How To Grow Onions And Leeks

Are you interested in finding out how to grow onions and leeks in your vegetable garden? If so, you're in the right place, as we've got a helpful article for you today on doing just that!

Onions and leeks are part of the allium family of plants, along with garlic and chives.  They grow upward from a bulb and are mostly quite simple to grow. They are also great for fitting into a small space because of their upright growth.

To grow onions and leeks successfully you will need a relatively sunny site that is well drained. If your soil tends more to clay, you can still grow them but you will need to dig some grit into the soil first to help with the drainage.

How To Grow Onions

Freshly harvested golden sweet onions. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To grow onions you can either start from seeds or from immature onions that are supplied as small dried bulbs known as "sets." If you start from seeds, germinate them in a seed tray first and pick the strongest looking specimens to plant out.

Do not add manure or other fertilizers that are heavy in nitrogen. Onions do not like very nitrogenous or acid soil. They will rot if too wet, and unless the weather is very dry, they do not require much watering.

It is possible to grow onions all year round if you have good drainage. You can plant once in the spring and again in early fall. There is no advantage in harvesting them when they are small. Leave them until the leaves begin to die off and turn yellow.

To harvest, dig them up with the leaves intact and let them dry for a couple of weeks until the leaves are completely dried. You can then tie them by the leaves or hang them in nets to store. Most onions store well, but those with thick necks should be used first.

Leeks (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How To Grow Leeks

Leeks like a little more fertilizer than onions. Dig the fertilizer or compost well into the bed and allow a couple of weeks before planting. Leeks also require more water than onions.

Most gardeners grow leeks from seed planted directly into the bed in spring. Spread the seed in rows with about a foot between rows. Thin out the seedlings so that you have a row of plants about 6 inches apart. Be careful when weeding at this stage, because leek seedlings look a lot like grass!

Different varieties of leeks require different growing times so you can spread your harvest by mixing the varieties in your garden. You will probably want some if not all of them to be winter harvesting leeks, which can be ready at a time when your garden is not producing many other vegetables.

Both onions and leeks will suffer if they are surrounded by weeds. They do not have a very strong root system and are easily overwhelmed by competition. Therefore, be sure to weed around them frequently.

To grow onions and leeks successfully year after year, be sure to rotate them to different places in the garden. This will help to protect them from the fungal diseases that they can suffer from.

Plants of the allium family are good for repelling pests that do not like the strong smell, so you can often help other vegetable plants if you grow onions and leeks or garlic around them in a companion planting.

Growing Vegetables For Beginners

Growing vegetables for beginners is probably simpler than you think. Although there are some important rules that you need to follow, vegetables are like all other forms of life - they want to grow! So all you really need to do is make sure they have what they need and protect them from harm. Easy, right?

The first step in growing vegetables for beginners is to make a list of the vegetables that you want to grow and check that you have the right conditions for them. If you live in a temperate climate with relatively mild temperatures and sufficient rain, you can probably grow most of the best known veggies that are used in traditional cooking.

A small vegetable garden in May outside of Austin, Texas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some of the easiest vegetables to grow in your garden include: carrots and beets from the root vegetables category; beans; cucumbers and zucchini or squashes; and lettuce and radishes for salad. If you start out with these, you will have a good variety of vegetables for the dinner table. They also provide some variety in your gardening experience, because they grow in different ways.

You can add tomatoes if you have a good sunny spot for them but be warned, tomatoes are not as easy to grow successfully as you might think. They can be susceptible to disease, and they need a lot of water and sun. However, overall they are not too difficult, and vine-ripe tomatoes are well-worth the bit of extra effort!

The next step in growing vegetables for beginners is to plan your vegetable garden.   You can grow vegetables in your flowerbeds, of course. They do not necessarily need to be all together in one place. However, it is sometimes easier if they are in a particular spot. You will want this to be somewhere that gets sun, but is not too hot and dry; is well-drained, not boggy; is sheltered from strong winds; and is easily accessible for you to water the plants.

This last point is very important. Many people site their vegetable garden a long way from the house because the vegetables are not as attractive as flowers. But your vegetable crops will do much better if you can reach them easily, and especially if you see them all the time. 'Out of sight, out of mind', as they say!

If you are growing pole beans or other climbing vine-type vegetables, you will need to give them something to climb. Keep in mind that they will shade your other plants so you may want to have them on the north side of your vegetable patch. If your vegetable garden is bordered by a wall, of course you will want the tallest plants at the back, against the wall.

Blossoms on a tomato plant in a residential vegetable garden. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You will need to prepare the soil by digging to clear out any weeds and then adding a good layer of compost. Then you can begin to plant. Check instructions on the seed packets for planting dates.

Some seeds are best not planted directly into the garden but germinated in seed trays indoors or in a greenhouse before being planted out as seedlings. This can take a couple of weeks, but it is worthwhile because you will not waste space on seeds that do not germinate or have plants growing too close together. You can choose the strongest-looking seedlings to put out in the garden, and space them properly, as well as giving them a head start if you have a short growing season.

Good luck with your garden planning! With these tips you should find that growing vegetables - even for beginners - is easy as well as fun.