This is my first year growing leeks and I'm not sure if they are growing as they should be or not. I purchased seedlings, from our local nursery, that were about 6-8" long. I planted them in late April 6" deep in a raised bed and have been slowly mounding the soil (a combination of peat moss and topsoil) around them as they grew. Throughout the growing season, the leaves have been kind of floppy and the leeks have not even reached the thickness of a pencil. They definitely got plenty of water because we had a very rainy summer and I did side dress them early last month with some fertilizer.

I have been reading about growing leeks on other websites and I think I may have missed a couple of steps: I didn't supply them with the nutrients they demand when first planted (should have put manure or nitrogen rich compost in the soil), nor did I cut the top half of the leaves mid-summer to create greater stalk growth.

Do these still have a chance to develop further before winter sets in?