I grew my Musselburgh leeks from seed then planted them out in June.
They are still only pencil size.
This is my first attempt growing leeks and feel they should be much bigger.
They are in the middle of a now bare patch which I had onions and garlic
and I am digging around them for next years sowing or planting of
brassicas.

Question is should I dig them up to save digging around them if they are
not going to come to anything?

Thanks
Baz

"Baz" wrote in message
...
I grew my Musselburgh leeks from seed then planted them out in June.
They are still only pencil size.
This is my first attempt growing leeks and feel they should be much
bigger.
They are in the middle of a now bare patch which I had onions and garlic
and I am digging around them for next years sowing or planting of
brassicas.

Question is should I dig them up to save digging around them if they are
not going to come to anything?

Have patience!

Alan


Thanks
Baz

"Baz" wrote in message
...
I grew my Musselburgh leeks from seed then planted them out in June.
They are still only pencil size.
This is my first attempt growing leeks and feel they should be much
bigger.
They are in the middle of a now bare patch which I had onions and garlic
and I am digging around them for next years sowing or planting of
brassicas.

Question is should I dig them up to save digging around them if they are
not going to come to anything?

You are very fortunate if they don't have any disease. Everybody on our
allotments has had some virus or other penetrating their leeks and onions.
We've had to take ours up even though they're only 1 cm dia. If they're
doing well, I'd say don't dig them up, just make sure they have enough
water. Give them time.

someone

Baz wrote:
I grew my Musselburgh leeks from seed then planted them out in June.
They are still only pencil size.
This is my first attempt growing leeks and feel they should be much bigger.
They are in the middle of a now bare patch which I had onions and garlic
and I am digging around them for next years sowing or planting of
brassicas.

I planted my seeds in February and then accidentally left them in the
greenhouse until the start of August! At which point they were a bit wimpy
and straggley, and for a few weeks they stayed tiny, then once all that rain
came down, they've definitely perked up a bit.

Have yours been getting enough water?

wrote in
:


Have yours been getting enough water?

Yes they have and with the persistant rain we have had for the last
month or 2 part of my garden is waterlogged.
Its been a difficult year all in all dont you think?

Baz

Baz wrote:
Have yours been getting enough water?
Yes they have and with the persistant rain we have had for the last
month or 2 part of my garden is waterlogged.
Its been a difficult year all in all dont you think?

Actually, we;'ve had a remarkable amount of success this year.

The potatoes are coming up ok, not as many as usual, but the ones we have
seem quite good.
Brassicas (other than the broccoli which all died and the cauliflowers which
all turned out to be cabbages) are doing better than ever - never had proper
full headed cabbages without the munching caterpillars before, but these are
all doing great despite the fleece not surviving long.
Pumpkins have all been harvested and brought in to harden up.
Beans did ... ok. Only half had a trench dug, and they came early and
finished early, then the half without the trench came good, so it all worked
out really well! Picked what I suspect was the last handful last night,
although there are still a couple of flowers.
Berries did excellently, although strawberry season may have been shorter
than normal. No second flush of strawberries to speak of, though, which is
a shame.
Onions and garlic all did well.
Oh, the sweetcorn was terrible this year, actually. Only got to about 4'
tall, and the cobs didn't mature well. That was probably lack of water at
a critical time.
Peas did really well except we forgot to pick them. :-(
Courgettes have been totally mental.
Tomatoes in the greenhouse and in outdoor baskets all excellent.

Only failures - butternut squash all died off, broccoli all died and the
sweetcorn didn't work well. And the greenhouse melons didn't put out female
flowers until it was too late, so no idea what happened there. In fact,
about to start a new thread ...

wrote in
:

Baz wrote:
Have yours been getting enough water?
Yes they have and with the persistant rain we have had for the
:last
month or 2 part of my garden is waterlogged.
Its been a difficult year all in all dont you think?

Actually, we;'ve had a remarkable amount of success this year.

