Excepting 2007, when I grew Apollo, Musselburgh is the variety I have always grown and trusted. It is a well-established and trusted leek variety grown by many thousands of UK gardeners, particularly in the north of the country. It features compact plants with large white stems and pronounced bulbs and fine flavour. It is smaller than the giant varieties but you do get many more seeds in the packet. Below is a Ball-Colegrave 102 tray with the leeks sown two per cell and I sow two trays! It just goes to show how many you get to the packet! I later thin them out to one plant per cell. I’ve grown in cells because I’m a believer in not disturbing the roots and these root balls will drop straight down a dibber hole.

Prior to planting the bed was dug over incorporating plenty of well rotted garden compost. I dibbed holes about 4” apart (about half the recommended distance) and dropped the plants down without disturbing the root balls. They were watered in by pouring the water down each hole.

   First three fifths of the bed is leeks, third fifth is red onion (which failed) and the final fifth is the shallots which did well. To the right are the shallots drying. Most were pickled.

As you can see from above they have grown perfectly well even at such close proximity to each other. This is probably similar density to that practised by commercial growers.

 

Below shows a fine pair of leeks ready for cooking.