Rarely, root celery is found in our gardens. Growing and caring are associated with some difficulties. More than five months should pass from sowing to harvesting the root celery, and this forces any gardener to tinker with it. Root celery is a rather complicated culture. When growing it, you need to know some subtleties, features. But celery has a lot of useful properties, it is tasty, so I think you can work hard.
Cultivation of root celery in open ground, varieties
The technology of sowing, growing seedlings, planting in the soil of root and petiole celery is the same. Therefore, here we will talk about the root, but know that the petiole should be grown in the same way. There are some differences in care, but they will be discussed below. Leaf species can be immediately sown in open ground.
The first subtlety when growing celery is the choice of variety. Old varieties of root celery, for example, Apple and Gribovsky, are still sold. They form not very large root crops, weighing no more than 200-350 g. In modern varieties, the root can reach a weight of 900 g. There is another drawback in old varieties - they give a large lobe of branched roots. Peeling such a vegetable is not very convenient - there is a lot of waste. Try to get those varieties that give a smooth, good, large root crop.
The second feature is that this plant has a very long growing season - from seedlings to ripening. For example, in medium early varieties, it is 160-180 days. In fact, this is more than 5 months of waiting for the harvest.
So we do not talk about growing - the basis of the crop - seeds. It is important which seeds to choose. Gardeners should pay attention to such varieties as Esaul, Edward, Maxim. These are chic root varieties, well stored and ripen calmly.
Maxim (root) is a very early variety. It has the same maturity as Esaul, but it has a longer growth period. That is, he can potentially give an even larger root crop than Yesaul. These root varieties should be paid attention to those gardeners who have not grown this crop before. These are trouble-free varieties.
Celery Seedlings How to Grow
Sowing for seedlings - the end of January-early February (Krasnodar Territory), February-early March (middle lane).
Root and petiole cannot be grown without seedlings - most likely it will be a bunch of greenery, and the root crop itself will not. Sheet can immediately be sown in open ground. But the preparation of seeds for sowing is the same for everyone.
Pre-seeds are soaked in hot water at a temperature of 60 ° C. The seed coat contains many essential oils. Hot water is needed to remove them, since it is the essential oils that do not allow seeds to germinate quickly.
Keep the seeds in hot water until completely cooled. Hot water does not dissolve essential oils, when heated, they rise to the surface. We wash the seeds with running water - while washing the oils off. Pour the seeds onto the fabric, dry them slightly until flowability appears so that they stop sticking to each other.
Celery seeds germinate only in the light. We sow seeds on the surface of the soil, not sprinkling with earth. Lightly press them with your palm to the surface of the earth. This is the main condition for growing celery. The soil layer in the nursery should be 7-10 cm high. There should be very good lighting. Cover the nursery from above with a film or glass.
Celery sprouts tight, shoots appear in twenty days. At first, when spraying, you should use a sprayer.
You can grow seedlings in peat tablets. After the appearance of 3-4 sheets, you can dive - select individual cups with a volume of 200-500 ml.
Choosing a place to plant seedlings is very important for celery. It should be an absolutely bright place. Even slight shading reduces the weight of the tuber. The earth must be very loose, fertile, moist. If you have clay soil, or, like mine, chernozem, be sure to add sand, compost, sawdust when planting. It will be difficult for the root head to increase its volume if the soil is dense.
Dive picking celery seedlings into the ground
Seedlings are planted in the soil according to the scheme 40 × 40 cm. Do not save space on the bed. This vegetable should be spacious. Plants should not obscure each other. I repeat once again - he loves the light very much. Thickened plantings, when large spreading leaves obscure each other, lead to the formation of a small root crop.
Seedlings are transplanted into the open ground when it reaches a height of 8-10 cm. By this time, 6-7 true leaves appear in it.
The most important condition for a transplant of root celery: do not deepen the root neck, the place where the leaves go to the root. If you plant below the level of how it grew seedlings, then the root crops will grow small, with many lateral roots. This, of course, will greatly affect the quality of the crop - you can use only leaves for food, there will be no root crop.
The photo above is indicative: pay attention to the distance between the seedlings - for the root, this is very important - it should be spacious.
