Allium porrum Leeks

Planting position: Full sun. Spacing of 15cm between plants and 30cm between rows.
Requires regular watering (less during germination period). Well-draining, compost-enriched loamy soil, layers of grass clippings mulching to seedlings and added 2:3:2 to preparing beds, at a rate of 65g.m ². Draw soil up around the established plants for support, but over a period of weeks, for if this is done too suddenly they may rot. Take care not to bury the middle growing tip and do not firm down.
Propagate from seed.
Harvesting is done from 5 months after transplanting, when leeks are 1,5cm in diameter.
Pests, diseases and their cures: Downy mildew or rust - spray the leaves with mancozeb. Thrips - spray with mercaptothion. White rot disease - remove and burn infected plants and drench around remaining plants with quintozene.

Leeks are used for flavouring dishes or eaten when boiled, steamed, fried or braised. Raw leeks, a member of the onion family, are used in salads. Its long, flat leaves emerge from a cylindrical stem.