Medwyn Williams hopes a new compost mix will bring success
Will a new compost and microbe tea mix be a winning formula next year?
My blanch leeks and pot leeks are growing well, so I need to remove them from rom their 60-cell trays and pot them up into 9cm (3½in) pots for their continued growth through to New Year, then I’ll transfer them into 1-litre pots and then, finally, a 2-litre pot.
Over the years I’ve found the professional range of composts are far superior to any of the multipurpose mixes, and Levington M3 has always been my first choice for potting up leeks and onions. However, I have now found another multi-purpose mix that’s also excellent – Humax Original Compost. It’s a peat-based compost containing a blend of high-quality sphagnum peat moss, washed coir, silver sand and organic growth stimulant NutriMate.
This traditional compost has proved to be far superior against other multi-purpose products, and I’ll use it for the initial potting on. Later on, I’ll mix it with some good-quality top soil that has been passed through my super-effective new toy – an electric sieve.
After potting up I water the plants with Ecothrive Biosys – a concentrated powder that you add to water to make a ‘microbe tea’. It contains beneficial fungi and bacteria that improve root function, increase nutrient and water availability, help with disease prevention, speed up the breakdown of organic matter and improve plant growth.
I’m also going to use Biosys from day one when I start off my onions, as Ecothrive claim that this will prevent botrytis developing on the bulbs later on. Botrytis is a devastating disease that’s all around us and, inevitably, develops as a round brownish spot on the side of the bulb. Once you have it on an onion, it doesn’t matter how many skins you remove it will be still there.
Once I pot the leeks up I’ll support them by using green plastic plant support clips attached to a 30cm (12in) split cane. If you are to get the best leeks with perfectly straight barrels, you need to start supporting when they’re young and continue to keep the plants upright.