Leek De Carentan 2 - leek seeds

Allium porrum - De Carentan 2

Leek is a biennial vegetable. In the first year, the usable part grows at a shallow depth or on the soil surface, and only in the second year does it grow into flowering and the seed matures. It reaches up to 60cm in height. In our region, we can find more than twenty varieties. However, many more exist. Leeks can be divided into summer, autumn and winter varieties. Leek forms a very rich rosette of flat leaves above the bulbous thickened underground stem. The leaves contain a number of minerals, vitamins and essential substances that give leek its typical aroma and juiciness. The essential oils of leek are also important, as they stimulate appetite.

How to Grow Leek

• The soil for growing leek must be well-worked, loosened to a greater depth than for onions or lettuce. It requires a bright, sunny location. After planting, gradually hill up the soil around the necks; by the beginning of winter, the strong seedlings are already in ridged furrows. Until the newly planted plants take root, they must be watered generously every day. Later, watering is only necessary exceptionally, only during dry weather.

• Sowing of summer crops is carried out in a greenhouse at the turn of December and January. At a temperature around 18°C, from a seedling height of 5 cm the temperature can be reduced to 15°C. In April, planting is carried out in beds with spacing of 30×10 cm.

  Sowing of autumn crops is carried out from mid-February to mid-March in a greenhouse. In mid-June, we plant the seedlings in beds.

  We carry out all sowings of different crops to a depth of 1 cm, with spacing of 10×1–2 cm. We transplant plants that are pencil-sized to their final location.

• Requires very nutritious, well-loosened soil. Optimal pH 7–7.8.

• N 100 kg N/ha, of which 50 kg 5 weeks after planting. P 80 kg P2O5/ha, K 200 - 250 kg K2O/ha. Ideally, leek should be planted after crops fertilized with cow manure.

• Leek is threatened by the leek moth (Acrolepiopsis assectella), which lays eggs at the boundary between the underground and above-ground parts. The larvae hatched from them cause damage to the tissue and degrade it. Against leek moth, we treat with a spray of Decis EW 50 at a concentration of 0.03%. Similar products are also effective against the less common onion fly.

  Onion downy mildew may also appear. Grey-green spots covered with a greyish coating of mycelium and spores appear on the leaves; in bulbs, the inner scales rot. Protection consists of fungicides with a wetting agent.

• Leek is harvested 16 to 20 weeks after sowing, but it stays in harvest maturity for whole months. Leek is harvested by digging up from summer onwards whenever needed.