Onions and Leeks...

Hi,

As long as I keep my onion and leek slips planted 6 inches apart, then I can expect a good sized harvest, barring bugs and plant damage? Just want to be certain, please advise, thank you.

Goodness, my leeks are nowhere near that far apart. 3 inches, maybe...

From what I've been reading, it would depend on the size you want to pick them, right? I planted my Leeks and Cippolinis 3" apart. I admit I was quite surprised when I noted 8" apart on my Shallot sets. Seemed WAY excessive to me, so I cut it in half. I mean, I have NEVER seen a 6" shallot - have you?

Okay, great, thanks you guys. That means I have much more room than I thought.

And Sequee... nopers on those 6" shallots either. ;)

Extra space - the gardeners gift from God! WhooHoo!

Janice onions and the like are heavy feeders that do not appreciate competition for food. The roots grow out and away from the bulb so its not the size of the bulb as much is it is the length of the roots that you need to be concerned with. I plant large onions 3 inches apart and pull every other one for green onions to end up with 2-3 pound Alise Craig onions with an occassional whopper of four pounds and plant cippillioni sp lol types closer. The obvious two other factors affecting size besides spacing are soil condition and lots of water . I supplement feed Ammonium Nitrate every two weeks until they start to bulb then pour the water to them. It is very important to get them to grow several leaves before bulbing because the more leaf the bigger the onion gets. Thats my story and I am sticking to it lol. Ernie

Thank you for that information. I am currrently growing Dixonfarms Unique Allium Collection [Lancelot Leeks, Red Torpea, and Cippolini (my personal favorite)], and Shallots from Gurney's. I have all of them about 3" apart - the only ones I'm worried about are the Red Torpedoes - I may use the above advice and pick every other one as babies.

Thanks for the great info!

lol Ernie, did I really write this? I don't thinks so! Wonder since I have not grown onions in years and years

My Dixondale info says to plant the leeks 4" apart.

this is Maria and not Ernie, just want to add having seen Ernies onions in person all I can say is WOW WOW

Well, everything is in and I kept them 4-6 inches apart. Mine came from Dixondale too, but, I didn't see the spacing guide until after you kind hearted folks filled me in. I have Red Bull, Yellow Sweet and Lancelot leeks (yum). They sure give you a lot of slips, I gave half to my sister in law.

I can attest to the roots of the leeks spreading over a wide are. I use raised beds and had two leeks that I didn't get a chance to use last summer. When I went to pull them out in the spring to till the bed I was amazed at the root structure. They can't just be pulled out I needed to dig them out.

At 6" my leeks did fine, but are you planting them from seed or from already grown seedling? In my area to get a good full leek I need to start them under the lights at the beginning of march. So, if you have the same timing for hard frosts as me, you might not get the same size as the store bought leeks.

No, not from seed. These are the onion "slips" is what I guess you call them. They look like bulbs with green growth on the top and are about 5 inches long. DH built me the raised bed today, so that is what these are in too. Were those leeks that you pulled out this year still okay to eat, or replant somehow?

They might have regrown, I am not sure. I change what is grown in the raised beds every year to try to avoid some of the diseases, so I treated those leeks as lost causes. My chives seem to come back evary year fine, so the leeks might have too.

I plant my leeks densely by making a deep hole with a dowel and then dropping the transplant in the hole. Mine were spaced about 2" apart. I do need to use a slender trowel to dig them up. They are all "holding roots" together deep in the soil. You would never be able to pull them up without the trowel or similar tool but I get a larger harvest this way.