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Moray, Scotland

Unusual Leeks
An unusual number of our leeks have started to bolt, presumably because of the strange growing season, and so Mg has decided to lift the large ones early and freeze them. What is particularly unusual is that a few of the bolted ones have started to produce bulbils at the base.
The first picture shows a double leek, one with bulbils and a few 'bits' that have grown from bulbils. The second picture is a close up of the bulbils. I will pot up the bulbils and see if they produce anything but I have never seen this before. Has anyone else?




Answers

 

Leave some of the leeks to flower as the bees love them. I put some on the compost heap and the bees were still on the flowers a week later!

28 Nov, 2011

 

That one on the left of the first pic looks as if its trying to be garlic! Very unusual. Can't ever remember seeing a leek that was so bulbous at the base either.

28 Nov, 2011

 

I was amazed when we lifted them Steragram I've never seen anything like it before!

28 Nov, 2011

 

I don't know what variety these are as they were bought as small leeks from a nursery. Our own seed grown haven't done this.

28 Nov, 2011

 

Might be worth having a word with the nursery to find out what variety they are.

28 Nov, 2011

 

It's a throw back from cross pollination when selfed. As said above, they may have been near garlic.

28 Nov, 2011

 

I'm amazed DrBob - never suspected it might really be a cross! What does selfed mean?

28 Nov, 2011

 

When plants are pollinated only the pollen from the male flower you require to make the hybrid must be used. Often we have saved seeds from plants to get the same results the next year only to get plants of different height and size in flower. With hybrids, don't save seeds.

28 Nov, 2011

 

So are you saying selfed means pollinated by the same variety?

28 Nov, 2011

 

With research to produce say a marrow which will produce marrows of the same size, flavour etc. the female flower is pollinated by a male flower then covered with muslin to stop any other pollen getting through, if you are pollinating onions and garlic in the same place a mistake can be made.

28 Nov, 2011

 

selfed means pollen from the same plant on to its own stigma. no other plants involved. still would get variation as it depends on which chromosomes are in the pollen mix. but flowers are in the second year not in the first year.

the bulbils are a response to the weird weather, a stress response.

29 Nov, 2011

 

Ah. Thank you. Never knew there was a special word for it. Pansies do this all by themselves in a bad summer, producing buds that never open - sex in secret!

29 Nov, 2011

 

They are still edible which is what interests me...

29 Nov, 2011

 

I have never known this. Wonder if they smell of Garlic?

29 Nov, 2011

 

Nope no garlic smell...

29 Nov, 2011

 

Both Leeks and Elephant Garlic are varieties of the same species, Allium ampeloprasum. I'm not too surprised if a Leek would try to bulb up under the right weather conditions, especially if it had some genes added from Elephant Garlic, say for disease or pest resistance. Garlic smell may not appear, since it is weak in Elephant Garlic, anyway. True Garlic is a different species from Leeks, and is unlikely to cross with them.

7 Dec, 2011

 

That is interesting TugB. The ones I've already cooked tasted fine and the rest a residing in the freezer.

8 Dec, 2011

 

The taste is probably one of the first things they bred for, but they probably weren't thinking about the consequences of weird weather conditions! Taste and nutrition are what most of us grow veggies for, anyway, and we don't care if they are homely children. : )

8 Dec, 2011

 

Nope I don't care what our veg look like so long as they taste okay

8 Dec, 2011

How do I say thanks?

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