Leeks in a bucket?

I got some free seeds with a magazine, including Musselburgh leeks. I don't have room for them, but could perhaps spare a bucket (with drainage holes).

Do you think that would work? It's just for fun, I don't have ambitions of being self sufficient on them especially as we eat quite a lot of the stuff

Would spud-in-a-bucket approach work in a way of planting into half a bucketful of soil and the topping up the soil to blanch the stems?

 

Thanks, @Fat Controller , the thought of baby leeks steamed and dipped in butter with some salt just got me suddenly very hungry

I'll give it a try

 

Leeks in a Bucket has a nice ring to a bucket challenge growing competition.

I think I might just join you on that endeavour.

 

Sounds good, how about total length of leeks grown in a bucket laid end to end? Might be very interesting, but would require some practical point to trim the tops off - there's probably some existing rules on this for show leeks.

 

There is a bloke just down the road from me who grows everything in florists buckets from the supermarket, he is here on Youtube if anyone is interested.

Home Grown Veg

Here is his leeks in a bucket,

Leeks part starts at 42.08

Steve...

 

'There's a leek (leak) in my bucket, dear Ida, dear Ida. There's a leak in my bucket dear ida I say.

 

Then mend it Dear Mike, Dear Mike Thanks for that @Mike Allen

@Steve R , thanks for the clip, absolutely useful and fun. It did make me feel slightly competitive though... he's getting good sized veg whereas I'm apparently bent towards growing crops to decorate cocktail glasses



Anyways, the leeks will have a go!

 

I was interested in the video as I've only grown toms, french beans and carrots in pots. I have tried beetroots in pots but they've never been successful so if anyone has some pointers I'd be very all ears.
Having seen the onions I'll give that a go this year.
I'm making a raised bed too and will try peas and broad beans so perhaps beetroot would be better in that.
Rob

 

I think with growing root crops in containers the secret if all about depth, if its deep enough it can work.

 

I grow my toms, chilli, and peppers in those black buckets, used by asda for cut flowers, drill a few drainage holes, jobs a gooden, they also give them away free in the afternoon. There is a gentleman I know very well, he grows prize winning large veg, and he recently returned to Chelsea showing his wares. His name is Medwyn Williams, he grows lots of his veg in dustbins, especially leeks, carrots and parsnips, so yes a bucket, albeit a big bucket will work. He uses a compost called levingtons F1, which is a professional seed and cutting compost, a low nutrient soil to stop the wonky veg thing from happening.

 

In the absence of any consensus on how this might be done, I will beat my chest, yodel like Tarzan and take the role of alpha chimp to dictate the rules.

1. Leeks must be grown from seed in a 14L (max) bucket or any container holding up to 14L of compost/growing medium;
2. Leeks must be at least 20mm diameter;
3. Trim the roots to 12mm;
4. Trim the green tops to a length at most equal to the length of the blanched white stem. The length of the green tops can not exceed the length of the blanched part;
5. There are no limitations on how many leeks can be grown in the bucket;
6. Participants must post at least one photo of the leeks during their growing phase and one at measurement time;
7. The winner is the person with the longest chain of leeks laid end to end.

Competition start time will be Thursday 2nd April.

Judgement Day will be in early October.

 

There's going to be some skill required to get them maximum number of in size leeks, because cramming loads will result in them all being undersize.