Leek is an annual or perennial plant. Leek: growing at room conditions. New from users

Leek: the secrets of growing a healthy vegetable

Leek is a healthy and tasty vegetable that is suitable for both diet food and a luxurious dinner. It has a pleasant slightly spicy taste - leek dishes are obtained with a spicy aroma. It is a vegetable with a high content of vitamin C, protein, fiber and potassium salts, which helps a good metabolism in the body. And a small amount of essential oils allows people suffering from stomach diseases to use leek.

Leek is planted for the sake of a white stem - the so-called "legs". But young leaves are also eaten, especially early-ripening varieties. Various salads are prepared from them. Leek is a perennial plant, it is unpretentious, but it has its own secrets of caring for it.

Leek - an onion with flat, linear leaves, they branch off from the central stem. The color depends on the variety, growing conditions, as a rule, the leaves of the vegetable are light or dark green. The lower part of the plant is a false stem - its length varies depending on how the leek was planted and how it was cared for. Usually the "leg" is about half a meter long, with a diameter of 3-5 cm.

For the sake of this bulbous thickening, the leek is harvested in the first year. In the next season, the vegetable is formed into a peduncle with an umbrella in the form of a ball. Onions bloom in mid-summer, and seeds are obtained in September. They are small, retain their properties for two to three years. But the formation of the plant does not end there. At the leek, sighting bulbs appear near the peduncle. They form new plants after wintering.

There are three types of onions - early, mid-ripening and late-ripening. Early varieties are harvested in August, the leaves are loose, so the bulbs do not store as well. They are best eaten as soon as possible after harvest. The mid-season group has huge, strong leaves; such a leek is harvested in October. If the winter is mild, then part of the onion can be left under the cover until spring. Late varieties grow slowly, but they are cold-resistant. Their false stem is shorter in comparison with other varieties, but thicker. Green leaves have a bluish tint, the wax coating is much more pronounced than in the first two groups of onions.

Cultivation and care

Leek has a long growing season - more than six months, so before planting it in the ground, the vegetable is grown in the form of seedlings. Working hours on open ground - the first half of May. The soil should be prepared in the fall, as onions love organic fertilizers - during this time they must give their nutrients to the soil. She must be fertile. Leek grows well after cucumbers, legumes or cruciferous.

Seedlings are planted in beds at a distance of 20-30 cm. Plants need to be deepened, so the stem of the bulbs will bleach more. When the vegetable takes root, the furrows must be covered. In order for the leek to turn out with a long bleached leg, the plant constantly has to be spudded and sprinkled with earth.

You will have to take care of the plant, albeit infrequently, but thoroughly. The vegetable will need weeding from weeds, loosening two or three times per season, regular watering and, most importantly, hilling. Feed the leek before planting and after that several times over the summer. Onions are especially susceptible to fertilizer at the time of stem formation.

Leek can be mulched. Peat, rotted small straw or tops are suitable for covering. So you can forget about weeds and watering for a while.

Plant features

Onions are quite resistant to diseases and pests. The only thing that can bother him is an onion fly or white rot. The fungus, even after picking onions, lives in the soil for several years; lime is suitable for its improvement. To avoid the invasion of the fly, the leek is planted next to the carrots.

Leek is good in combined beds. He gets along with radishes, beets, lettuce, cucumber. It is only necessary to take into account that the onion loves the sun and cannot stand the shade.

The first harvest can be harvested in August. It is then that it is better to thin out the beds. Harvested onions are best consumed at the same time, they are not subject to storage. For winter stocks, onions begin to be harvested in October. This must be done carefully, since the onion has grown deep into the ground, it is better to dig it with a pitchfork. Damaged and dirty leaves are removed, the roots and part of the upper leaves are shortened. In this form, the leek, well wrapped in cling film, retains its properties in the refrigerator for a long time. In the basement or cellar, they are placed in boxes, dug in wet sand. Keeps for about half a year. On the balcony, the vegetable can lie until the first frost arrives.

Leek is used not only fresh or stewed. It can be dried, frozen, pickled or added as a seasoning to preparations and sauces.

Leek is good both as an independent dish and as a seasoning.

