Leeks with babies

[Monika]

I planted my leeks Lyon 2 Prizetaker the usual way and at the usual time, singly, and they have grown very well as have the Oarsman and Musselburgh in the same bed, but the strange thing is that almost all the Lyon 2 Prizetaker have developed small "leeklets" surrounding the main plant. These are obviously quite edible but I wonder how this came about. As far as I know, the main seedling was not damaged in any way when I planted it, and the other two varieties have certainly not got these appendages!

[FredFromOssett]

I have occasionally had little ‘leeklets’ alongside my Musselburgh leeks. I have always assumed that they were either tiny plantlets that I’d not noticed at planting out time, (so that what I thought was a single leek was actually 2 together), or that they were un-germinated seeds in the compost around the roots of the leek which grew subsequently.
Perhaps these ideas are barking up the wrong tree completely.

[Monika]

Fred, I think your idea of seeds germinating later is probably right, because I am quite sure that I only planted a single seedling in each case, but he surrounding soil might have had some seeds attached! That had never occurred to me.

[FelixLeiter]

Leeks are occasionally accompanied by a "familiar". You'll find that it is attached to the base of the leek, which is proof that it's a shoot rather than a seedling germinating later. Leek seeds cannot emerge from the depth leeks are planted, which is why we go through the process of transplanting them at depth, and earthing them up, to achieve a blanched stem.

[Monika]

Thank you, Felix! Next time I dig one of them up, I shall examine exactly how they are attached.