Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
As summer cedes to autumn, leek growth gets underway from spring sowings that we transplanted in early summer. Then suddenly their lovely distinctive leaves are tall, and rise to prominence in the garden as summer crops fade.
For eating, they offer sweet blanched stems, together with perhaps the only fresh green leaves in frosty winters. Leeks’ season of maturity extends over nine months, and best results come from sowing the right variety to harvest in each season within this period.
Here I grow Jolant for early harvests from September, premierseedsdirect.com/product/leek-jolant-charles
and Bandit premierseedsdirect.com/product/leek-bandit-charles
for late ones until early May.
The module tray I use is charlesdowding.co.uk/products/module-tray-cd15?variant=49015166435651
The copper trowel charlesdowding.co.uk/products/copper-tools?variant=53869775978819
The fleece cover charlesdowding.co.uk/products/biofleece-plastic-free-fleece?variant=49013317435715
Leek Growing Guide charlesdowding.co.uk/products/leeks-growing-guide?variant=49139109953859
Allium leaf miner is a 6mm (1/4") white maggot of the even smaller leaf mining fly, which lays eggs on all alliums in both early spring and autumn. Damage shows as lines of white spots on infected leaves, followed by them rotting, especially onion leaves in June and leeks in late autumn. By then you may notice some dark orange pupae of 4mm length. Apart from squashing any maggots and pupae you find, there are few certain remedies. The best is to cover with fleece or very fine mesh, from planting time and for about ten weeks.
🎥 Filmed April to October 2025
Filmed by Carly Dutton-Edwards
In Homeacres No Dig Garden, Somerset, UK
🎵 Music: Rory Dunwoodie, @rorydinwoodiemusic IG: rorydinwoodiemusic
#leeks #growyourown #nodig #charlesdowding #vegetablegardening #growyourownfood #wintervegetables
You can join this channel by paying a monthly fee, to support our work with helping gardeners grow better, and to receive monthly videos made only for members:
youtube.com/channel/UCB1J6siDdmhwah7q0O2WJBg/join
00:00 Introduction - timing of sowing
00:48 Sowing methods
01:27 Choice of seed to protect against allium leaf miner
02:46 Sowing a late variety - slow growth
03:41 Sowing in module trays, ready for potting on
04:43 Multisowing - four seeds per cell
05:55 Watering then warmth for germination
06:52 Potting mix - homemade worm compost
08:00 May - plants ready to pot on, flexibility with timings
10:29 July - transplanting multisown clumps, watering and cover needed
12:53 October - harvesting, method
14:21 Length of white stem
15:13 Rust - helped by no dig, and watering
16:14 Allium leaf miner
17:11 Leeks as succession planting, following potatoes
17:35 Growing leeks in containers - more rust, and leaf miner
As summer cedes to autumn, leek growth gets underway from spring sowings that we transplanted in early summer. Then suddenly their lovely distinctive leaves are tall, and rise to prominence in the garden as summer crops fade.
For eating, they offer sweet blanched stems, together with perhaps the only fresh green leaves in frosty winters. Leeks’ season of maturity extends over nine months, and best results come from sowing the right variety to harvest in each season within this period.
Here I grow Jolant for early harvests from September, premierseedsdirect.com/product/leek-jolant-charles
and Bandit premierseedsdirect.com/product/leek-bandit-charles
for late ones until early May.
The module tray I use is charlesdowding.co.uk/products/module-tray-cd15?variant=49015166435651
The copper trowel charlesdowding.co.uk/products/copper-tools?variant=53869775978819
The fleece cover charlesdowding.co.uk/products/biofleece-plastic-free-fleece?variant=49013317435715
Leek Growing Guide charlesdowding.co.uk/products/leeks-growing-guide?variant=49139109953859
Allium leaf miner is a 6mm (1/4") white maggot of the even smaller leaf mining fly, which lays eggs on all alliums in both early spring and autumn. Damage shows as lines of white spots on infected leaves, followed by them rotting, especially onion leaves in June and leeks in late autumn. By then you may notice some dark orange pupae of 4mm length. Apart from squashing any maggots and pupae you find, there are few certain remedies. The best is to cover with fleece or very fine mesh, from planting time and for about ten weeks.
🎥 Filmed April to October 2025
Filmed by Carly Dutton-Edwards
In Homeacres No Dig Garden, Somerset, UK
🎵 Music: Rory Dunwoodie, @rorydinwoodiemusic IG: rorydinwoodiemusic
#leeks #growyourown #nodig #charlesdowding #vegetablegardening #growyourownfood #wintervegetables
You can join this channel by paying a monthly fee, to support our work with helping gardeners grow better, and to receive monthly videos made only for members:
youtube.com/channel/UCB1J6siDdmhwah7q0O2WJBg/join
00:00 Introduction - timing of sowing
00:48 Sowing methods
01:27 Choice of seed to protect against allium leaf miner
02:46 Sowing a late variety - slow growth
03:41 Sowing in module trays, ready for potting on
04:43 Multisowing - four seeds per cell
05:55 Watering then warmth for germination
06:52 Potting mix - homemade worm compost
08:00 May - plants ready to pot on, flexibility with timings
10:29 July - transplanting multisown clumps, watering and cover needed
12:53 October - harvesting, method
14:21 Length of white stem
15:13 Rust - helped by no dig, and watering
16:14 Allium leaf miner
17:11 Leeks as succession planting, following potatoes
17:35 Growing leeks in containers - more rust, and leaf miner
