celeriac

[tracie]

Hi All,

having recently wasted my cash on a celeriac from Tesco which had no taste and a horrid spongy consistancy I thought I would give it a go myself and grow a few.

Has anybody any tips on variety, germination, soil conditions, watering and anything else one would need to know to grow a sucessful crop.

Thanks

Tracie

[Westi]

Hi Tracie

This crop is one of my challenges - can get it to grow alright but always too small to make much of it. I've got my seedlings on the back window & they are growing well & besides that all I know is they need water, rich soil & to pick off lower leaves as bulb grows so will be bigger. Take all that with a pinch of salt though - like I said mine are size of cricket balls, but tasty though.

Westi

[FelixLeiter]

I've never managed to grow them much bigger than a cricket ball, either. They are demanding of water and nutrients, and the tip about removing the lower leaves, although it seems contrary, is a good one. Like swedes, celeriac seems to be a "field crop": that is, seems to grow better out in the middle of a farmer's field than cosseted in a garden or allotment.

Celeriac comes up often on this board. Perhaps 2013 could see the KG Celeriac Challenge. You need to get the seeds in right now, though: a long season is essential.

[Geoff]

Same here. Quote from a polytunnel book:
"Celeriac needs a longer growth period than most vegetables and many gardeners struggle to get worthwhile roots, particularly in northern parts of Britain. The polytunnel not only stretches the growing season for celeriac but also provides enough protection for it to be left in the ground right through the winter"
So are the monsters offered in supermarkets British or imported?
So if you either grow them with protection or keep them well watered in the forthcoming long hot summer you might get them bigger than most of us seem to manage.

[retropants]

i did try them a few years ago. I watered them aplenty, but I did not remove the lower leaves. they were extremely 'rooty' lots of small ones, by the time I had removed all of the superfluous matter they were smaller than a tennis ball. However, they were very nice grated into a salad.

[sally wright]

Dear All,
I have brought to the top an article on Celeriag in the harvesting section with my method of growing Celeriac, hope it's useful.
Regards Sally Wright.

[Monika]

Having just re-read your previous contribution, Sally, I realise that this year I have followed it so far. I sowed my celeriac (Monarch) on 22 February, pricked them out into individual cells on 15 March and since then they have been in the (slightly heated) greenhouse, growing to about 2.5 inches high to date. Their intended bed on the allotment has been manured and is ready, but if (when?) it warms up a bit, they will first go outside under a cloche and then, about early June, into the open bed. And then I will keep my fingers crossed .....

Last year's effort produced solid roots of slightly smaller than tennis ball size. But they were affected by, I think, carrot root fly.

[sally wright]

Dear Monika,
celeriac will get CRF as they are part of the Carrot family. If it is a real problem put them under the fleece along with the carrots.
Regards Sally Wright.

[glallotments]

We have followed all the recommended advice and not achieved success with celeriac or celery but are trying again

[tracie]

Hi All,

thanks for all of the replies. Looks like it is not an easy crop to grow.

I have a good pile of well rotten manure, I think I will dig in a load of that and water frequently through the season and keep my fingers crossed.

Still a bit confused about which leaf's you should remove and why.

Thanks

Tracie

[Monika]

Tracie, when your celeriac grows it becomes quite obvious which leaves to remove. The leaves grow in a ring round the 'bulb' and as the bottom ring ages, the leaves start to go yellow. Pull these off downwards (not up or sideways because that might loosen the plant in the soil) and carry on doing that throughout the growing season.

[FelixLeiter]

Still a bit confused about which leaf's you should remove and why.

Removing some of the foliage encourages the root to swell. Take off the lower leaves, the outer ones, by pulling them away from the base. The most obvious leaves to remove are ones which are yellowing, or are lying horizontally. The base of the leaves also split as the root swells, and these are candidates for removal too. I'm not clear as to how this encourages yields, but it does.

[Beryl]

The lower leaves are removed to encourage the STEM above the ground to swell not the roots.

Beryl.

[FelixLeiter]

Neither, in fact: it's a swollen hypocotyl.

[Beryl]

Felix, I had never heard the word before so looked it up.

The hypocotyl (short for "hypocotyledonous stem", meaning "below seed leaf") is the stem of a germinating seedling, found below the cotyledons (seed leaves) ...


Beryl.