Leek
Allium porrum · Onion family
Plant portrait
Long flat leaves overlap in a fan above a pale shank. This shank is formed by the leaf bases; its length and thickness vary between leeks.
Harvested part
The shank and tender parts of the leaves.
What to watch for
Follow the thickening shank and the opening of new leaves. A central stem bearing a flower bud indicates bolting, which differs from the leafy development shown here.
Growth stages of the leek
Plotilo illustrates the leek in 5 stages in 3D: seed, small sprout, young plant, growing and harvest. The models show typical shapes; they do not predict how long growth takes.
- Seed
Starting from a seed. It is shown on the surface to make it visible in this illustration.
- Small sprout
A single slender first leaf emerges from the soil.
- Young plant
The young plant carries more leaves and starts to take its own shape.
- Growing
Leaves and stems develop. Their shape depends on the species.
- Harvest
An illustration of the harvested part. Roots are made visible for clarity; this image does not confirm actual maturity.
Same botanical family
Same botanical family as the leek (the onion family): the onion, the garlic, the elephant garlic, the wild garlic, the chives, the shallot and 2 more plants from the catalogue. Gardeners usually avoid growing the same family in the same spot several years in a row: that is the idea behind crop rotation.