In this article, we will look at planting root, stalk and leaf celery for seedlings in 2019. How to plant a crop correctly, when to plant celery for seedlings and in the ground, depending on the variety and region. Lunar calendar for 2019.
Fragrant celery (lat.Apium Graveolens) is a cultivated biennial vegetable plant from the umbrella family up to 1 meter high. Just like carrots and parsley, they bloom and give seeds in the second year of life. In the first year, the plant forms a rosette of leaves, fleshy petioles and stores nutrients in a succulent root crop.
Actual features of agricultural technology when planting
V agriculture celery is grown in the following varieties:
- Leaf - from 50 days from germination to maturation;
- Petiolate - 80-180 days from germination to ripening, depending on the variety;
- Root - 140-190 days from germination to maturation.
Long periods of ripening of the petiole and root varieties make the planting of celery for seedlings actual. Early maturing petiolate and leafy celery can be grown by sowing seeds in open ground.
Popular varieties leaf celery are considered:
- Cheerfulness F1,
- Gentle F1,
- F1 cartridges,
- Zakhar F1.
The listed hybrids are distinguished by the delicate structure of the leaf rosette, high yield up to 2-2.5 kg / m 2 per season, increased cold resistance and resistance to fungal diseases.
Have stalked celery gardeners prefer varieties:
- Jung F1,
- Zakhar,
- Malachite F1,
- Crunch,
- White feather F1,
- Nouget,
- Gold F1.
For the listed varieties, the declared yield is 3.3-3.5 kg / m 2. A feature of these varieties is a sharp decrease in bitterness after "bleaching the petioles". Gold and White Feather varieties are self-bleaching.
To Ornevian celery within the territory of Russian Federation popular varieties:
- Mushroom root,
- Egor,
- Albin,
- Apple,
- Diamond F1,
- Esaul,
- Cascade,
- Maksim.
The varieties are distinguished by resistance to shooting, pronounced aroma, and little susceptibility to diseases. Fruits are dense, lying. Productivity up to 3.8 kg / m 2. The terms of technical maturity are from 140 to 200 days from the emergence of seedlings and depend on the early maturity of the variety, therefore, root celery requires early landing seeds for seedlings.
For germination of celery seeds, a temperature of 23-25 ° C is considered favorable. In such conditions, seeds germinate in 10-15 days. At lower temperatures, emergence of seedlings is expected by 20 days after sowing. These aspects should be considered when choosing the timing and methods of planting.
Planting dates for celery seedlings in 2019
The specific timing of when to plant celery depends on climatic conditions region.
Differs in a long period of technical maturation. Landing root celery for seedlings, it is necessary to carry out 60-80 days before transplanting into open ground.
In the northern regions of Russia, in the Urals and Siberia seeds in 2019 should be sown from the third decade of January to mid-February.
For central Russia and the Amur region these terms are shifted by 1-2 weeks.
V southern regions, in the Caucasus and South Urals the optimal period for sowing seeds will be the second half of February - the first decade of March.
Petiole celery for seedlings in 2019, residents of the southern regions should be sown in the last week of March - the first week of April.
In the regions temperate mid-ripening and late-ripening varieties are planted for seedlings during March, and in the Urals, in the North and in Siberia sowing should be completed by March 10.
In the southern regions, it is irrational to grow early maturing varieties for seedlings; in the rest of Russia, sowing of seeds is completed by the third decade of March.
It is rational to sow leaf celery for seedlings to residents northern regions, Siberians and gardeners of the Urals... Sowing seed material in the second half of March.
In 2019 for gardeners central Russia there is no need to be afraid of severe frosts in early summer, therefore, it is allowed to sow seedlings of mid- and late-ripening varieties of leaf celery in the first ten days of April.
Seedless cultivation
For the southern and Caucasian regions of Russia growing without seedling method leafy, early-maturing root celery, early-maturing and mid-maturing petiole is permissible from the beginning of May.
In the middle lane, sowing celery seeds in open ground is rational for leafy and early maturing varieties of petioled celery starting from the second half of May.
