeds would germinate.

 

I guess you were typing that as I replied ...

 

Hi Pimnimmin

I usually treat my leeks in the same way as Blackthorn.

It's difficult to advise you with certainty because we don't know how densely you planted the seed. How many leek plants do you want to end up with? Whatever that number is, add 15% or so for losses and then thin out the seedlings to that number.

If you plant the seeds too densely to start with, the seedlings will remain weak and spindley. The type of seedlings you want are vigorous ones.

Leek seed seems to have high germination. I've planted the remainder of a packet of leeks seeds from last year and I've had better germination this year than last year!

 

As many as 50 per pot? Excellent. Even I've got to get some full grow leeks out of that amount!

 

Hi Flinty - there's less than 1cm between a lot of the seedlings but I've got a lot of allotment to fill so want to keep as many of the seeds as possible. I did try to sow the seed finely but it was so small I didn't do very well.

 

Hi all. Difficult to keep up with the speed of replies here isn't it? I'm glad to have joined such a lively forum.

Leeks: well I have just been bunging mine out this very afternoon, using just exactly the technique that Blackthorn describes, only with smaller plants. Usually works. Pot-wise one only needs so many after all.

May I just add my congratulations on your new allotment Pimnimmin. I gather that they are getting harder to find.