Leeks

[Urban Ayisha]

could something have burrowed underneath and eaten the roots?

[Millymollymandy]

The same gremlin that killed your raspberries?

Seriously though, was there any rust on the leeks? That can cause pinking of the white bits. But you'd have noticed rust on the green bits, I'm sure. When I've got rust (quite often) it is usually only a few of the 'layers' inside the leeks which get affected by the pinky/beige colour and I just remove those bits.

Sounds more like something munched the roots - now if it had been virgin lawn recently I'd suggest those horrible chafer grubs but there usually aren't many of them around once a veg patch has been established for several years - they abound under lawns/grass. And even then they would be unlikely to do a whole load of leeks all in one go - usually it is the odd lettuce root here and there which gets munched.

Not much help but all I can think of! I'm so sorry for you.

[Millymollymandy]

No, if your leek roots are anything like mine the hens wouldn't have harmed the roots at all, they have an amazing long root system.

Perhaps it's just a disease - we've had every kind of disease imaginable this summer. Could be worth googling leek problems/diseases.

[grahamhobbs]

Onion white rot perhaps? If it is you need to light a big bonfire on the spot to kill it.

[Peggy Sue]

I really can't grow leeks, they are smaller than sping onions, even if I wait 12 months.
It can't be the soil my allotment neighbour grows spring onions bigger than prize leeks- no seriously she does She uses the same poo from my horse for her compost too, it's just not fair

[Millymollymandy]

Mine are smaller this year than they have been in the past but I think it's cos I didn't water them as much as usual. Hardly watered the parsnips at all though but that didn't stop them becoming giants!

Some things I seem to be able to grow well yet I had two years where spring onions just wouldn't germinate in the soil - absolutely fine in a pot of potting compost though.

Guess it's part of the 'fun' of gardening!

[grahamhobbs]

Peggy, when do you sow your leeks? Also when you transplant them do you put them in a hole about 15cm deep?

[Peggy Sue]

I've tried all sorts of sewing times, the best success I get (rather than complete failure) is sewing them at home in a pot in autumn (Octoberish) and planting them out in spring. They are supposed to get pencil thickness before planting out but they seem to get long and stragly and potbound before that so they go out in holes (smaller than the 15cm due to their own size) and get watered in.

I think I'm playing by the rules, but they just don't really grow much

[grahamhobbs]

Leeks only need to be sown in March. If you sow earlier they are likely to bolt. Leeks don't need to be mollycoddled, sow outdoors and they should be fine. No need to sow them in a pot but if you do, it needs to be a big pot (6" - 8"). Either way, its worth thinning them to an inch or two apart and then as you say transplanting them when they are about pencil thickness in June/July.

[Peggy Sue]

But I did try that way first... the March sewn ones (which I did try as well again this year) are still so small you could post them through the gaps in the window frames! Thats why I took some advice on starting them early....

The ones that went in March were straight into the soil, no mollycoddling. They have germiated fine, but thats about it!

[Millymollymandy]

I went to dig some up last week and found that a couple had flower buds on - something I've never seen before! Thanks goodness for this cold snap as I think it was due to mild-ish weather and having not had any serious frosts up until about 5 days ago.

I do wonder why leeks germinate and grow like the clappers in my soil yet spring onions refuse to germinate, and the few that do just sit there doing nothing like Peggy Sue's leeks! They are closely related so it doesn't make any sense.

[Peggy Sue]

a-ha MMM, now our onions are always good and I was confused that the closely related leeks should have been too- but maybe they really do prefer different environments. Such a shame I really love leeks

[Millymollymandy]

Yep regular onions no problem either.

The big mystery is that I DID grow spring onions successfully my first two years here!!!!!

So it can't be the soil, or is it that they don't like compost/horse manure? Because my 1st year was just virgin sandy soil and the 2nd year it had some manure and compost but not much. It's not the seed cos I've tried all sorts of French varieties plus White Lisbon and lots of Japanese named ones I bought in England, new seeds, old seeds, none of them wanted to germinate. Yet they like potting compost!

I just put the whole lot down to life's little mysteries, though who knows maybe if I try next year they will come up again? It's doubly important for me cos we can't buy spring onions here!

[Peggy Sue]

Might be getting onto something with the horse manure.... my first year the spring onions were much bigger than they are now- however I made a bit of a nieve error witht he leeks, I planted them between the purple sprouting not realising quite how large ps gets but even the rather light deprived starved saplings actually grew bigger than they do now.

With big onions manure is supposed to make them hotter, but it doesn't stunt their growth...

[Peggy Sue]

Well we don't have the luxury of stables....just a field so no, it's pure poo! I compost it down in pallet bins, except for the squash who love it as it is

Maybe I need to investigate my horse's diet, get him to eat more leek friendly things..... most people feed their horse for performance and to be fair providing manure is his main job in his old age