In Siberia, the Urals and northern regions early and mid-season varieties of leafy varieties can be sown directly into the ground starting from the last decade of May and in early June.
When to plant celery in the lunar 2019
According to astrological theories, the moon phase affects the well-being of vegetable plants by redirecting the accumulation nutrients to the relevant authorities.
It is believed that the aboveground part of the plant develops more intensively for the growing moon, and the underground part for the waning one.
In the table below you will find the planting dates for celery seedlings in 2019 by lunar calendar gardener.
On the days of the full moon and new moon according to this calendar, it is not recommended to carry out important manipulations with plants. Watering, weeding and tying is allowed.
- In February it is 5, 19,
- in March - 6, 21,
- on April 5, 19.
Auspicious days for planting and sowing in the ground:
- petiole and leaf in May: 1-4, 8-10, 12-14, 17, 18, 21-23, 26-31.
- root in May: 1-4, 12-14, 21-23
How to plant celery for seedlings and in the ground
We have considered when to plant celery seedlings, now we will tell you how to do it correctly. Sheet and stalked celery have similar agricultural techniques.
Seed preparation and planting
Before planting, seeds require treatment for diseases with a 2% potassium permanganate solution for 15 minutes. Then they are placed on cheesecloth, paper towel or non-woven fabric, moistened intensively and placed in warm place for germination.
On the 5th day, the seeds are transferred to a seedling box, sprinkled with a layer of peat 3 mm thick.
The soil is made up of equal shares of humus, turf, peat and sand.
Watering is carried out through a sieve or spray bottle. The temperature regime must be maintained strictly within the range of 18-20 ° C.
After 5-7 days, the first shoots appear, after which the temperature is reduced to 15 ° C. Young plants need additional lighting up to 13 hours a day, otherwise the seedlings wither and stretch out unnecessarily.
Picking
At the stage of the second true leaf, a pick is carried out, pinching the growth zone of the main root and planting the plants in individual containers with a volume of 150-200 ml.
It is possible to plant in peat pots or a seedling box according to the scheme 35 mm 45 mm to the neighboring plant.
A week later, the first feeding is carried out with a complex mineral fertilizer.
From the beginning of May, plants begin the hardening procedure at a temperature of 10 ° C, gradually increasing the cooling time from 2-3 hours to a full day by the end of 10 days. In mid-May, seedlings are transplanted into open ground.
Transplanting seedlings into the ground
Landing scheme leaf celery according to the recommendations of agronomists - staggered rows with a step of 25 cm.The distance between the rows is at least 25 cm.
Petiolate varieties celery is planted in ridges 8 cm high with a step of 45 cm and row spacing up to 40 cm. In this case, the growth bud should be exactly at ground level.
The soil is mulched with coniferous litter or sawdust. A week after the transplant, the second feeding is carried out with complex or potassium-nitrogen fertilizer and vermicompost infusion.
Features of planting root celery for seedlings
It differs in that the backlight is increased up to 16 hours a day, and the temperature regime after the emergence of seedlings should remain at around 16 ° C.
The next feature is associated with transplanting into open ground, when a repeated pick is carried out, shortening the longest roots by length. The transplant time is chosen after the onset of stable heat and an increase average daily temperature up to 18-20 ° C.
Plants are planted in flat ground with an indent from each other by 40 cm. The soil is mulched with straw. 2 weeks after transplanting, the plants are fed mainly with potassium fertilizer.
Video from Yulia Minyaeva. Planting celery on cheesecloth
A fun way to plant celery seedlings.
Video. Features of growing and planting root celery
Useful video from the Sadovy Mir channel - full information how and when to plant root celery for seedlings to get a good harvest.
Regional differences in agricultural technology according to gardeners' reviews
Some gardeners stratify leaf celery seeds at 4 ° C for 2 days to increase germination. According to the residents of Siberia and the Urals, this method leads to the formation of a peduncle already in the first year of a plant's life. Therefore, they offer a different option. seedbed preparation:
- Soaking the seeds in hot water(strictly 45-50 ° C) in three doses for 5 minutes, 10 minutes and 20 minutes.
