Leek: how to properly prepare and plant seedlings in the ground

Leek is an amazing plant with a huge amount of beneficial properties. In connection with the peculiarities of its development, this culture is most often grown through seedlings.

Leek Seedling Preparation

To get high-quality and healthy seedlings, you need to familiarize yourself with the rules for preparing seeds and the basic requirements for caring for young shoots.

Preparing seeds for sowing

1. Disinfection. Put the seeds in the hot (+48^aboutC - +50^aboutC) water for 15-20 minutes, and then for 1-2 minutes in cold. Then remove and dry.
2. Germination. At the bottom of the plate, place a piece of settled fabric (cotton or matting is good), lay seeds on it and cover with a second piece of the same moistened fabric. Put the workpiece in a warm place for 2 days. During this time, the fabric must be kept moist.

In order for leek seeds to sprout better, it is advisable to sprout them before sowing

Sowing seeds in the ground

It is advisable to grow seedlings of leek in individual containers. Peat pots or cassettes with a volume of 100-150 ml and a depth of at least 10 cm are well suited for this purpose, since leek roots need a lot of space. If you want to use a common tank, then it should have the same depth.

1. Make holes in the containers and pour a layer (1-1.5 cm) of drainage material (fine gravel will do).
2. Fill containers with soil. To prepare it, mix in equal parts turf, humus and peat, add 0.5 parts of sand, and then moisten.
3. Prepare recesses for sowing:
   1. In pots, make holes 1-1.5 cm deep.
   2. In a general box, make grooves 1-1.5 cm deep at a distance of 5 cm from each other.
4. Place the seeds in the ground:
   1. Sow 1-2 seeds in 1 well.
   2. Sow the seeds into the grooves at a distance of 5-7 cm from each other. On 1 place, you can also put 1-2 seeds.
5. Sprinkle the seeds with a layer of dry loose soil or sand with a thickness of 0.5 cm.
6. Cover the crops with a film or plastic bag and put in a warm (+22^aboutC - +25^aboutC) a place with moderate lighting.

To ensure the best conditions for crops, boxes can be covered with foil

As a rule, the first sprouts appear 7-10 days after sowing. As soon as this happens, remove the film and place the containers in a bright place. So that subsequently the plant does not go into the arrow, it is required to observe the temperature regime. Hatching sprouts must be kept at +15 for a week^aboutC - +17^aboutC during the daytime and +10^aboutC - +12^aboutC at night, and then at a temperature of +17^aboutC - +20^aboutHappy and +10^aboutC - +14^aboutFrom the night until planting seedlings in the ground.

Seedling Care

In addition to observing the temperature regime, there are several more rules regarding the cultivation of leek seedlings.

For irrigation, it is recommended to use only soft water - melt, boiled, rain or settled for at least a day.

• Lighting. Daylight hours should last 10-12 hours, so if necessary, light the seedlings with a fluorescent lamp installed at a distance of 50 cm. In addition, try not to expose seedlings in direct sunlight.
• Watering. Conduct moderate watering, trying to water the seedlings under the root (for this purpose you can use a spoon or syringe). Also, after each watering, gently loosen the soil to avoid crusting.
• Undercutting. Trim the seedlings regularly so that their length does not exceed 8-10 cm.
• Top dressing. Feed the leek every 2 weeks with this mixture: ammonium nitrate (2 g) + potassium chloride (2 g) + superphosphate (4 g) + water (1 l).
• Thinning. If you planted 2 seeds per hole, then when the shoots grow a little, carefully remove the weaker one.
• Pick If you sowed seeds in a common box and plantings turned out to be dense, then you have to pick, when the plants will have 2 real leaves.
  • Prepare containers with a volume of 100-150 ml, make drainage holes in them and fill with soil (you can take the same mixture).
  • Generously moisten the soil in a box with seedlings.
  • Carefully remove the sprout along with a lump of earth.
  • Make a hole in the pot, the size of which coincides with a lump of earth, and place the sprout in it.
  • Moisten the soil.

In order for the leek to develop correctly, it must be trimmed in a timely manner

Unlike foliage, leek roots need heat, so it is advisable to put containers on a piece of foam or drywall.

Leek pick (video)

Planting seedlings in the ground

It is recommended to plant leek no earlier than mid-May, when the temperature is finally established. A week before planting, you need to start hardening seedlings. To this end, take the pots out into the open air at first for 3-4 hours, gradually increasing the time. In the last 2 days, seedlings can be left on the street all night.

Site preparation

You need to start preparing the garden in the fall. For leeks, a site located in an open area with light fertile soils (loamy or sandy loamy soil) is suitable, and groundwater should lie at a depth of 1.5 m from the surface. If the selected area has acidic soil (its main features are light plaque, an abundance of moss or horsetail, and rusty water in the pits), then 7-10 days before the main preparation it must be deoxidized with lime (250-300 g / m²) or dolomite flour (300-400 g / m²).

When planting leeks, it is also recommended to consider crop rotation rules. Good precursors for this crop are legumes, sidrates (mustard, lentils, alfalfa), early potatoes, white cabbage and tomatoes. It’s undesirable to plant leeks where 4 years before that bulb crops grew.

If you do not need to lime the soil, then proceed immediately to its improvement by adding compost or humus (6-8 kg / m²), nitrofosku (10-15 g / m²) and urea (5 g / m²).

Dig a plot in the spring and form a bed. Gardeners claim that celery grows well on a narrow bed (such a bed has a width of 0.7 - 0.9 m and very wide aisles), but you can do the usual. After you make a bed, sprinkle humus or compost (3 kg / m) on the surface 3-5 days before transplanting²) without digging.

At the time of planting, the leek seedlings must be at least 6-8 weeks old.

Transplanting

It is best to plant leek in cloudy weather, and if the day is hot, then towards evening. The procedure is as follows:

1. Level the ground with a rake.
2. Do:
3. holes with a depth of 10-15 cm at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other and 30-35 cm between rows (two-row scheme);
4. holes 10-15 cm deep at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other and 20-30 cm between rows (multi-row pattern);
5. grooves with a depth of 10-15 cm at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other and 40 cm between rows.
6. Place the sprouts in the recesses, cutting 1/3 of their roots and leaves. If you prepared seedlings in peat pots, then plant with them, without touching anything.
7. Sprinkle with earth without deepening the growth point (the place where the stem breaks into leaves).
8. Moisten the soil well so that no air remains around the roots.

Leeks can be planted in holes in a multi-row way

Good neighbors for leeks are carrots, tomatoes, strawberries and cabbage.

Planting seedlings of leek in the ground (video)

Regional features of seedling preparation

If you live in a cold region and you decide to plant leek in your area, then keep in mind that you need to grow it only through seedlings. You need to start cooking it early enough. This is due to the fact that leek has a long growing season: it takes about 6 months for growth and development.

As you can see, preparing and planting seedlings of leeks is not difficult, and even beginners will cope with this matter. Sow seeds in a timely manner, carry out the required care of the seedlings, properly plant it, and you will definitely get a healthy plant and provide yourself with a good harvest.