Leek plants?

[Sylvie]

I'm looking for leek plants(starts).

The problem that I have had with several companies is that the plants went to seed in the same year that they were planted.
These have been the Lancelot variety, which I suspect is offered by one grower to all the catalogs. I have noted many complaints online about this, so it's not just me.
I don't have room inside to start seeds as I have in the past, so I like starts. I should mention that when I started from seed none went to seed the first year.

I plant several hundred and let them over winter in the garden for use from December through March. Not all varieties take the cold northern Ohio temperatures, even with an 18" mulch.

I have seen some offered at 10 plants for $5.95, but it would be more cost effective to buy at the supermarket at those prices!

Has anyone had good leek plant experience and recommend a company or two ?

 

[vfem]

I have the American Flag Leeks, I got the starts last spring at a local nursery. I ended up with 80 plants for $2.00.

They still are not full sized, I have them covered in hay in hopes to harvest and split more in the spring this year. I've noticed additional shoots kept sprouting out last year, so I would pull and replant the tiny ones over and over again. I only ended up with about 6 that were decent size end of fall to cook with. But 3 of these were like 1 regular size leek. They like the cool, and we're a bit warm here... so I guess they needed one more season.

I can happily say though, I think I got my money's worth.

 

[digitS']

Sylvie, I have had good luck with Lancelot. (And, not very good luck with American Flag - variable growth.) Gotta say that I've only grown leeks from seed sown in my greenhouse and set out in the garden.

I've also had no problem with leeks bolting the 1st year. That has been a problem for onions -- I nearly commented on today's onion thread about that but the original poster is in zone 8. I mean, how cold can winter/spring weather be in zone 8?

That was what seemed to be the problem with my onions when they bolted too early - cold. Like, planting sweet onion seed in late August and having more than half bolt with the 1st warm weather in the spring. They didn't always do this for me but often enuf that I gave up sowing seed late in the growing season.

I know that Dixondale Farms will tell us that if the plants bolt early, it may have been because they were set out too early. Dixondale has good prices and I'll order sweet onion plants from them again this year. They have leeks, too.

Steve