Leek De Carentan 2
A reliable leek, indispensable in autumn and winter: straight white shafts, broad blue-green foliage and abundant harvests even in the coldest seasons.
About the variety. A proven, high-yielding, winter-hardy variety. The straight white shafts of medium length, topped with blue-green foliage, make it equally attractive in the garden and in the kitchen.
Itinerário técnico
Um guia de cultivo passo a passo, da sementeira à colheita.
Sow in a seedbed or trays one centimetre deep, ten to twelve weeks before transplanting. Germination takes two weeks. Transplant when the plant is the thickness of a pencil, trimming a third of the leaves and roots, into a deep hole made with a dibber, fifteen centimetres deep: do not fill the hole with soil, only with water, and that is what produces the long white shank. Earth up through the cycle to blanch further.
It wants deep, fertile soil, rich in organic matter and moisture retentive, at a pH between 6.5 and 7.5. It is a long crop, five to six months, so the fertility has to last. Work the soil deeply to allow for earthing up.
Very tough, it grows between 13 °C and 24 °C and stands hard frost, staying in the ground all winter without protection. It is one of the most reliable crops for harvesting in December and January anywhere in western Europe. It takes cold well and a light frost even improves the flavour, which makes it an autumn and winter crop in southern Europe. On the Portuguese coast it grows through the whole winter without trouble. Sow from January to March to harvest the following winter and transplant from May to July: the cycle runs right through summer and the plant only thickens properly with the September rains. Inland in Iberia and in central Europe choose winter varieties to harvest in January and February, and lift the autumn ones before the hardest frosts.
This is a hungry crop. Work two to three kilos of well rotted compost or mature manure into each square metre before planting. Once growth is away, feed with a liquid organic fertiliser every two or three weeks, moving from a balanced formula to a higher potassium one as cropping begins. Avoid excess nitrogen, which gives lush leaves, a poor crop and a lot of aphids.
Water regularly through the whole cycle, because water shortage toughens the shank and reduces size. It is thirstier than onion. When watering, avoid splashing soil into the leaves, where it gets trapped between the layers.
Leek grows slowly and never shades the soil, so weeds get the better of it easily through the whole cycle. Transplant into a clean bed, prepared two weeks in advance, and hoe between the rows every fortnight for the first two months, while the plant is still thin. Use each hoeing to draw a little soil up against the shank, without letting it fall into the heart of the plant: it buries the small weeds and lengthens the white part at the same time.
Leek moth tunnels inside the shank and is now the most serious pest: cover the crop with very fine mesh from transplanting. Onion fly and thrips also attack. Remove and destroy plants with larvae inside and use a four year rotation. Plant away from the same year's onions and garlic, because they share the pests, and do not leave allium debris in the bed from one year to the next.
Leek rust covers the leaves with orange pustules in damp autumns and is the commonest problem: space well, avoid excess nitrogen and remove affected leaves. Downy mildew and white rot also occur. Rust is worst in crowded plantings watered at the end of the day: water in the morning, keep the row spacing and lift the most affected plants first. Four year rotation away from all alliums.
Start lifting once the shank is two or three centimetres across and go on pulling as needed through the winter. Lift with a fork, because pulling snaps the plant. Wash well between the leaves, where soil collects. It does not keep long once lifted: the best store is the bed itself. Allow about 90 to 120 days from transplanting to the first harvest of this variety. The reference colour is white stem with bluish green leaves, and that is what tells you it is ready.
