Celery: how to grow a good crop

Growing celery

All varieties of celery have one main requirement – the soil must be loose and fertile. To get a good harvest, it is useful to fill the beds with organic matter from the fall.

Celery loves an abundance of light, so you need to take the sunniest area for it. This is especially important for petiole and root varieties. But leafy varieties can be sown in light shade – in this case, their aroma will be even stronger.

All varieties of celery love an abundance of moisture, but they cannot stand stagnant water.

Planting celery

All 3 types of celery have one feature – they form a crop for a very long time. Root varieties – 140 – 190 days, petiole – 100 – 150 days, leaf – 90 – 110 days. That is why they need to be grown through seedlings (1). The optimal age of seedlings is 70 – 80 days (2).

Seeds of root celery are sown for seedlings in late January – the first half of February. Petiole and leaf varieties – from the second half of February to mid-March. Sown in boxes.

Since the seeds contain a lot of essential oils, they sprout with difficulty. To speed up germination, they need to be soaked in hot water (about 60 ° C) for a day. Change the water periodically – as soon as it cools to room temperature, drain and add hot.

Another option is to soak the seeds in hydrogen peroxide: a few drops in a glass of water. Hold for half an hour. This time is enough to wash off the essential oils.

After soaking, the seeds must be laid out on thick paper and dried so that they become free-flowing – it will be more convenient to sow.

The soil for growing seedlings should be light and nutritious. It is well watered, after which the seeds are scattered over the surface without covering. The box is covered with cling film to maintain high humidity. You can use plastic containers with a transparent lid for sowing – they are lighter and more convenient.

Seeds are sown in boxes at a distance of 3 cm from each other.

Before germination, the soil should be constantly moist – this must be monitored. It is best to moisten it with a fine mist sprayer so as not to wash off the seeds. They germinate at a temperature of 25 ° C, so the box must be kept in a warm place. The film must be removed once a day to ventilate the crops – otherwise mold may form.

When the first true leaves appear on the seedlings, the film can be completely removed from the box. The box is kept warm for another week, and then it needs to be moved to a cool and very bright place. The optimum temperature for the growth of celery seedlings is about 15 ° C. In such conditions, the seedlings will turn out to be stocky. Otherwise, it will stretch.

When the seedlings have 3 – 4 true leaves, they need to be planted in hotel containers – plastic cups with a volume of 0,2 liters are suitable.

Seedlings should be watered abundantly and regularly, but it is important that there are drainage holes in the cups so that excess water flows out freely – celery does not like stagnant moisture.

Seedlings of root celery are planted in open ground in the second half of April. Leaf and petiole varieties – in mid-May. You can not bury the plants, they must be planted at the same level as they grew in cups.

Boarding scheme:

• leaf varieties – the distance between plants is 15 – 20 cm;
• petiolate varieties – the distance between plants is 20 cm;
• root varieties – in a row 40 cm, between rows 50 cm.

It is not necessary to cover the plantings; celery is not afraid of cold snaps. A week before planting, it is useful to harden the plants – take them out all day to the balcony or garden.

If the spring is early and warm, leaf varieties can be sown immediately in open ground in the second half of April – celery shoots can withstand frosts down to -4 – 5 ° С.

Outdoor celery care

At the first stage, while celery is in seedlings, care for all three varieties is no different. But after they are transplanted into open ground, agricultural technology begins to differ.

Leaf celery

The most unpretentious variety of celery, there are practically no hassles with it.

Watering. This is perhaps the only requirement of leaf celery – the soil should be slightly moist all the time. So that the water does not evaporate too quickly after irrigation, it is useful to mulch the beds with hay or straw.

Feeding. If the land is fertile, the site has been filled with organic matter since autumn, you can do without top dressing. On poor soils, leaf celery is enough to feed 2 times:

• 2 weeks after planting seedlings in open ground (if the seeds were sown immediately on the beds – after a month): a solution of mullein diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10 or an infusion of chicken manure (1:25), consumption rate – 10 liters per 1 sq. m (instead of them, you can use any organic fertilizer from those sold in garden centers according to the instructions);
• one month after the first: the same fertilizers in the same doses.

Petiolate celery

It is more whimsical than leaf varieties, and care must be thorough.

Watering. If you can cheat a little with leaf celery, nothing bad will happen, then when growing petiole, soil moisture should be monitored very carefully. If it dries out, the shoots will grow rough, fibrous and bitter. And they may even crack. With an excess of moisture, it is likely that they will rot.