Leek is a perennial plant with a two-year development cycle. Its homeland is the eastern regions of the Mediterranean coast, Iran, Iraq. Found wild in Southern Europe.

Leek has linear-lanceolate (flat) leaves with a strong wax coating. Depending on the variety, from 6 to 15 leaves are formed, located in the same plane and fan-shaped extending from the false stem (leg), which can be up to 60 cm long and up to 5-6 cm in diameter. The plant is very light and moisture-loving.

The most valuable part is the bleached base of the false stem, which has a slightly spicy taste and is a dietary product. Recommended for metabolic disorders, atherosclerosis, to improve liver function, kidney stones, obesity.

Agricultural technology

In the Middle lane, leeks are grown through seedlings. I sow seedlings in mid-February. I soak the seeds for 2-3 days before sowing, then dry them a little and sow them in boxes and cups.

The literature generally recommends using boxes for seedlings of leeks. I noticed that seedlings grown in small cups (diameter 4 cm) are stronger, more powerful, have one more leaf when planted in the ground, which is important. And when planting from a cup, the root system is not injured. As a result, from such seedlings, plants are obtained larger.

The soil in boxes and cups is light, humus. Before sowing, I lightly tamp it, water it abundantly, and then sow the seeds. In boxes - at a distance of 2x2.5 cm, in cups - 3-4 seeds each.

When growing seedlings, you need to carefully monitor soil moisture and air temperature. During the day I try to keep the temperature at 18-20 C, at night 13-14 C.

Seedlings need regular watering, 1-2 top dressings with complex mineral fertilizer.

I plant seedlings from May 1 to May 10. I pre-cook a bed 20 cm high, 1 meter wide. I bring in 1-1.5 buckets of humus, 2-3 tablespoons of complex organo-mineral fertilizer and 2 cups of ash per square meter of the bed, dig up the soil on a full bayonet of a shovel.

Across the beds with a garden scoop I make trenches 15-20 cm deep at a distance of 40-50 cm from one another, and I place the earth from the trenches between them. At the bottom of the trenches, with a pointed peg, I make indentations every 15 cm.

I water the seedlings in the box abundantly and carefully take them out. I cut the leaves and roots to a third of the length. When planting plants, I press the soil around the roots tightly and lightly water. The planting depth of onion seedlings is 1-2 cm.

I transfer the seedlings from the cups into the holes located after 20 cm. I do not touch the leaves and roots.

During the growing season, leeks are regularly watered with warm water. In the dry season, about once every 5 days, 15-20 liters per 1 m2.

I spend the first top dressing 15-20 days after planting seedlings with complex mineral fertilizer. In the future, I do top dressing every 2-3 weeks, alternating organic and organo-mineral fertilizers. I noticed that the leek especially loves the infusion of chicken manure (1:15).

To obtain as long as possible, juicy, tender bleached legs, as the plants grow, I fill the trenches with soil from the row-spacing. When the trenches are filled with earth, I additionally spud the stems with soil.

Some leek varieties have very long stems. In this case, bleaching can be carried out using the black material that wraps around the leg.

Unlike onions, leeks are almost never affected by diseases and pests. The leaves grow until late autumn, when other types of onions no longer give greenery. Leek can tolerate frosts down to -7 C.

I harvest leeks at the end of October, before the onset of persistent frosts. I dig the plants with a pitchfork, shake off the ground, cut the roots to 1 cm, and the leaves - by one third.

In varieties with especially large false stems, I leave the leaves 25-30 cm long, and shorten the roots to 2 cm.

After drying, the plants are placed in tall boxes in an upright position, covered with wet sand and stored on a glazed loggia until spring.

About varieties

Of those varieties that I tested on my site, I would like to highlight Vesta and Goliath (early), Premier and Bandit (middle late), Elefant and Karantansky (late). The mid-season Tango variety is very good - the length of the plant exceeds 1 m, and the weight reaches 1 kg.

But I consider the mid-season Dutch variety Columbus to be the best, which forms a long bleached part with minimal hilling up to 40 cm in length and up to 6 cm in width, and the weight last season was from 900 g to 1 kg 500 g. In addition, it has excellent taste.

In addition to the “Korlevo” leek, I grow rare exotic crops in the garden: trichosanth, momordica, okra, beninkgaz, kiwano, etc. I get not only a crop of fruits, but also a sufficient amount of seeds.

