If you want that very welcome leek crop in mid-winter, you have to start thinking about them early on in the spring growing season. They're such a long time in the ground. Well, I got mine in on time but I've been neglecting them ever since. Next door's chickens paid a visit and damaged some patches of leek seedlings so I threw in some optimistic late sowings to fill in the gaps. Later some thinning was required but I left it rather late.
The result is a row of leeks which range from OK to severely undersized (some less than 0.5cm, many less than 1cm). Is it too late (mid-August) now for these feeble looking plants to swell up in time for a winter crop?
And when exactly do leeks slow down and stop swelling? At what point later on this year should I stop looking for progress and just be happy what I've got?