Leek - served at the table in pickled, dried, steamed, boiled, fried and of course fresh. They use it in the kitchen as a separate product, and as an additive in other dishes, when preparing winter preparations, even he found himself as a kind of seasoning. A little care and labor, and a real storehouse of vitamins will appear on your table.
Features of growing leeks
This is a two year culture, on which the onion does not grow like a turnip familiar to everyone. In the first year of plants forms a false stem, in the form of a cylinder.
The plant has wide leaves growing in the shape of a fan around the stem. A false stem is mainly used for food, which grows up to 7 cm in diameter, bushes grow up to 30 cm in height.
In the second year, the leek throws an arrow, at the end of which appears an inflorescence resembling a ball. At the end of the season you can collect seeds from it. Germination of seeds occurs at a temperature of about 2 degrees.
Sprouts of leeks do not withstand frost, but after the seedlings take root, small frosts become fearless for him. It is grown using seedlings, or by direct sowing of seeds on a garden bed.
Plot for growing leek seedlings
In order to get a good crop of leek, it is necessary to take away beds with fertile, well-treated soil under it.
For this crop, a site with neutral or slightly acidic soil is suitable. Leek seedlings should be sown in places where it will be well provided with moisture.
It perfectly develops on moist loamy soils, but if they are clay, then sand must be applied to the beds - otherwise the plant develops with difficulty and may even die.
To feed the beds intended for planting this crop, use potassium salt, superphosphate, urea and good compost.
Obtaining leek seedlings from seeds
In order for the onion seeds to sprout quickly, you need to properly prepare them.
To do this, they are immersed in hot water for 20 minutes, after which they are removed and immersed in cold water.
After this procedure, the seeds are kept in a warm place for three days.
When the seeds begin to sprout, they are slightly dried on gauze and planted in the soil.
Sowing leek seedlings
To get good leek seedlings, you need to choose the right time for sowing seeds.
In most regions, sowing in February is best. It is almost not necessary to take care of seedlings of this type of onion; regular spraying and watering of the soil when drying the top layer is all that is required.
If you do not have a place at home, and seedlings will grow in a greenhouse, then sowing leek seeds should be done in the second decade of April. At the end of the month, or in the first decade of May, seedlings can be transplanted to a permanent place.
The containers for seedlings are filled with a soil mixture, without filling the boxes to the edge of 2 cm. They make grooves through 5 cm, 1-1.5 cm deep and sow seeds in them. After that, the boxes are transferred to a warm place and covered with a film. Inside such a peculiar greenhouse, the temperature reaches about 25 degrees. Immediately after the emergence of seedlings, remove the film and transfer the boxes to a room where the temperature is maintained at 17 degrees in the daytime, and at night 12 degrees. After a week, you can raise the temperature for leek seedlings to 20 degrees in daylight and 14 degrees at night.
Leek seedling care
After the appearance of sprouts, you need to start caring for seedlings, this directly affects the outcome of all the work.
Leek - a plant that grows well only with sufficient moisture. For this reason, it is necessary that the soil is constantly a little moist, but you can’t water the plants too much, they may have root rot.
Humidify the soil with warm water, the procedure is performed carefully so as not to wash the root system and not damage the stems of the seedlings. In addition to watering, plant nutrition is important, it must be carried out before transplanting into the ground 1-2 times. So that the roots of the plants grow well, and the edible part of the stem turns out to be thick, the leaves of the leek trim the leaves when planting. They must be left no longer than 10 cm.
We plant leek seedlings
Transplanting seedlings to a permanent place, perform after hardening. To do this, for 35-40 days, seedlings are watered less and taken out into the street during the day.
Planting plants in open ground is most often necessary in the last decade of April, or in the first decade of May. Before planting seedlings, it and the site need to be prepared. In seedlings, leaves and roots are partially cut, they are planted in a constant place in pre-cut grooves. Which they do after 0.5 m, in rows the onions are planted after 10 cm, so it will be easier to grow them, and this will allow the plants to build up the false stem well. Plants are immersed in soil a little deeper than they grew in crates.
Leek Care
To plant leek seeds for growing seedlings - this is not enough to entrust the required amount of product.
The most difficult thing is the proper care of weak seedlings.
The basis for obtaining a good harvest of onions are two factors: timely care of the plants and the organization of the proper fertilizing, in the period necessary for the leek.
In addition, to obtain a crop, regular weeding of beds and loosening of the soil are necessary.
Water the onion as needed, the plants respond well to feeding chicken manure, diluting it with clean water, in the ratio of the number of litter to water - 1:20.
When a young plant forms powerful roots, under the stems of seedlings, it is necessary to add fertile soil.
Around the age of 2 months, you need to first leek leek, then, as necessary, the hilling is repeated until the harvest.
Plants develop better if you add wood ash to the soil before hilling.
This crop requires regular removal of weeds; onions cannot tolerate nearby rivals in sunlight and nutrition.
Leek seedling protection
Like any other crop in the garden, the leek can also get sick and it is also threatened by pests. But compared with onions, its main advantage is more persistent, less often exposed to diseases or the invasion of harmful insects.
By following the basic rules for caring for this crop (compliance with agrotechnical requirements and the proper cultivation of leek seedlings), you can grow it strong and healthy.
However, there are also insects that are dangerous for leeks, for example, the onion fly is very harmful to him. But to resist the pest will help carrots growing near the beds with onions.
Still can cause trouble thrips. Destroy it will help special chemical compounds. Also, nature created an enemy for this pest - a predatory tick.
Great harm can cause one of the most common diseases - powdery mildew. Bordeaux fluid will help to save crops from it. If, on plants, signs of white rot disease appear, then know that it is time to lime the soil.