- Between soaking, the seeds are washed with running water at a temperature of 16-20 ° C.
This option of pre-sowing preparation allows you to get friendly shoots for 4-6 days.
For increase taste stalked celery, many homeowners recommend whitening procedure when petioles are wrapped from ground to leaves 4 weeks before harvesting with burlap, dark agrofibre or paper. This technique allows you to reduce the amount essential oils and significantly increase the organoleptic properties of the vegetable.
In the southern regions, gardeners are experimenting with planting leaf celery before winter. As a result, the leaves ripen 20-25 days earlier than with the seedling method, but the yield sharply decreases and the number of plants with “arrows” - peduncles increases.
Reliable data on whether it is possible to plant celery before winter in Siberia, the Urals and in Middle lane, not presented due to abnormal winters in most of the territory of Russia.
We examined the features of planting celery for seedlings in the ground, depending on the variety and region, and also resulted in the lunar sowing calendar. We hope this information was useful to you. Feel free to ask questions!
Petiole celery is used in cooking in various dishes fried, stewed, even boiled. It is useful and tasty product, while caring for the plant is simple, so if you have the opportunity to grow it in the garden, do not miss it!
In our climate, it is very difficult to get a rich harvest of stalked celery. Therefore, planting it through seedlings is so popular. The growing season of this culture ranges from 80 to 150 days. This means that if you sow it directly into open ground, it will not have time to ripen to frost even in warmer climates.
In addition, the seedling method allows you to get a harvest in the year of planting, which is good news.
The most popular varieties of stalked celery are: Golden Way, Golden Pen, and Utah. There are other good varieties, it is advisable to study them and choose the most suitable one for yourself. It is important to take into account the features of your garden.
Germinating seeds
Stalked celery seeds germinate very poorly. This must be taken into account when sowing seedlings. If you use dry seeds, then they will begin to sprout no earlier than a month later, and the percentage of germination will be small. Therefore, experienced farmers recommend to process stalked celery seeds before sowing. The planting material is poured with water and left in such conditions for three days. The water needs to be changed regularly - three times a day.
Seed germination is hindered by the abundance of essential oils inside them. Hot water removes the excess of these oils. When the next portion of the liquid cools down, you can see a greasy film on its surface with the naked eye. It is necessary to carefully remove the seeds and rinse them with running water.
After soaking, the seeds for seedlings should be laid out on a damp paper towel or gauze. The napkin is laid out on a plate, everything is placed together in plastic bag and left in a warm, dark place. It is necessary to regularly ventilate the improvised greenhouse, as well as monitor the humidity in it.
You can germinate seeds for seedlings in a different way. For this, glass containers are used. It is filled with wet sawdust, seeds mixed with sand are poured on top. You don't need to close the bank. It is also placed in a warm, but this time lit place and the humidity is kept constant until the seeds germinate.
Preparing the soil for seedlings
Planting of petiole seedlings for seedlings is carried out in late February or early March. The soil for this is prepared in advance. You can purchase a ready-made mixture, or you can prepare it yourself. For the second option, peat, humus and wood ash in a ratio of 3: 1: 1. You can add a little fine sand.
If you do not have the opportunity to prepare the mixture with your own hands, then the factory universal soil for vegetables is quite suitable.
You also need to take care of the container for seedlings in advance. Separate pots are best for stalked celery. small size, or spacious boxes for seedlings. Prepared soil is collected in a container and watered. After that, it is necessary to mark the grooves, not very deep, and spread the seeds in them. This must be done carefully, the sprouted roots are very thin and weak. Since the seeds are small, it is enough to lightly sprinkle them with earth on top. A thick layer of soil will only delay the growth and development of plants.
There is also another technology for planting stalked celery. Instead of watering, a layer of snow is spread over the ground, and seeds are scattered on it. When the snow melts, the water sinks into the ground, dragging planting material to the required depth.
