Lucy Chamberlain’s Fruit & Veg

Lucy shows you how to get the healthiest bumper crops

WITH clever selection, you can be pulling fresh leeks from August to May, but how can you get the best from these slender-stemmed alliums?

There is a wide range of leek varieties to choose from – at least 20 presently hold an RHS Award of Garden Merit. Early varieties such as ‘Krypton’ (below) mature during late summer into autumn, while mid-seasons will bulk up through winter, and late-season leeks such as ‘Porbella’ can stand well into April.

F1 hybrids have now largely replaced older, open-pollinated types. Improved vigour, stronger germination, better disease resistance and uniformity all lure us to these more costly seeds. While no leeks are resistant to onion white rot (so practise rotations to deter this soil-borne disease), rust tolerance varies hugely – try ‘Neptune’ and ‘Swiss Giant Zermatt’ if it’s a problem in your area, choose an open site and plant at wider spacings.

Growing tricks

As well as following the tips in my checklist (see panel right), be sure to transplant your leeks into a well-dug soil or established no-dig bed, as they dislike compaction. The old practice of trimming leaves and roots of transplants can reduce yield, so don’t bother. Though early sowings give larger shanks, I’m not a fan of huge leeks, so sow in April for transplanting in July.

Nuisance pests such as birds (rooks can pull up seedlings), leek moth and onion fly can be avoided. Rotate crops onto new soil each year, and cover with insect-proof mesh until harvest.