The potatoes are coming up ok, not as many as usual, but the ones we
have seem quite good.
Brassicas (other than the broccoli which all died and the cauliflowers
which all turned out to be cabbages) are doing better than ever -
never had proper full headed cabbages without the munching
caterpillars before, but these are all doing great despite the fleece
not surviving long. Pumpkins have all been harvested and brought in to
harden up. Beans did ... ok. Only half had a trench dug, and they
came early and finished early, then the half without the trench came
good, so it all worked out really well! Picked what I suspect was the
last handful last night, although there are still a couple of flowers.
Berries did excellently, although strawberry season may have been
shorter than normal. No second flush of strawberries to speak of,
though, which is a shame.
Onions and garlic all did well.
Oh, the sweetcorn was terrible this year, actually. Only got to about
4' tall, and the cobs didn't mature well. That was probably lack of
water at a critical time.
Peas did really well except we forgot to pick them. :-(
Courgettes have been totally mental.
Tomatoes in the greenhouse and in outdoor baskets all excellent.

Only failures - butternut squash all died off, broccoli all died and
the sweetcorn didn't work well. And the greenhouse melons didn't put
out female flowers until it was too late, so no idea what happened
there. In fact, about to start a new thread ...



Oh yes you have had a wonderful year, and as all of us you have had a few
failures, but not many.
Similar story here but the broccoli was a bumper crop (as were all
brassicas). Wonder why yours died?

Biggest success this year in our garden were broad beans, peas and
outdoor tomatoes.

Failures were runner beans, sweetcorn, beetroot and greenhouse tomatoes.
Oh and leeks, but time will tell.

Dont know how the autumn digging is going to go because of all the water
at the bottom of the garden, its a bit scary never had so much since we
moved here 9 years ago, bearing mind that the hosepipe had to be used in
May, June and July if I remember correctly.

Baz

"Baz" wrote
I grew my Musselburgh leeks from seed then planted them out in June.
They are still only pencil size.
This is my first attempt growing leeks and feel they should be much
bigger.
They are in the middle of a now bare patch which I had onions and garlic
and I am digging around them for next years sowing or planting of
brassicas.

Question is should I dig them up to save digging around them if they are
not going to come to anything?

If they look healthy and are slowly growing don't worry. Ours are not much
bigger this year, goodness knows why, but they will get big enough to crop
eventually.
Incidentally, we plant out leeks where the Allium bed is going to be the
next season so by the time they are getting big they are in the right place
if you see what I mean.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

Baz wrote:
Similar story here but the broccoli was a bumper crop (as were all
brassicas). Wonder why yours died?

Weak plants and not enough water when they were young, I think.

Biggest success this year in our garden were broad beans, peas and
outdoor tomatoes.

Oh yes, my broad beans did well. Annoyingly, my overwintering broad beans
are now in flower! :-(
Guess I did them too ealry;. Wonder if there are any pollinators out
there?

Failures were runner beans, sweetcorn, beetroot and greenhouse tomatoes.

What happened to your tomatoes?

Dont know how the autumn digging is going to go because of all the water
at the bottom of the garden, its a bit scary never had so much since we
moved here 9 years ago, bearing mind that the hosepipe had to be used in
May, June and July if I remember correctly.

Was digging potatoes yesterday, the soil is excellent for digging atm.

"Bob Hobden" wrote in
:



"Baz" wrote
I grew my Musselburgh leeks from seed then planted them out in June.
They are still only pencil size.
This is my first attempt growing leeks and feel they should be much
bigger.
They are in the middle of a now bare patch which I had onions and
garlic and I am digging around them for next years sowing or planting
of brassicas.

Question is should I dig them up to save digging around them if they
are not going to come to anything?

If they look healthy and are slowly growing don't worry. Ours are not
much bigger this year, goodness knows why, but they will get big
enough to crop eventually.
Incidentally, we plant out leeks where the Allium bed is going to be
the next season so by the time they are getting big they are in the
right place if you see what I mean.