Seedling care
Caring for young sprouts will not cause you much trouble. The soil should be kept moist at all times, but don't overdo it. It is better to spray the seedlings with a spray bottle instead of watering.
It is advisable to maintain the temperature in the room with the sprouts at around + 20 + 22 ° С, and also monitor the sufficient illumination of the place where you placed the boxes with seedlings.
Several weeks after sowing, top dressing is necessary. Also, care includes picking and thinning. When diving, the stem is half-deepened into the ground. It is worth carrying out the procedure when the plants have acquired 3-4 real leaves. Two weeks after the pick, you can carry out another top dressing. Perhaps this is where the care of the seedlings ends, followed by hardening and planting of seedlings in open ground.
Petiole celery hardly takes root in the garden, therefore, it must be hardened. This takes about a week. Hardening is carried out at + 15 ° C. Plants are taken out to the balcony, each time increasing the time of their stay on fresh air, bringing it to a day.
Before planting seedlings in the garden, it is thoroughly watered.
Bedding
For successful cultivation stalked celery plays a role not only in getting good seedlings, but also proper care behind it, but also timely and correct planting it in the ground.
Celery is planted in mid-May. It is important to follow the seating chart. The distance between the rows of seedlings should be at least 30 cm. And the distance between individual bushes in a row is 15-20 cm. After planting, water the plants and add a little dry soil on top. Next, you need to organize proper care. It doesn't differ much from caring for other cultures. It is necessary to feed, weed and loosen the stalked celery in time. Also, care includes prevention and measures to combat pests and diseases in the garden.
For the first time, you need to feed the plants on the ground two weeks after they are planted. The second feeding is carried out when active growth of greenery is observed. The third should be done when the root begins to grow.
Some gardeners carry out the following procedure. To root system did not grow in all directions, pinching of the lateral shoots of the roots should be included in the care. To do this, you need to periodically remove the soil from the top of the plant. While the root crop is being formed, the procedure is carried out 2-3 times. The land surrounding the plant is advised to mulch.
Watering is another important part of grooming. It should be done in moderation. It is unacceptable to overdry, or vice versa, overmoisten the soil. If a strong cold snap is planned, it is better to cover the plantings with foil. When the temperature drops to -5 ° C at night in autumn, it is also necessary to protect the celery garden.
Harvesting and storing celery
In August, the celery ripens and you can gradually start harvesting. To understand if it is fully ripe, you can selectively remove the fruits. The last final cleaning has no clear deadlines. It all depends on the timing of sowing and the climate. Sometimes the harvest is in September, sometimes in October.
like other root vegetables.
The petiolate variety is cut in the last month of summer, in contrast to the leafy variety, which can be harvested from the moment of germination to severe cold when needed.
You can store this culture dried or frozen.
Conclusion
Growing through seedlings is the most promising way to get a good harvest. It is important to observe the sowing technology and proper care of the seedlings: timely watering, feeding and protection from pests. The choice of soil and the careful planting of shoots in open ground also play a significant role. Shouldn't be neglected preparatory activities- soaking and germination of seeds, as well as further hardening of seedlings. All this in combination helps to achieve maximum results when growing.
The popularity of the plant of the umbrella family is constantly increasing. On suburban areas aromatic celery appears more and more often, known not only for its pleasant taste, but also for many useful properties... It belongs to spicy plants, aroma oils which enhance the taste of food. It is not only used for cooking, but also canned or dried.
The main varieties of celery:
- sheet- cultivated because of the lushly growing odorous greenery, which contains a colossal percentage of essential oils;
- petiolate- grown because of the thick and long petioles used mainly for salads;
- root- valuable as a round root vegetable used for the preparation of various dishes.
Important conditions for growing celery seedlings
To get a good harvest, you need to worry about the quality of the soil for the plant in advance. The area selected in the fall is dug up and saturated with humus. In the spring, the bed is loosened and dug up again, evenly distributing fertilizers and saturating the soil with oxygen.