The leek is often referred to as the king of onions. It has a high content of solids (up to 25%), including up to 12% sugars, as well as ascorbic acid (up to 80%), carotene. Leek contains up to 250 mg% of potassium salts (for comparison, in the onion bulb of potassium 175 mg%).

Unlike onions, leeks are almost never affected by diseases and pests. In addition, leeks are one of the few vegetables that increase their vitamin C content when stored.

Dunichev Igor Gennadievich,

248031, Kaluga, st. road,

34, apt. 163

Number of impressions: 7000 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 ..

LEEK. BOW-BATUN. ONION FRAGRANT. PERMANENT SCHNITT ONION

LEEK

Leek is rich in potassium, iron, sugars, essential oils. It has healing properties: doctors recommend it for rheumatism, obesity, urolithiasis and other diseases. One of its remarkable advantages is the ability to accumulate vitamin C during storage, this property is absent in other vegetables.
In the Non-Chernozem zone, two varieties of leek are cultivated - Karatansky early ripening and Bulgarian late ripening,
Leek is a biennial plant. In the first year, it develops green leaves and a thickened false stem or white
bark stalk, which is the main edible part of the plant. The white leg can beat 15-30 cm long and thick
3-7 cm. The next year, the leek can be left in the garden, where it throws out a flower stalk with light lilac flowers.
In the middle lane, leeks are grown in seedlings. Onions are sown on March 15-20. Seeds before sowing are soaked in hot water at a temperature of 50 ° C for 20-25 minutes, then they are well washed and soaked in a damp cloth for 5-7 days. After that, the seeds are slightly dried and sown in boxes or a greenhouse. They try not to thicken onion crops, sow seeds at a distance of 2x2.5 cm. When growing leek seedlings, you need to monitor soil moisture and air temperature. During the day, the temperature should be maintained at 18-20 ° C, at night
- 14-15 ° C. After 50-55 days, the seedlings are ready for planting. Before planting, her leaves and roots are shortened by 1/3. Seedlings are planted in a garden bed in soil well seasoned with organic fertilizers. 1 bucket of humus or compost is added per 1 m2, 2 liter jars of prepared sawdust, a half-liter jar of ash are added. From. mineral fertilizers make 2 tablespoons of nitrophoska and a teaspoon of urea. Everything is dug up well to a depth of 20-22 cm. Leek is planted in grooves 12 cm deep, well watered with a solution of potassium permanganate pink, 12 cm deep, placing row by row on
24 cm, and plants in a row by 12 cm. After planting, the onion is not watered for 3-4 days.
Plant care consists in loosening row spacings, weeding and hilling three times. During the growing season, leek should be watered regularly, about once every five days, 10 liters per 1 m2. 20 days after planting, leeks are fed. For this, a half-liter jar of mullein and 1 teaspoon of urea, potassium sulfate and superphosphate are diluted in 10 liters of water. Dose of fertilizer solution - 3-4 liters per 1 m2 Before hilling the plants, a glass of wood ash per 1 m2 is added to them
Removed from the garden, leeks can be stored upright all winter dug in wet sand at a temperature of 0-1 ° C.

BOW-BATUN

This onion contains vitamins C, B, PP, sugar, potassium, magnesium and iron salts. Batun onion winters well, grows quickly in early spring and retains tender, juicy leaves for a long time. Cutting leaves stimulates branching in plants. Varieties: Maysky 7, Saladny 35, Gryabovsky 21.
Onions are grown on fertile soil. For 1 m2 of beds, add 1 bucket of compost, 1 tablespoon of urea, superphosphate and potassium sulfate, 1 cup of fluffy lime or chalk, or a half-liter jar of wood ash. Seeds are soaked in a damp cloth for 3-4 days before sowing. Sow early in the spring, April 15-20, then the plants have time to develop well before winter. 3 g of seeds are consumed per 1 m2. Thicker planting improves feather quality, leaves grow thinner and more delicate. Leaf cutting begins from the second year of life, from spring to autumn.
In warm, dry weather, onions are watered once every 5-6 days, 10-12 liters per 1 m2. In order to get early onion production in spring, it is necessary to close the bed with a film in mid-April. Batun is grown for greenery in one place for 3-4 years, but it is better to sow it annually in early spring, and harvest it with a root the next year in May. You can also sow in summer and before winter.