Yes Bob I think I know what you mean.
I have put them where the existing Allium bed is.
Next year I should put them where the NEXT Allium bed is going to be.

Makes alot of sense when you think how long a growing period leeks take to
mature.
Thanks for that, its easy when you know how, if I understood right.

Thankyou
Baz

wrote in
:

Baz wrote:
Similar story here but the broccoli was a bumper crop (as were all
brassicas). Wonder why yours died?

Weak plants and not enough water when they were young, I think.

Biggest success this year in our garden were broad beans, peas and
outdoor tomatoes.

Oh yes, my broad beans did well. Annoyingly, my overwintering broad
beans are now in flower! :-(
Guess I did them too ealry;. Wonder if there are any pollinators out
there?
I am beginning to think they are not worth sowing in autumn.
Over the past few years the pods only have 2 or 3 if any beans inside them.

Failures were runner beans, sweetcorn, beetroot and greenhouse
tomatoes.

What happened to your tomatoes?

Dont know how the autumn digging is going to go because of all the
water at the bottom of the garden, its a bit scary never had so much
since we moved here 9 years ago, bearing mind that the hosepipe had
to be used in May, June and July if I remember correctly.

Was digging potatoes yesterday, the soil is excellent for digging atm.
Got mine out just in time.

Dug ours just in time too

To answer your q about the tomatoes in the greenhouse.
They just dropped off the trusses onto the ground in the green stage.
Everything looked ok. but when they were heavy enough just dropped.
Gardeners Delight they were.
I grew the same variety outdoors and they have been wonderful.

Baz wrote:
To answer your q about the tomatoes in the greenhouse.
They just dropped off the trusses onto the ground in the green stage.
Everything looked ok. but when they were heavy enough just dropped.
Gardeners Delight they were.
I grew the same variety outdoors and they have been wonderful.

How odd. Did they go for a long spell without being watered, perhaps?
My GD are lovely - I just picked a handful at lunchtime and ate them almost
straight from the plant!

"Baz" wrote
"Bob Hobden" wrote
"Baz" wrote
I grew my Musselburgh leeks from seed then planted them out in June.
They are still only pencil size.
This is my first attempt growing leeks and feel they should be much
bigger.
They are in the middle of a now bare patch which I had onions and
garlic and I am digging around them for next years sowing or planting
of brassicas.

Question is should I dig them up to save digging around them if they
are not going to come to anything?

If they look healthy and are slowly growing don't worry. Ours are not
much bigger this year, goodness knows why, but they will get big
enough to crop eventually.
Incidentally, we plant out leeks where the Allium bed is going to be
the next season so by the time they are getting big they are in the
right place if you see what I mean.


Yes Bob I think I know what you mean.
I have put them where the existing Allium bed is.
Next year I should put them where the NEXT Allium bed is going to be.

Makes alot of sense when you think how long a growing period leeks take to
mature.
Thanks for that, its easy when you know how, if I understood right.


In 2011 plant the leeks where you will have the Allium bed in 2012.
They start off in the wrong place but end up in the right place and are
cropped before they hold up proceeding elsewhere. :-)

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

wrote in
:


How odd. Did they go for a long spell without being watered, perhaps?
My GD are lovely - I just picked a handful at lunchtime and ate them
almost straight from the plant!


Yes very odd.
Since I posted to this thread it reminded me to find out why.
It seems that after last year I did not clean out the greenhouse properly,
and I did not clean it out at all and might have dormant pests!
Last year was my first with my own greenhouse and what a pleasure it was
that first year being ignorant.
I hope thats all it is.
BTW I call it a greenhouse, and I suppose it is, but its only small 6' by
2'6". and apart from starting off seeds it is used solely for tomatoes.
Its a lean to if you know what I mean, purpose built not homemade.
Oh and yes they were watered.

Just at the end of outdoor gd's now and they are so good arent they.

Baz