Rally Organic (F1) Leek Seed

Scientific name

Allium porrum

Soil

Leeks are hungry plants and do best in fertile soil with a pH of 6.2–6.8.

Days to maturity

Counted from transplanting; add 20–30 days for direct-sown leeks.

Starting transplants

Sow in flats 10–12 weeks before the last frost, about 1/4" apart and 1/4" deep, or sow in plug trays and thin to one plant per cell.

Planting out

From late spring, once plants are about 8" tall and as thick as a pencil, set them 6" apart in rows at least 12" apart, in holes made about 6" deep with a dibber. Only 2–3" of leaf needs to show above ground. Leave the holes open and let rain or irrigation settle the soil around the roots.

Direct sowing

Sow in early spring, about 6 seeds per foot, 1/4–1/2" deep, in rows 24" apart, and thin to 6".

Seeding rate

At 6 seeds per foot in rows 30" apart: about 1,000 seeds per 165 ft., 1 oz. per 1,650 ft. and roughly 11 oz. per acre.

Blanching

Hill soil around the stems two or three times during the season, a little higher each time, for a longer white shank. Leeks planted in deep dibbled holes need little or no hilling.

Harvest

When plants reach the size you want, loosen them with a garden fork and lift.

Storage

Trimmed and cleaned leeks keep for several weeks boxed in a humid cooler just above freezing, or in a root cellar with their roots set in moist sand, soil or peat.

Transplants per ounce

About 6,000 plants per oz. of seed, or about 96,000 per lb.

Packet

50 seeds.

Seeds per lb.

About 150,000 on average.