ONION

This is a perennial plant with a small false bulb and flat, narrow leaves. It has a high content of carotene and ascorbic acid. Tender leaves are used, which have a slightly garlicky taste. They grow back in early spring and grow until autumn without turning yellow. The yield of leaves with arrows (they are also eaten) is 2.5-3 kg per 1 m2. In one place, this onion grows 3-4 years.
In order to get fragrant onions 2 weeks earlier in the spring, they cover it with a film.

PERMANENT SCHNITT ONION

This onion is intended for cutting, has leaves rich in vitamins. The content of vitamin C in it is much higher than in onions. Chives grow back quickly after being cut. In late April - early May, it is sown directly in open ground to a depth of 2-3 cm, the soil is slightly compacted. The duration of germination is 2-3 weeks. Chives prefer sunny areas, nutrient-rich soil, medium-heavy, humus, not waterlogged, pre-fertilized with manure. Winter-hardy.

Leek (Allium porrum) - a perennial plant with a two-year development cycle, frost-resistant (winter under snow, withstands up to -15 ° C), moisture-loving, demanding on light and fertility. It forms single false bulbs (“legs” with a diameter of 3-7 and a height of 20-50 cm), the leaves are band-like. Grow in 40-45 day potted seedlings with 3 true leaves (sowing March 15-20, do not dive), planted in early - mid-May according to a 40 x 25 cm pattern in furrows, which are poured as they grow to increase the bleached part. Cleaned at the end of September, stored in a cellar at a temperature of - 1 .... + 2 o C. The taste is delicate, slightly spicy, with a pleasant aroma.

Late - lacks a growing season (170 - 200 days), less yield and less leg (unlike other crops).

Broad blue-green leaves often with a waxy coating are located very tight and depart from the false stem at almost a right angle, the plants seem low. They have a thick, dense leg (18-20 cm).

Mid-season (150-170 days) — Karantansky, Elephant Jolant, Pandora, Kyavar. (via 70-day seedling, sowing in March). Leg - only 20-25 cm, weight 200 g, yield up to 3 kg per 1 sq.m. In terms of yield, they are inferior to early ones, but they are superior in quality. This group includes varieties

Early (up to 140 days) - Kilim, Vesta, Joland (after 30-45 day seedlings) - high leg (up to 50 cm), diameter up to 3 cm. Leaves are rarely located, at an acute angle.

Vesta, Lincoln, Bulgarian giant (5 kg) and 4 kg grade Kilim.

Grow through seedlings (60 days old). Soak the seeds for 30 minutes in warm water (50 ° C), and then leave at room temperature for 2-3 days, changing the water. Sowing depth - 1 cm, 3-4 seeds per pot, at a distance of 2-3 cm. Also plant in open ground in groups.

1. Sowing - in March, planted in the ground at the end of May. The plants are small, can be sown densely, a feeding area of ​​3-4 sq.cm is sufficient. Seedlings of leek, thanks to the shortened stem, do not stretch and can be grown on a podium nnike and ostek flax loggia. With the onset of warm days at the end of April - in the greenhouse, they withstand light frosts.
2. In the second half of April, you can sow leeks in greenhouses, warming them. Seedlings will be ready by June 15th.

Seedlings of cold-resistant crops are grown at a temperature not higher than 17-18 ° C during the day, 14-15 ° C at night. The place is bright, seedlings appear on the 12-18th day after sowing with dry seeds and twice as fast when sowing wet. From germination to the appearance of the first leaf - 10-15 days.

Watering seedlings - moderate, but regular, avoiding the accumulation of water in pans or overdrying. From a lack of moisture and high temperature, the tips of the onion leaves turn irreversibly yellow, after planting in the ground, they do not form large bulbs.

Top dressing - any complex fertilizer with microelements, the first time - a month after germination, then once every 10-15 days (2 g per 1 liter of water). If the plants are too stretched, lower the temperature and periodically spray with clean water.

