Veg4Show

Many years ago i use to collar my leeks with pipe lagging from day one to force them up. This caused several problems.
1. The leek would blanch from an early stage leaving it very vulnerable.
2. Collar to soon and girth is sacrificed for length leaving you with a bent weak leek.

I have found that leaving them alone gives you the best results. My leeks arrive sometime in December (this year Dec 3rd.) and i don't touch them until late February early march and at this stage i apply a small piece of lagging at the growing point to give them some length before plating out later in the season. I find that some leeks do need pulling up early to get the length and this is a great way to pull them up without blanching them. My first actual collar will not be applied until i actually plant the leeks out in the bed.