Varieties of early crops can be sown directly into the soil in spring, while late crops are best grown by seedling. One of the important conditions for a good harvest is high-quality fresh seeds. In order to sow celery for seedlings, all the selected seeds are placed in warm water and kept there for a day. Then they are planted to a depth of 1 cm in the soil.
Technology of growing leaf celery
The leafy species is able to withstand relatively cold temperatures, so experienced summer residents plant it in the soil in early spring... But a more productive result can be obtained by sowing celery seedlings in early March.
After soaking and burying in the soil, sprinkle the seeds with peat, and provide a temperature of about 20 ° C. Watering in the early days is carried out from a spray bottle, evenly moistening the soil.
After the sprouts appear, the temperature must be lowered by 2-3 degrees to obtain stable seedlings. When the first true leaves appear at the seedlings, they make a dive, pinching the root. This will contribute to the development of a good root system.
In order for the cultivation of celery seedlings to have good results, it is necessary to monitor the light and temperature regime tempering the plants. At the end of April, greens can be planted in the ground.
Proper care of leafy celery seedlings
In order for the seedlings to take root well, they are transferred to the garden bed, without breaking a lump under the roots, and watered well. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the growth point is necessarily above the soil, and the distance between the seedlings is at least a quarter of a meter. Then everything is simple: the soil is periodically loosened, preventing the appearance of weeds, and watered well. In July - August, leafy celery will already yield a harvest.
Root celery growing technology
This species is grown only by the seedling method. Celery seedlings are sown in February. The secret of good germination is seed stratification. Do it as follows:
- high-quality seeds are distributed on damp gauze;
- kept in a room from 5 to 6 days;
- put in the refrigerator for 10 days;
- only then are they sown into the soil.
Effective care of root celery seedlings
Plants are planted when two true leaves appear. When carrying out a pick, take special care, trying not to break the root. Otherwise, instead of a round valuable root vegetable, you will end up with a branched root system unsuitable for food. However, you can not dive the root celery, the seedlings will succeed in any case. But it may be less hardy. Fortified and rooted greens can be planted in the ground after 2 months. The growth point is not deepened.
Young seedlings of celery root like moderate watering, periodic fertilization. One of the secrets to getting a well-formed, rounded celery root is to remove the top layer of soil around it, and remove the small lateral roots. Another secret is to lower the leaves to the ground at the final stage of growth. This way the fruit grows larger and faster. You can harvest tubers in October.
Features of growing stalked celery
Agrotechnics and care for celery seedlings of this type are no different from others. But the growing process has a number of nuances. The plant loves high-quality watering and loosening of the soil. However, stagnation of water in the garden bed is unacceptable - this will lead to plant diseases. So that the earth does not dry out, it can be mulched. Fertilization can be done every 2 weeks. It is better to choose for this organic fertilizers, for example, infusion of nettle.
To obtain bleached petioles without bitterness, the plants are spud up a couple of weeks before harvesting. At the same time, the amount of essential oils in the stems is slightly reduced, making them more pleasant to the taste.
Observing uncomplicated conditions sowing and growing plants, at the end summer season you can get a good harvest of aromatic and healthy celery.
Video sowing root celery for seedlings
To the rhetorical question of what to eat in order to lose weight, there is a very specific answer - celery! You eat 100 g of celery, calorie content of 19 kcal, the body spends 25 for its processing. Active antioxidants in large quantities cleanse body cells from damage and remove toxins, prolonging youth. And here is a recipe for a love drink from Tristan and Isolde: 100 g of celery juice, 50 g each of pear and apple. And although celery root, stalk and greens are not uncommon in supermarkets, it is much more useful to grow it yourself.
To receive good harvests you need very fertile soil. Celery does not tolerate acidic and poorly drained soil. Deep, humus-rich loams are preferred.
It is advisable to plant celery in beds that have been abundantly fertilized with predecessors (peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers). Poor soil can be improved by adding rotten manure or compost.
