Planting guide

When to plant leek

Mild, hardy stems that stand in the garden through winter. In Melbourne it goes in Aug–Apr.

Start as: Seedling or Seed started indoors
Ready in: 13–26 wks
Spacing: 15 cm
Depth: 1 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means leek can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Perth	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Canberra	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Central Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Geelong	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Hobart	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Townsville	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mandurah	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Launceston	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mackay	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Rockhampton	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Coffs Harbour	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bunbury	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Alice Springs	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Mildura	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Wellington	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
London	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Chicago	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Austin	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Toronto	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant leek

Sow seed indoors, then plant out pencil-thick seedlings.
Dibble 15 cm deep holes and drop seedlings in.
Water holes in; do not fill with soil.
Lift as needed once thick.

Leek varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Musselburgh Classiccold-hardy · heirloom · 17–26 wksHardy Scottish leek with thick stems
King Richard Classicfast · 13–17 wksQuick-maturing summer leek
Carentan Classiccold-hardy · storage · 21–26 wksWinter-hardy French leek
Bleu de Solaize Adventurousheirloom · cold-hardy · colourful · 21–30 wksBlue-green French heirloom
Jaune du Poitou Adventurousheirloom · 21–29 wksHeirloom leek with sweet pale flesh

Where to buy seeds

Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on The Diggers Club Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Carrot, Celery, Strawberry

Leek by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Onion · Spring Onion · Garlic · Shallot

Not sure leek is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now