I have almost given up on growing leek plugs, each year the same thing happens I plant them out about 4-5" apart water and deliver a feed chopped nettle water once a week and they grow about the thickness of a spring onion. Help please.
Leeks seem to thrive on some beneficial neglect for me. I sow direct into the soil and wait till they get to spring onion size, lift them and replant 8-9 inches apart. I never feed them, just earth them up a bit.
The main purpose of plug plants to my mind are to enable Nursery companies to distribute plants more efficiently using a minimum of space. They are able to grow plants this way in near perfect conditions and use automatic watering systems to keep everything just right. When I had my allotment I grew Leeks in a prepared seed bed and transplanted them into holes and then just added water and earthed up as they grow. Now I don't have enough space for a dedicated seed bed so this year I will be growing them in a seed tray and transplanting them into larger pots before planting into holes in the ground. As a general rule it is best to feed the soil rather than the plant and if your soil has regular additions of rotted compost or manure then it shouldn't be necessary to provide a specific feed to leeks.
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Try sowing from seed, and feeding with blood fish and bone. I dont think nettle feed is strong enough to boost leeks.
Leeks seem to thrive on some beneficial neglect for me. I sow direct into the soil and wait till they get to spring onion size, lift them and replant 8-9 inches apart. I never feed them, just earth them up a bit.
The main purpose of plug plants to my mind are to enable Nursery companies to distribute plants more efficiently using a minimum of space. They are able to grow plants this way in near perfect conditions and use automatic watering systems to keep everything just right.
When I had my allotment I grew Leeks in a prepared seed bed and transplanted them into holes and then just added water and earthed up as they grow.
Now I don't have enough space for a dedicated seed bed so this year I will be growing them in a seed tray and transplanting them into larger pots before planting into holes in the ground.
As a general rule it is best to feed the soil rather than the plant and if your soil has regular additions of rotted compost or manure then it shouldn't be necessary to provide a specific feed to leeks.