For planting leaf and petiole celery, fresh manure can be applied, since a high concentration of nitrogen accelerates the growth of vegetative mass, so to speak, vershoks. To grow the roots, the manure must be thoroughly rotated. The introduction of phosphorus will speed up the ripening period and improve the quality of the plants. Thanks to potash fertilizers the plant more intensively accumulates sugar and starch, increases frost resistance.
A little podzimnye liming will fill the need for calcium and magnesium. Fertilization rates per 1 m2: compost (rotten manure) - 6-8 kg, fertilizers: nitrogen - 3-5 g, phosphorus -10 g, potash - 5 g.
Organic matter and phosphate fertilizers are applied in full in autumn, half of the rest is taken. The rest is used in dressing. The planting site should be open, sunny, not shaded.
Video "Growing"
From the video you will learn how to properly grow celery.
Seed material
Celery is a biennial herb of the umbrella family. Breeding work over the new varieties, I shifted the emphasis from green leaves to other parts of this plant, and as a result we got 3 types of varieties: petiole, leaf and root celery. 
The best varieties of leafy celery are:
- The samurai attracts with curly leaves with a corrugated edge. Mid-season with excellent taste;
- Vigor is a mid-season variety with good resistance to low temperatures and drought. The first crop is cut after 70 days.
- Sail is an early ripe, very productive variety, the first harvest is ready in 40-45 days.
Petiole celery is the least popular in our country, but I think that it will not last long. The wonderful taste of crispy sticks conquers everyone who has tried celery stalks.
Varieties of this type are divided into self-bleaching, green (which must be bleached) and intermediate forms. Self-bleaching stems are worse stored than green ones. Here are a few interesting varieties stalked celery:
- Pascal is a medium ripeness variety that needs bleaching;
- Tango is a variety with excellent taste and smooth petioles. The light green color does not need bleaching.
And finally, celery root. For harvesting for the winter, you need to purchase seeds of mid-early, medium and late varieties. Fruit early varieties poorly stored. 
Consider several popular varieties:
- Apple - very early ripening with round average size tubers grade. Flaw - a large number of lateral roots;
- Cascade is a medium early variety with a small number of low roots;
- The Prague giant is a large-fruited (up to 500 g) variety of medium ripening, the fruits are well stored.
Sowing seeds for seedlings
Celery seeds are very small, contain a large amount of essential oils and therefore germinate for a very long time. The germination rate is low. Therefore, for celery, growing from seeds in open ground very difficult.
Seedlings begin to sow at the end of February. The seeds may take up to 1 month to germinate, but the process can be accelerated. 
Consider several options for soaking seeds:
- the seeds are washed in hot water for 10-15 minutes, after which they are slightly dried. The seeds are ready for sowing;
- seeds are soaked for a day in warm water;
- seeds wrapped in wet cloth, kept for a week at room temperature, constantly moisturizing, then placed in the refrigerator away from the freezer for 2 weeks, after which they are planted.
Of the three methods, the last one (it is called stratification) is the most effective.
For seedlings, you will need low boxes filled with a mixture of garden soil, humus and sand. For disinfection, the earth is spilled with boiling water with potassium permanganate 2 days before sowing the seeds.
Before sowing, the soil is moistened again, after about 2 hours, 1 cm deep grooves are made and sowing of seeds begins. If you plan to grow seedlings in the same boxes before planting in the ground, then you need to sow the seeds at a distance of 5 cm from each other.
With the subsequent pick, the sowing can be compacted. Seeds, evenly distributed along the grooves, do not fall asleep, but are slightly pressed (this makes it easier for them to germinate) and watered with a spray bottle.
The drawers are covered with glass or transparent foil and placed in the light. The air temperature in the room should be between 18-240C. After 5-7 days, the seeds will pick up and white roots will appear, in another week cotyledon leaves will appear.
The film can be removed, the seedlings can be watered with water at room temperature using a spray bottle and very carefully loosened without falling asleep on the seedlings.
In February natural light the seedlings are still not enough, which is why it can stretch, therefore it is recommended to supplement it. In addition, lowering the temperature to 16 degrees will help slow down the pulling of seedlings. 
