Celeriac

Overview

Celeriac – Apium graveolens rapaceum                                     Rotation group - Roots

Sometimes called the’ German turnip rooted celery’. Celeriac produces a large swollen root that grows just above the surface of the soil. It tastes like celery but is less trouble to grow. It is a popular winter vegetable because it can withstand a couple of degrees of frost but has to be lifted and stored in boxes filled with damp sand or old potting compost before the very cold days of winter set in. It can be eaten raw or used in soups and fish dishes. Celeriac and celery are bogs plants they require regular watering at all times.

Varieties to choose (as sold by Kings Seeds)

• Asterix F1 - a new variety to Kings. Good resistance to bolting and very resistant to disease. Early high yielding hybrid variety. Large round bulbs that store well from an autumn harvest
• Giant Prague - roots are globular with slightly flattened base. Medium green foliage. Stores well. Harvest from late September onwards
• Prinz AGM (organic seed) - a leaf disease and bolting resistant variety producing white fleshed roots whioch have an aromatic flavour

How to grow

Sow

Celeriac is grown from seed. Sow the seed in small trays filled with fresh seed compost in a cool greenhouse during late February – March. The seed requires light to germinate so it is sown on the surface of the compost and left until the seed begins to sprout before lightly covering with more seed compost. Celeriac doesn’t appreciate too much heat it prefers cooler temperatures to germinate; higher temperatures will inhibit germination. It needs to be protected from direct sunlight in the early stages of growth. When the seedlings are large enough to handle prick them out into seed trays or modules filled with fresh potting compost. Space the seedlings at 2ins/5cms apart which is 4 across the tray and 6 along its length don’t be tempted to crowd the seedlings in the tray. You need to produce strong young celeriac plants to transfer into the plot.

Growing on

Plant out the young celeriac from the end of March until the end of April. Try to avoid any sunny and hot days to give them the best chance to establish. Water the trays or modules before transplanting and water in using liquid seaweed in the can to settle the young plants in. Space the plants at 12ins/30cms along the row with 18ins/45cms between the rows.

Aftercare

Celeriac is a fairly trouble free vegetable to grow it needs regular watering and feeding with liquid seaweed. One important job that needs to be done if possible is to snap away the leaf stalks that grow near the top of the swelling root leaving only a small “crown” on the very top of the root. This is to produce smoother flesh and skin at the end of the season.

It is time consuming job and it can’t always be carried out it just means that the celeriac bulb will be more knobbly and will require a bit more patience to prepare for use.

How to Harvest

Celeriac can left until October early November before harvesting. It is a fiddly plant to deal with; it has to be lifted out of the ground using a garden fork shaking as much soil of the roots as possible. Wash any remaining soil off the roots and trim them back to the main body of the root and finally cut down the foliage to just above the top of the plant. Celeriac can be left in soil until it is need for lifting and it will survive a few early frosts but it isn’t hardy enough to survive the real hard frosts of winter. Lift any remaining roots before the cold, wet days towards the end of November arrive, clean them up as already described and store them in boxes filled with damp sand or old seed/potting compost. Keep the boxes somewhere cool, dry and frost free and the celeriac will remain in usable condition for a couple of months.

Issues

Celeriac is almost pest and disease free it sometimes suffers from attack by celery fly but it doesn’t affect the quality of the swollen root.