Experts advise planting celery in the combs. The root crop has a very rich root system. Remember what the root is after digging up? Right, shaggy. Landing in the crest gives the fetus additional area for growth, reduces the "shaggy" root.
Video - planting seedlings of root celery in the soil in the Netherlands (a mechanized method for industrial cultivation):
Celery root - what kind of care is needed in the garden?
Need a good, regular watering. Root varieties do not tolerate drying of the soil at all. On dry soil, the root crop loses its taste and aroma. It is advisable to mulch the beds to preserve moisture. But when mulching, make sure that the celery root neck is not covered by mulch.
Very often there is a temptation to cut off young fragrant leaves, for example, for salad or soup - as usual with parsley leaves. It is advisable not to do this. And if you already decided to feast on young leaves, then tear out the plant with the root - there will be no sense from it. Because the plant is gaining strength precisely due to the leaves. Tearing leaves is possible only after the petioles become plump and a thickening appears, i.e. a root crop began to form.
How to feed a celery bed? If you added compost and ash to the bottom of the holes when laying it, then you can do without feeding. But this vegetable grows for a long time, the growing season is very extended, so it will not be superfluous to feed it with complex fertilizer once a month. It should be noted that the root crop removes calcium from the soil at the level of macronutrients. Therefore, simultaneously with the complex, calcium fertilizers can be added to top dressing, for example, calcium nitrate.
Celery root is not spud, only petiolate spud. Instead of hilling, to whiten the petioles, you can apply wrapping them with paper. This is usually done two weeks before the harvest. Stems should be pressed tightly against each other and wrapped with a light-protective material (newspaper, sheet of paper). By the time of harvesting, the petioles become tender, white, bitterness disappears.
Another important technique is the removal of secondary roots. This operation is carried out only for root celery. We cut the lateral roots directly in the ground, tracing the main root with a knife along the contour. This procedure is carried out twice a season. Dates - midsummer. Usually this treatment requires old varieties. Therefore, if you do not want to bother, choose varieties of a new selection.
When the main shoot at the root celery begins to thicken, several outer leaves are torn off so that only the inner rosette remains. Leaves to be torn usually begin to bend to the ground. Leave only those that grow vertically. This contributes to the growth of the root. Starting in mid-summer, yellowed old leaves are torn off.
Another agrotechnical technique for obtaining larger root crops is: uncoiling or scooping up the soil from the root crops that started to form.
In contrast to the root crop of leaf celery, we get earlier. For food we use leaves. The rosette of a leafy vegetable is more powerful than that of the root vegetable - the number of leaves varies from 30 to 100. Varieties for growing are Zakhar, Senezh, Vanyusha. A variety of curly celery is called Odd.
How to distinguish leaf celery from petiole? The leaf petiole will have a leaf with a void inside, and the petiole inside will have a dense pulp without voids.
Take your time digging out celery root. Because it is a short day plant. It turns out that he has all the nutrients accumulate in the fall, when the weather is already cool at night. Harvested late - September-October. If you do not have time to clean it before frost, a layer of straw, mowed grass 15 cm thick is laid around the base of the stems to protect the outlets from freezing. It is advisable that the mulch be dry.
Good neighbors for celery root - leek, cabbage. In addition, he himself protects many plants from pests. It can be planted even next to flowers - it will drive aphids, for example, from roses.
One of the storage methods is to dig out celery, wrap the root vegetable with paper and put it in a box of wet sand with the roots down. Store the box in the cellar.
How to grow celery root - reviews, tips from practitioners, growing mistakes
oksi writes: Something my experiments were unsuccessful. Petiole fades, and leaves burn on the root. What happened? Watering every other day.
Answer for oksi: Leaves are burning - it's just a tick you probably eat. Have you noticed a cobweb on burning leaves?
hunter 1
http://fermer.ru/forum/otkrytyi-grunt/50871?page=1
I always sowed in the snow. You can clearly see where the seeds are. Then the snow melts and the seeds fall to the ground, then I cover it with a film and spray it with a dewdrop as needed and pour the soil through a strainer. The hardest part of the growing process for me is a pick. Very, very tender and thin plant, but takes root well. In the summer I water through a drip tape and regularly break off all the leaves that have fallen to the ground. In the fall, a rather large 1 kg or more celery is obtained.