A good leek seedling should have three leaves (the first cotyledon dries up), a height of about 25 cm, a false stem 3 mm thick. At

Leek is very whimsical. A full crop can be obtained in an unshaded, well-drained, richly flavored with organic matter, deeply cultivated area.

Leek is planted in grooves with a depth of 10-15 cm according to the scheme 10-15 × 50-70 cm. 15-20 plants per 1 m 2. After planting the furrows, we fall asleep with humus.

Watering - according to the weather (up to harvesting), top dressing, weeding, loosening and hilling. Apply NPK according to the active substance 2:1:3 (200 g of ammonium nitrate, 50 g of double superphosphate and 100 g of potassium chloride). We apply one third of the fertilizer before planting, the rest - in two top dressings.

Leek keeps well until December, if they are dug in the basement or on the loggia and grown at a temperature of 4-6 ° C;

NEW mid-early Bastion, Casimir, Tango and one kind

early ripe - Goliath.

Bastion. Ripens in 150 days. The plant is of medium height, but the length of the “leg” with good hilling reaches 30 cm, and the diameter is up to 5 cm. Such a modified head weighs up to 220 g.

Goliath. Ripens in 130 days. The bleached leg weighs less than that of Bastion - 150-200 g, but it also ripens 20 days earlier. The height of the leg is up to 28 cm, but it is thicker - up to 6 cm in diameter.

Tango. Ripens at the same time as Bastion. The leg is shorter - up to 12 cm, but plump - up to 5 cm in diameter. This variety has its advantages: all plants are leveled, the crop can be harvested immediately. But the main advantage of the Tango variety is a higher frost resistance, you can plant seedlings earlier in open ground, and harvest earlier.

Perennial edible onions:

Near fences, dense hedges, bows look good: oblique, fragrant, slime. They can be grown individually or in combination with other flower crops.

Bow oblique - mountain garlic - early ripening, grows very early in spring, grows quickly, good honey plant. Height up to 1.5 m, blooms in July for up to 2 weeks, leaves are wide, flat, inflorescences look like yellow hairy balls. Leaves and bulbs are used for food. Seeds are sown before winter (germination rate is high) or in spring. Prefers sunny areas, drought tolerant.

Allium fragrant differs in fragrant openwork flowers (petals are white with a green or light purple vein). The leaves are narrow-linear, flat, dark green until frost. Peduncle - up to 60 cm. Blooms from late July to September. The peculiarity is the uneven age of shoots, inflorescences, flowers: on the same plant, newly appeared peduncles with inflorescences in covers, flowering arrows adjoin. And in the inflorescence itself: unblown buds, blossoming petals, flowers, elegant dark boxes with ripe seeds.

Onion slime grows on scree, the leaves are different flat (may be twisted, spirally curved), bright. The bush is powerful, peduncles 40-60 cm and up to 1m. They can be planted on hills. Inflorescence spherical, dark pink. Slime blooms in July-August. Leaves can be used all summer.

Schnitt - chisel, speed. Several varieties: European (huge bush, blooms in June), Siberian and Ledebour (compact, bloom later). Peduncles numerous, low -30-40 cm Flowers bright pink, purple. Schnitts are unpretentious, winter-hardy and cold-resistant, grow quickly, without suffering from weeds. Of these, they are used for borders.

Cheremsha - wild-growing perennial onion with a garlic smell, plants live up to 10 years. In Russia, there are 2 related species: victorious onion (common in Siberia, the Far East, has an oblique rhizome on which bulbs develop) and bear onion (European wild garlic, forms 1 white bulb without skin and rhizome). Blossom - in June-July, the seeds ripen in early September. Propagated by dividing bulbs and seeds, which are sown in autumn or spring after stratification (up to 100 days).

Ramson shade-tolerant, prefers slightly acidic marshy soils. They are planted under trees, bushes. In the spring, when the leaves have not yet blossomed, under them bright lawns of wild garlic stand out with green wide leaves, similar to lily of the valley leaves. Care consists in the optimal formation of the nest - no more than 6-7 pieces. bulbs.

Altai onion - stone batun - very effective. Leaves are fistulate, powerful.

