Leek 'Porbella'

This is one of our favourite varieties of Leek that produces a fantastic, hardy crop and is easy to grow. It is perfect for adding to soups, stews or pasta dishes for a mild, sweet onion flavour, it is so tasty!

Approximately 50 seeds per packet.

Leek Porbella Growing Advice

Sowing Indoors

• You can get a head start with your leek plants by sowing them indoors from late winter onwards.  Sow the seeds into pots or module trays, making sure to sow thinly at a depth of 1cm.  If your leek seedlings outgrow their module space, pot them on into larger containers before finally transplanting them outdoors when the risk of frost has passed.  You can also sow a second batch of leek seeds for harvesting during autumn and winter, sowing these plants in early to mid-summer.  Repeat the steps above and transplant this later sowing as soon as the plants are 20cm tall.

Sowing Outdoors

• You can sow leek seedlings directly outdoors during March and April, sowing the seeds into a drill around 1cm deep and covering lightly.  Allow about 20cm between rows.  Gradually thin your seedlings to allow a 15cm spacing between plants.  
  
• For an autumn and winter crop of leeks, make a sowing outdoors as previously described but in May and June.  The plants will grow during summer and stay in the ground until you are ready to harvest them.  Autumn and winter might seem a very long time in the future at the point of sowing, but you will be so very glad to have these plants during the colder months. 

Ongoing care and harvest

• As your leek plants grow, earth them up.  This is a process of drawing up soil around your plants to create the blanched white stem of leeks and make your plants more stable.
• Keep your plants watered, especially during warm, dry weather.