Celery

Overview

Celery -self-blanching - Apium graveolens          Rotation group – Roots

Self –blanching celery is less trouble to grow than traditional trench celery. It requires fertile, water holding soil bit doesn’t need the elaborate trench preparation and blanching procedure to produce an edible crop. It is planted out in a block and grows on the surface of the soil. When mature the outside celery plants can be covered with straw to prevent the stems appearing too green.

How to grow

Celery is grown from seed. Sow the seed in small trays filled with fresh seed compost in a cool greenhouse 60F/15C during March/April. 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. Celery 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 3 ½ ins/9cms pots or modules filled with fresh potting compost. You need to produce strong young celery plants to transfer into the plot.

Growing on

Plant out the young celery from the end of April until the end of May. Try to avoid any sunny and hot days to give them the best chance to establish. Water the pots or modules before transplanting and water in using liquid seaweed in the can to settle the young plants in. Space the plants in square blocks with 18ins/45cms between each plant.

Aftercare

Celery needs regular watering and feeding with liquid seaweed.  Hoe between the plants to control weeds and create a dust mulch.

How to Harvest

Celery can be left until October early November before harvesting. It is a fiddly crop 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. Celery 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

Self –blanching celery is almost pest and disease free it sometimes suffers from attack by celery fly but it doesn’t affect the quality.