Unlike winter spring garlic is very demanding to growing conditions. The slightest non-compliance with agricultural technology leads to a sharp decrease in yield and even to the death of crops. The best way - 6 months to store at a temperature of 18-20 ° C, 10-20 days before planting - at a temperature of + 2-5°C. This cold storage period is used for root germination. It is necessary to plant germinated teeth at the end of April in moist soil to a depth of 5-7 cm with a distance between rows of 25-30 cm, in a row - 4-6 cm.

This bow is versatile. It is used fresh, many delicious dishes are prepared from it, salted, marinated, dried, frozen. It acts both as an independent product, and as a seasoning and additive to vegetable preparations. The plant easily adapts to different environmental conditions: therefore, it is widely cultivated throughout the world, mainly in the temperate zone. Leek is very popular in Western Europe and is valued there as an important supplier of vitamin C.

"Asparagus for the Poor"

So christened the leek writer Anatole France in the story "Crainquebil" (1901). Indeed, dishes with this onion can even be tastier than with asparagus!

Leek is grown for the sake of a bleached false stem - “legs”. Plants can be eaten at any stage of development. Tender young leaves with a slightly spicy flavor are great for salads. Due to the high content of potassium (up to 250 mg/100 g wet weight), leek helps to activate the metabolism, and it is recommended to include it in the diet of overweight people. The low content of burning essential oils allows the use of leeks in dietary nutrition.

Grow heroes

Leeks are grown by direct sowing of seeds into the ground and through seedlings. To obtain marketable products (stem diameter ≥1.5 cm), 6-7 months of vegetation are needed, therefore it is better to grow leeks in our zone through seedlings. The sowing culture is used mainly to obtain beam greens, which are harvested from July. The sowing date (several dates) is chosen depending on the harvesting period.

Leek develops well on many types of soils, provided they are loose and highly fertile. Medium loams are best suited. When preparing the site in the fall, it is imperative to dig the soil to the depth of the arable layer.

Leek is responsive to organic fertilizers, but manure or compost is applied under the previous crop. The best predecessors are cucumbers, cabbage, legumes, early potatoes. Mineral fertilizers are applied in the spring.

Leek is very sensitive to lack of moisture in the soil. In drought, plant growth stops, after watering (at least 20 liters of water per 1 m2) it quickly resumes. Furrow irrigation is most effective.

Leek is unpretentious: care comes down to weeding, loosening the soil, hilling. Mulching of plantings with peat, chopped dry straw or tops of plants is also practiced. This helps retain moisture and inhibits weed growth. Leek plants in the first half of the growing season develop slowly, therefore, in household plots, leeks are often grown in combined plantings, alternating with rows of radishes, lettuce and other green crops, as well as beets and even cucumbers.

Recruitment to the "guard"

Onions are harvested as needed until late autumn. Plants are dug up with a shovel or pitchfork, shaken off the ground and placed in boxes in an upright position or tied in bunches. It is desirable that during these operations the false stem is not clogged with soil particles. In the collected plants, damaged and contaminated leaves are removed, the roots are cut to 1 cm in length and the leaves are cut by about one third. If necessary, the leek is washed and dried, and then packed in nets, plastic bags or plastic boxes.

Due to the high content of dry matter, leeks are an excellent object for drying. Both the false stem cut into rings and the leaves are dried. At home, this can be done in a moderately heated oven or in a ventilated area at room temperature. Leek is also canned and frozen.

On guard of our health

Leek, especially late varieties, is well stored, this is facilitated by the high content of dry matter in plants. When stored for up to three months, the chemical composition of the products practically does not change due to the outflow of nutrients from the leaves. For a long time, leeks were buried in cellars in river sand, where they remained until the end of winter at a temperature close to 0 ° C and a relative humidity of about 80%. Such storage conditions make it possible to avoid the growth of roots and leaves, as well as stretching of plants.

One of the best ways to store leeks for a short time is in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic wrap. Before storage, the plants are sorted, cooled to storage temperature, then packed in perforated plastic bags, 5-7 pcs. (up to 1.5 kg). The optimum storage temperature is from -2 to 2 °C, with a relative humidity of about 80%. It is desirable to maintain the temperature at a constant level. For a short time, leeks can be stored on the balcony. At temperatures down to -5 ° C, plants do not freeze, but frozen leeks are quite suitable for cooking. However, thawing and re-icing of products is best avoided.