Growing stalked celery with excellent qualities- not a very simple matter, and caring for it has its own characteristics. Due to the fact that celery seeds germinate for a long time, and the stem slowly builds up volume,. It is necessary to take care of the plant regularly, without violating the technology, - only then the stem will turn out to be juicy, crunchy and without a bitter aftertaste.
Growing celery seedlings
You shouldn't be late with the term for growing celery seedlings. The later the seeds sprout, the later the seedlings are planted in open ground - the thinner the cuttings will be for celery. They will not have time to increase the volume before the autumn frosts, because the ripening period for celery is long - from 90 to 150 days, depending on the variety. Sowing seeds for seedlings is carried out from late February to mid-March. In warm regions the best time sowing - February, in colder - March.
Due to the high content of essential oils, the seeds sprout slowly and not amicably. Germination can be accelerated if, before sowing, they are soaked in very warm water, the temperature of which is + 55-60 ° С. The water is changed several times - after it has cooled to room temperature. After the last soak, the seeds are washed in cool water.
Germination can be increased if the seeds are germinated. There are two ways to do this.
- Place a damp cloth on the bottom of the container. The seeds are laid out thin layer... To create the desired microclimate, the container is covered with glass or cling film. The place for germination should be warm, + 25 ° С. Airing is carried out regularly. The fabric is often moistened and should not be allowed to dry out.
- Well-moistened sawdust mixed with clean sand is poured into a shallow container. The seeds are scattered over the surface of the sawdust. Then, just as in the first method, cover with glass, put in a warm place, periodically ventilate and moisten.
The soil for seedlings is chosen as nutritious and loose. It is poured into boxes and grooves are made 0.5 cm deep at a distance of 3 cm from each other. The seeds are laid out on the bottom of the grooves, lightly pressing them against the soil. You don't need to sprinkle it with earth on top. Sprouted seeds must be sown carefully, taking care not to damage the sprout.
It is convenient to use a match to lay out the germinated seeds in the seed boxes. Its end is moistened, and the seeds easily adhere to the wet part. This makes sowing easier and prevents the sprouts from breaking off.
The soil must be constantly moistened, this must be monitored. Until the first leaves appear, the seedlings must be covered with cling film. After their appearance, the film is removed, and after a week the box is transferred to a cool, bright place. Optimum temperature air - + 15 ° С. Under such conditions, celery seedlings will grow strong and will not stretch out.
When 3-4 true leaves appear, the seedlings dive. It is best to place them in separate containers, and if this is not possible, then in a larger box at a distance of 4x4 cm from each other. Watering the seedlings is plentiful, regular, but excess water should be drained through the drainage holes.
A week before planting in open ground, the seedlings begin to harden, taking them outside under the sun.
You can plant stalked celery in an open field in mid-May. The garden bed is prepared in 10 days: all weeds with roots are removed, well-rotted manure is introduced, dug up and leveled.
On the day of planting, grooves are prepared with a depth of 10 cm at a distance of 30-40 cm from one another. The soil in containers with celery should be moist, this will prevent it from crumbling during transplanting. If the soil does not lag behind the walls of the cups, you can draw a thin knife between the walls and a lump of earth. Planting should be carried out a little deeper than the seedlings were in the container, but the point of growth of the leaves should not be deepened. In one row, there should be a distance of 15 cm between plants.
Celery is planted densely so that as little light as possible falls on the base of the stem - this increases its nutritional value and improves its taste. Leaves, on the contrary, should be in bright light, through them the process of photosynthesis will take place.
It is good to plant stalk celery next to cabbage, it prevents the appearance of such pests as cabbage white on it. Celery is also a desirable neighbor for tomatoes.
Care
Until the celery has grown, it is necessary to keep weeds from growing. For the first month, celery grows slowly and can be drowned out by weeds. After the stems began to thicken, hilling must be carried out. If the plantings are thickened, then the soil for hilling does not need to be taken from the same beds, so as not to damage the plants growing nearby. It is better to cover the base of the stem with turf or compost. When hilling, it remains White color stem.
