HOW TO GROW A LEEK: TENDER AND SWEET

I have always grown a lot of onions on my plot, and recently I have become interested in leek. It tastes more tender and sweeter than onion. It is grown for its white, fleshy stem, the most valuable part of the plant, which is why the leek is sometimes called the "pearl onion".

I sow leeks for seedlings in early March. I prepare a moisture-intensive, loose and nutritious substrate: I mix humus and soddy soil (1: 1), add 1-2 cups of ash per 10 liters of soil (vermiculite or peat can be added). For the purpose of disinfection, I spill the soil mixture with Fitosporin solution. Seeds before sowing can be soaked or warmed up to speed up the emergence of seedlings by 5-7 days.

I sow the seeds in individual containers 10-12 cm deep (I first make drainage holes in them). I specifically purchase dark-colored containers, since the onion root system does not like when light hits it. In individual containers and cassettes, plants develop well, do not get sick during subsequent transplantation.

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I cover the crops with foil and put them on the windowsill. Favorable temperature for seed germination is 2°С, after germination is 23°С (about 1720°С at night).

I try not to flood or overdry the soil, the leek does not like this. Its seeds sprout and develop slowly, waterlogged soil quickly turns sour if there are no roots in the container (the leek may turn yellow when flooded).

If the seedlings develop poorly, you can feed it with ammonium nitrate (15 g per 10 liters of water).

When the leek feathers begin to lean to the sides, I trim them to 1/3. If you neglect the haircut, the onion will grow the stem worse. After shearing, new leaves begin to emerge from the leek, the plant becomes more stable and actively grows the stalk. After cutting, I add earth to the stems (but do not fall asleep at the same time the point of growth of new leaves).

A week and a half before planting, I harden the seedlings. I plant in open ground in May, when the soil warms up to at least 15 ° C. If you plant a leek early (especially if cold weather subsequently sets in for a long time), it can go into the arrow.

I try to plant seedlings in cloudy weather or in the evening, as the root system of the leek is tender and the roots can dry out quickly.

I plant in grooves 10 cm deep so that the plants are spacious and they form large legs (false stems). At the bottom of the groove I pour a little humus with ash and mix it with the bottom layer of soil.

Before planting, I shorten the feather by half, and cut the roots too. I plant the plants deeper than they grew in the cassette, but leave the growth point above the soil surface. Leek loves when the bottom of the stem is in the ground. This is necessary both for whitening the legs and for faster plant growth. After planting, I water the seedlings abundantly and mulch with dry soil to avoid the appearance of a crust and excessive evaporation.

Leek needs loose, moisture-intensive and breathable, fertile soil with a neutral or slightly alkaline environment (acid must be limed), the place is well lit.

At first, the leek develops slowly. When the plants begin to grow, I begin to hill them to get a long bleached leg (it is more tender and tasty, and without hilling it will turn out rough). But not with the soil that is next to the plant, in which case many superficial roots can be cut off. And onions with roots chopped off during hilling will grow worse.

During the growing season, if the plants develop poorly, you can feed them 2-3 times. Leek is responsive to the introduction of organic matter (you can use ready-made Gumi-Omi fertilizers, biohumus). But fresh manure is forbidden! The first top dressing is carried out when 5-6 true leaves appear, then it is enough to do this once every 10-14 days. You can use liquid top dressing (for example, a solution of nitrophoska - 40 g per 10 liters of water) or water it with a solution of mullein (1:7) or bird droppings (1:20).

Vegetates leek until late autumn. This onion is cold-resistant, can easily tolerate small frosts (up to -8 ° C). I usually clean up at the end of September - beginning of October.

In the collected plants, I remove damaged and contaminated leaves, cut the roots to 2 cm and the leaves by about a third. I do not cut the roots completely, otherwise the onion will be stored worse.

The leek is stored well, the nutritional properties of the plant do not deteriorate at all (nutrients from the leaves pass into the leg). You can dig onions in the basement in river sand and store them in this form until the end of winter at a temperature close to 0 ° C (optimal humidity is 80%).

Part of the leek can be left in the garden before winter until spring, sprinkled with a layer of peat about 20 cm thick. But you need to use it immediately after the soil thaws, otherwise it quickly shoots.

Leek can also be stored in the refrigerator in plastic wrap. Before storing, I clean it, cool it to storage temperature, then pack it in plastic bags with perforation (especially well, for 4-5 months, winter and autumn varieties are stored).

Green leek leaves can also be used for food, but not fresh, but dried. I grind them and add them to soups, gravies, and other dishes.

Reference by topic: Leek seedlings - sowing in the snow! (Moscow region)