Your comments and tips

28 Jul 10, darren (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

I have found a leek growing in my garden from last summer and it is absolutely huge forgot to pick it.Beginning to feel its part of the family.Funny thing is it hasnt or didnt go to seed can anyone tell me when this may happen .Its probably to tough to eat but I can at least get seeds for this season.

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18 Jul 10, Yvonne (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Gee. So many growing questions, so few answers. I have planted my seedlings in a well prepared garden 2 weeks ago they are going well, standing up but off course still looking rather delicate. I am going to blanch them with cane mulch as they grow. By all accounts, harveting in November. We'll see how it goes. I will let you know.

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15 Apr 10, (Australia - temperate climate)

leeks are also great in soup

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21 Mar 10, sandy (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

I planted my leeks about 2 weeks ago I have never grown them before is this the right time?? I'm not really understanding how you should plant them? Can someone help me please!!

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04 Mar 10, Wendy (Australia - tropical climate)

I'm trying to grow leeks in a full tropical climate. As our winter/dry season is more like summer in a temperate zone, this year I'll try planting out as soon as the rain diminishes then plant maybe six every two weeks or so. We have an aquaponics system also which I plan to try leek in this winter. Wish me luck.

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20 Jan 10, elisa (Australia - temperate climate)

i planted leeks about august last year, of the 7 that were planted only one grew to a decent size, the others are still in there but no where near ready to pull. why would this be, could i have planted them too close together or was i just too late in planting?

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11 Jan 10, (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Thanks very much for the tips Chris, Demeter and Barb. The variety sounded so nice too - a French one called Jaune du Poitou. Next year I will give it another try. One positive thing the flowers are beautiful and the bees love them.

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02 Jan 10, Barb (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

All is not lost if your leek goes to flower - You can eat the flower stem, just cook it like asparagus. I've never tried eating the leek flowers, but spring onion flowers can be a yummy addition to salad - I just pick a few 'petals' when they have the nectar in them (sweet and oniony flavour) and add to salad or garnish.

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30 Dec 09, Chris (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Evelyn, once leeks start to flower they are completely inedible. You need to harvest them well before they grow the flower stem as it is very woody. You shouldn't need to cover the stems, but I would harvest them as soon as they reach an edible size (a couple of centimetres in diameter).

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13 Dec 09, Evelyn (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

I grew leeks for the first time and harvested the first one yesterday. It was flowering and it was the leek with the thickest stem. I must have done something terribly wrong as the stem was very hard and difficult to cut. Almost like cutting into a piece of bamboo. I did not cover the stems (blanching?) with soil but let them grow normally - maybe I should have done something different. Any advice.

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