Growing Leeks: A Complete Profile

By Growing Home Greens Team · July 18, 2026

Leeks take their time, 110 days from seed to harvest, but they ask for very little in return once they’re in the ground. If you’ve grown onions or garlic, leeks are the same family playing a longer, more patient game.

Starting it early, and blanching the stem

Start seed indoors 10 weeks before your last frost; leeks are slow to get going and want a head start. Transplants go outside a few weeks before that frost date, since young leeks tolerate cool soil better than the heat later in the season. As they grow, hilling soil up around the base blanches the lower stem, producing the long white portion that’s the whole point of growing leeks instead of just buying scallions.

Thin stalks, and the allium problem for nearby beans

Thin, weak stalks usually mean the bed was too crowded or too poor in organic matter. Leeks are heavy, steady feeders over their long season. Because they’re an allium, don’t plant them where beans or peas are going in nearby: alliums inhibit the nitrogen-fixing bacteria on legume roots.

A long-season crop that shares a bed well

Leeks share the same root-crop pest confusion benefit that carrots and onions offer each other. See the full companion guide for leek. At 9 plants per square foot they’re dense enough to fit into a smaller bed footprint, but plan around their long season in the Garden Designer since they’ll occupy that space well into fall.

Companion planting guide for Leek · Find your planting dates

Typically viable in USDA zones 3-9. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.

Method: Start indoors: Start indoors from seed, then transplant outside. Leek needs a head start most zones can't give it by direct-sowing alone.

See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →

How many Leek plants fit per square foot?

Spacing: 9 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 1-2 ft.

Varieties worth considering

• Lancelot: Cornell's Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners database rates it 5 stars, an early-season hybrid at 90-100 days with a mild flavor and thick interior that resists bolting, a useful trait if your spring warms up fast. (source)
• American Flag: Cornell's database has it tied for the top rating among leeks, a main-season type at 130 days with a 15-18 inch snowy white shaft, longer than Lancelot's. The variety to grow if you want the classic thick, long leek rather than an early, milder one. (source)
• Blue Solaise: A hardy winter leek Cornell rates 4.9 stars, bred to overwinter in the ground rather than be pulled in fall. The pick if you want to be harvesting leeks in January, not just October. (source)

Cited from the source shown next to each variety. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.

Where to buy leek seeds

• Botanical Interests
• True Leaf Market
• Burpee
• High Mowing Organic Seeds

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page also go to other retailers we may earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a genuine consensus of positive, independent reviews. See the sources cited on each item.

See it growing

Search YouTube for "growing leek" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)

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Growing Leek: A long-season onion relative that's mostly hands-off once established, and hardier than most gardeners expect.

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