Leek

Pests & beneficial insects

🐛 Prone to: Thrips

Thrips

Thysanoptera

Silvery streaking with black specks — the specks are how you tell them from mites.

, Caterpillars

Caterpillars

Lepidoptera larvae

Holes, droppings, and a pest you can simply pick off by hand.

, Cutworms

Cutworms

Noctuidae

A seedling lying beside its own stump in the morning, cut clean through at soil level.

.

Attract Minute pirate bugs

Minute pirate bugs

Anthocoridae

Two to three millimetres, and both stages hunt — thrips and spider mites, thirty a day.

, Hoverflies

Hoverflies

Syrphidae

The adults only drink nectar. It is the larvae that eat the aphids.

, Lacewings

Lacewings

Chrysopidae

Golden-eyed adults that mostly drink; larvae that hunt like small alligators.

, Parasitic wasps

Parasitic wasps

Braconidae, Ichneumonidae and relatives

Pinhead-sized, stingless, and lethal to aphids and caterpillars from the inside.

, Ground beetles

Ground beetles

Carabidae

Night-active ground hunters, taking slugs, cutworms and leatherjackets at soil level.

to keep them in check — plant BuglossGood, LovageGood and ParsnipGood nearby.

Growing from seed

Start Leek indoors about 10 weeks before your last frost, keeping seeds in cooler soil (around 10–18 °C). Seeds usually come up in around 14 days. Move seedlings out once the danger of frost has passed, in full sun, spaced about 15 cm apart. Expect to harvest in roughly 120 days.

Leek seed rarely stays viable beyond 2 years — track what's still worth sowing.

Companion Planting

• 
  Allard's Lavender
  

  Allard's LavenderGreat pair

  • ❧Allard's Lavender attracts Hoverflies and Parasitic wasps, which prey on the Thrips and Caterpillars that attack Leek
  • ❧Leek draws Bees and Bumblebees that improve pollination for both
  • ❧Allard's Lavender roots deep while Leek feeds near the surface — no competition
• 
  Chaytor's Lavender
  

  Chaytor's LavenderGreat pair

  • ❧Chaytor's Lavender attracts Hoverflies and Parasitic wasps, which prey on the Thrips and Caterpillars that attack Leek
  • ❧Leek draws Bees and Bumblebees that improve pollination for both
  • ❧Chaytor's Lavender roots deep while Leek feeds near the surface — no competition
• 
  Fernleaf Lavender
  

  Fernleaf LavenderGreat pair

  • ❧Fernleaf Lavender attracts Hoverflies and Parasitic wasps, which prey on the Thrips and Caterpillars that attack Leek
  • ❧Leek draws Bees and Bumblebees that improve pollination for both
  • ❧Fernleaf Lavender roots deep while Leek feeds near the surface — no competition

How to grow Leek

1. Sow10 weeks before frost
2. Germinates14 days
3. Space15 cm apart
4. GrowFull sun
5. Harvest~120 days

Water: Medium · Height: 60 cm · Soil: Rich, moist, well-draining