Feeding. Petiole celery needs 2 top dressing per season:

• 2 – 3 weeks after planting seedlings in the ground: mullein solution (1:10) or bird droppings infusion (1:25), consumption rate – 10 liters per 1 sq. m (you can use ready-made organic fertilizers from garden centers according to the instructions);
• 3 weeks after the first: any complex mineral fertilizer according to the instructions, but it’s still better to use nitrophoska – it has less nitrogen, only 11%, but in ammophoska and nitroammofoska it is more – 15% and 16%, respectively (the difference is small, but it must be remembered that an excess of this element, combined with a lack of watering, leads to cracking of the petioles).

Hilling. At the moment when the stems begin to thicken, petiole celery should be planted to a height of 10 cm. It is best to add a mixture of soddy soil and compost (1: 1) to the shoots.

Before hilling, you need to cut out the thinnest petioles – they still will not have time to ripen. And sprinkle the slices with crushed coal so that the infection from the soil does not get into the wounds. Tie the remaining shoots into a bundle at the place where the leaves begin – this will help the bush to remain compact, the petioles will not fall to the ground and break.

At the end of July, stalks of petiole celery should be wrapped with kraft paper or thick non-woven fabric (it doesn’t matter if it is white or black). The main thing is that the material allows air to pass through. You need to wrap the shoots all the way to the place where the leaves begin. Such protection will protect the petioles from sunlight, they will acquire a light green shade and a delicate taste. The wrap must be on the shoots until harvest.

Root celery

Root celery has the most differences from its counterparts and care for it is also different.

Watering. In the first half of summer, root celery is watered in the same way as other varieties – the soil should be constantly slightly moist. But in the second half, watering should be significantly reduced – once a week is enough for the soil to dry out. Otherwise, the root crop will grow watery and will not be stored.

Feeding. It is not customary to feed it during the season, all fertilizers are applied to the soil in the spring, before planting: 3-4 kg of humus or compost, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of ammonium nitrate, superphosphate and potassium salt. All this is based on 1 square. m. Fertilizers should be evenly scattered over the site and embedded in the soil with a rake.

Harvesting celery

The time and method of harvesting depends on its variety.

Leaf varieties. Greens begin to be harvested in mid-summer. It is better to do this selectively, several branches from each plant.

Petiole varieties. Petioles begin to be cut at the end of August – the largest ones are broken out, but not more than 5 pieces. from one bush. This will allow the rest of the shoots to gain thickness. The main harvesting begins in September – the plants are dug up along with the roots. Bushes whose petioles are too thin can be left on the beds until October – they will have time to ripen, adult plants can withstand frosts down to -6 ° C.

root varieties. Root celery begin to selectively dig out at the end of August – first, small root crops with a diameter of 6 – 8 cm. As a result, the area will be freed up and this will allow the rest to gain more mass.

The main crop is harvested after the first light frost. In the middle lane, this is usually the end of September. It is not worth keeping root crops in the beds longer – at temperatures below -6 ° C, they can freeze slightly and become unsuitable for storage. But there is no need to rush – the longer they sit in the soil, the denser their skin, which means they will be better stored.

A month before harvesting, it is useful to cut off the lowest leaves of the plants.

You need to dig celery carefully, with a pitchfork, so as not to damage the root crops. But it’s even better to just pull them out of the soil by the tops, unless, of course, the earth is loose and allows this to be done.

After harvesting, the tops are cut so that petioles about 2 cm long remain. For several hours, the root crops are dried in the sun or in a barn if the weather is bad. After that, you can send it to storage.

Rules for storing celery

Storage of celery also depends on the variety.

Sheet. Celery leaves can be stored in the refrigerator for several days if placed in a jar of water.

For the winter, you can dry or freeze.

Petiolate. Cut stalks can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. Petiole celery is stored much longer in the basement if you dig out the entire bush with its roots and dig it into a box of sand – this way it can be stored for up to 2 months.

Some of the stalks can be cut and frozen. After defrosting, they can be stewed, baked and added to soups.

Root. The best option for root celery is to put the root crops in a box, fill it with sand and send it to the cellar. They are well stored at a temperature of 2 – 4 ° C.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about growing celery with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.

Sources of

1. Shuin K.A., Zakraevskaya N.K., Ippolitova N.Ya. Garden from spring to autumn // Minsk, Uradzhay, 1990 – 256 p.
2. Fisenko A.N., Serpukhovitina K.A., Stolyarov A.I. Garden. Handbook // Rostov-on-Don, Rostov University Press, 1994 – 416 p.