Mawoda
http://fermer.ru/forum/otkrytyi-grunt/50871?page=1
I planted celery in boxes of 1 liter juice, in 2-3 lines. At first she dived into separate cups. Then she stopped - she planted seedlings immediately in the ground. But my mistake is a deep burial and not digging. I was waiting from the depths of Yabloko, Gribovsky, but I never waited. Satisfied with the leaves.
Ivanovochka
http://www.tomat-pomidor.com/newforum/index.php?topic=7132.0
Planted a variety of Egor, seedlings were strong. Was pecked into cups. It took root very quickly, but the root crop was small - I didn’t even dig it up and left for the winter. Now I think that nevertheless my mistake in cultivation is this - I didn’t cut the roots and, apparently, I didn’t scoop up the earth, I didn’t cut the leaf at all.
Julia
http://www.tomat-pomidor.com/newforum/index.php?topic=7132.0
As soon as the growth point reaches 1.5-2 cm in diameter, plow the earth around the celery (if dry, pour it well in advance). Rake the ground off the growth point so that it is outside. If there is a formed (even a slight hint of) root crop, remove all the roots in its upper part. I take the old canvas mitten and just wipe the top of the root crop. Rake off the whole soil from the root crop so that it is outside (only those roots that grow down) should be left underground. If the earth swims after rain, the operation will have to be repeated. ALL drooping leaves (tilt angle less than 40 ° -45 °) mercilessly remove. You need to remove it as follows - just pull it to the side (in no case up) and the petiole will calmly break off right at the root crop without leaving any “tails”. The leaves are perfect for multivitamin juices, salads (a harsh sheet, you need to cut it very finely) and other things. Whom the taste is not suitable for, then in compost or cosmetics. And one more advice - there will be no good watering - you will not get a big root, a drop is very welcome (verified!). Petiole celery normally tolerates partial shade, root celery - no.
Tanya m
http://www.tomat-pomidor.com/newforum/index.php?topic=7132.0
How to use celery so that the benefits are
Celery is leaf, petiole, root. Among leafy there are varieties with curly leaves. Celery leaf is often used in the preparation of soups, salads as spicy greens or for decorating dishes. Delicious juices and mousses are often prepared from petioles with the addition of other vegetables. Raw measles celery is delicious in salads, while boiled celery resembles potatoes. Delicious cream soups are obtained from the root. Also, the root is well baked, cut into large pieces, with meat. Especially useful is a salad of grated root vegetables with apples, carrots, herbs, seasoned with vegetable oil and lemon juice.
This root crop (or petiole, leaves) is a storehouse of unique nutrients for our body. It is valued not only for its rich composition of nutrients, but also for its low calorie content. This allows you to use it as a dietary product. Useful freshly squeezed juice from it. It is useful as one of the components of salads or soups, as well as stewed, boiled, baked. The regular inclusion of celery in your menu slows down the aging of the body, contains a lot of biologically active substances, vitamin C.
The beneficial properties of celery may be of interest to men. The root and stem contain phytoandrogens - substances that stimulate the production of testosterone in men. For a greater effect, the root or stems should be eaten for at least 1-1.5 months every day.
If you fast, then, especially, eat celery. Due to the high content of amino acids, tyrosine, it is a good substitute for meat. It will help to lose weight. Essential oils stimulate digestion, the production of pancreatic enzymes. Improves the production of gastric juice, therefore, the digestion of food is better and faster.
This vegetable is rich in calcium. One hundred grams of this plant is thousands of milligrams of calcium, that is, an almost daily norm. This vegetable promotes leaching of salts, hence cleanses the body.
Pay special attention to celery leaves: the beneficial properties of a decoction of them will help calm the nerves and even out sleep.
Is there any harm? It is hardly possible to use this word in relation to celery. The measure is important in everything. It's just that you need to be careful with this vegetable for people with stomach problems, with acute pancreatitis or cholecystitis.
There is practically no waste at the root - both leaves and fruit eat. This is an excellent flavoring supplement to any dish.
Do not be afraid of the difficulties in growing and maintaining root celery, they will pay off with the benefits that you will undoubtedly feel.
Added December 2018