Preparing and planting leeks

I always trim the roots on my young leeks to about an inch in length and trim the leaves a small amout to suit - as instructed in just about every gardening book I have - but why? Why do we do this? No one I've spoken to seems to know and no book tells me why. Could someone enlighten me, please?

Another point is that I always dib a hole about 6" deep and 2" wide and drop the young leeks in. I don't fill the hole in with earth but add water right up to the top of the hole. After a few days (especially after rain) the holes fill up with soil anyway. Again, why do we do this? What's the reason? Why not just fill the hole with soil anyway?

It's funny how we do things for years without really knowing why! At least, I do!

I'd be very grateful for some clues, please.

Thank in advance.

 

For pot leeks we put a piece of tubing into the soil beside the leek so water & feed gets to the roots ,as they grow keep earthing up to blanch .

 

Another reason for trimming the roots of leeks just prior to transplanting is that it makes it a helluva lot easier to poke them down their holes!

 

Correct:thumb:

 

Thanks everybody! What you've said is what I do and for the same reasons. I just wondered whether there was some elaborate scientific answer that my brain was too slow and too dense to understand - but it would appear not!

I decided to ask the question when, as I gently filled up one hole after another with water, the sides began to slide into the hole partially filling it, and I thought of the true story (at least, so I was told) of an african tribe who used to lead their cattle into a small, blind valley and throw rocks down at them. Scientists were amazed but worked out that. many generations before, the rocks had contained salt, which the cows licked but the salt had gone long ago and the tribe had forgotten why they did it - so now they just threw rocks at them!

I thought that, similarly, I might be following an ancient system for growing good leeks but people had forgotten why they did it! No book ever seems to tell you why you should do this but I'm sure the reasons are as simple as everybody says! One chap ojn my allotment cuts all the roots off (which seems drastic) or so he says but they still seem to grow.

Thanks again - I don't feel so thick now.

 

I don`t trim leeks and have never had any problems.:thumb:

 

I have always assumed that the idea was that finer soil filled the hole, which it was easier for the leek to expand into as it grew - rather than planting it and back filling with clods, stones, etc.

 

Thanks again, everybody,

I'm glad I asked the question because I've always wondered why leeks are planted that way but, as I've said, no book ever tells you why.

One year, I didn't cut my roots off (actually, I don't mean mine, I don't have any, I mean those on the leeks - I thought I'd better make that clear otherwise we could have been talking to cross-purposes!) mainly because I was too lazy and in a hurry (I was planting about 150 leeks, that day) and they grew just fine.

I've always assumed that the hole was dibbed and not filled in so as to allow room for the leek to expand but I don't know. There probably was a chap, many years ago, who dibbed the hole and left it that way because he was in a hurry. Someone else saw him and thought that that was how it was done!

I live in this little dream world!

Thanks for all your replies!

 

I had a look in my Joy Larkham boot and FWIW it says "Belgian research has indicated that, contrary to popular belief,the traditional practice of trimming leaf tips and root ends before planting probably lowers yields. Leaf tips can be trimmed if trailing on the ground"

 

Thought we were talking about leeks, not sprouts:D

 

I planted leeks untrimmed for many years. Then I started trimming them and found it much easier for the reason mentioned above in #5 , particularly if I'd left it a bit late in the year. Also, not filling the holes in makes it easier to water the young leeks in their early weeks.

As for its effect on yield, I've never noticed much difference; that would depend more on how much feed I gave then, I'd have thought.

 

Most porpoises I have spoken to have been very pleasant - not come across a cross one yet! :rolleyes: :D

 

"Probably" is probably the operative word. One year, I planted half my leeks trimmed and the rest untrimmed. Apart from the normal variation in individual growth, there was no significant difference.

Plenty of compost under 'em does the trick for me.