Before hilling, small petioles that will no longer have time to gain weight are removed. The rest are tied at the level of the leaves so that they do not break when covered with earth.
Watering should be constantly monitored. The soil should not dry out, but it should not block the base of the celery either.
Excessive dryness of the soil will cause the stem to change its characteristics:
- will cease to be juicy and elastic,
- will crack
- will acquire bitterness;
- the structure of the stem will be fibrous;
- the plant will release a peduncle arrow and begin to set seeds.
With excessive moisture, the stems can begin to rot, and this also increases the likelihood of fungal diseases.
Top dressing is important for celery. They feed for the first time two to three weeks after planting. Prepare a solution of mullein (1 part of fertilizer to 10 parts of water) or bird droppings (1 part of fertilizer to 20 parts of water). The second time they are fed three weeks later with a complex mineral fertilizer, but the percentage of nitrogen in it should be minimal. With an excess of nitrogen in the soil, the petioles can crack in the same way as with a lack of watering.
At the end of July, to protect the celery from greening, the stems must be wrapped thick paper... Can be used corrugated cardboard, paper wallpaper, craft paper. It is undesirable for the paper to contain inscriptions made with typographic ink. For wrapping, you can use agrofibre of both white and black colors of maximum density. The main thing is that air passes through the material used for wrapping.
It is necessary to protect the entire stem from the sun's rays to the point where foliage begins to grow. The paper is wrapped so that there is a small gap, but at the same time it does not dangle from the wind. The protection is not removed until the very harvest.
Leaves can be selectively harvested from each plant during the season for use as food. They can be eaten fresh or dried for the winter.
If necessary, the petioles can be harvested at the end of summer. At the same time, the largest ones are broken off, but no more than 5 pieces from one plant. The main harvest begins in September. Dig out the most large plants, the rest can ripen until October.
If the dug out celery is placed in the basement, having dug the roots into wet sand, then it can be stored for up to two months. Excess stalk celery can be frozen. After defrosting, they are stewed, baked and used for the first courses.
Trench method of growing celery
If there is enough space on the site, then celery can be grown by the trench method. The cultivation is carried out in stages.
- Trenches 30 cm deep and 20 cm wide are being prepared. There should be a distance of at least 70 cm between the trenches for convenience.
- When digging, all the soil is folded into a mound along the trench, with north side... It will serve as protection from cold weather in spring and early summer.
- A mixture of earth with humus is poured at the bottom.
- Planting seedlings is carried out in the center of the trench, at a distance of 15-20 cm between the plants.
- At first, care is carried out in the same way as with a normal planting.
- After the stem begins to thicken, the first filling of the trench is carried out. The soil is taken from the mound and covered with celery to the foliage.
- Hilling is carried out several times, until all the soil dug out of the trench is used up.
- In autumn, harvesting is carried out carefully so as not to damage the stems.
When grown in this way, the stem is white, juicy, and there is no bitterness. In addition, it is not necessary to wrap the stems with this method.
Self-bleaching varieties
The stems of common varieties require bleaching or they become unusable. Currently, varieties have been bred that do not require such care - they are juicy, crunchy without much effort.
Despite this advantage, these varieties have a significant disadvantage:
- they are afraid of even light frost;
- have a short shelf life.
It is necessary to harvest immediately, without waiting for the onset of cold weather. If the weather forecast promises a drop in temperature already at the beginning of September, then all the celery should be harvested, even if the stems have not yet increased the required volume of all the plants. The collected petioles of self-bleaching celery are not stored for a long time. If they are wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in the refrigerator, then the maximum shelf life is two weeks.
Output
Growing quality stalked celery requires constant care. Top dressing and watering should be carried out regularly, and without bleaching, the petioles lose quality and taste. If it is impossible to spend a lot of time caring for celery, self-bleaching varieties can be grown. Because of short term storage does not need to be planted out a lot. It is enough to plant a few bushes so that you can use them within two to three weeks.