Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: ptarmigan on October 09, 2017, 07:00
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If my celeriac haven't started bulking up yet, should I just hock them out
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How big are they? I've been watching mine, they are somewhere between the size of a tennis ball and a grapefruit currently...
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they are somewhere between the size of a tennis ball and a grapefruit currently...
Green with envy here, mine are still in modules - one of the crops that never got planted out this year ::)
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Mine are golf ball size. ;)
Think I will leave them a bit longer while the weather holds out.
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One crop where I now get consistent success, bar about 6 that bolted in August. I germinate in March and April and plant out in May and June in very well-manured soil. One thing I've learned from bitter experience is to keep the soil quite a lot damper than for other vegetables
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No problem with the soil being damp!
They haven't done anything, nice healthy greeenery but no sign of an actual celeriac. They went in very late.
I don't need the space at the moment so I might just leave them and see.
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please please do tell me how to grow celeriac because I'm absolutely useless in trying to grow celeriac the wife said give it up but I said I won't be give in because someone will tell me how to grow them :D
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Don't throw them out. If the worst comes to the worst you can always use the stalks in soups. I've found it one of the more difficult veg to grow and probably not one for beginners. Like Alan I plant out in June and tend to keep the soil around them wet rather than just damp.
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Don’t you have to pull the leaves of as the root swells, or is that something else?
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please please do tell me how to grow celeriac because I'm absolutely useless in trying to grow celeriac the wife said give it up but I said I won't be give in because someone will tell me how to grow them :D
I start them off early April in a seed tray, pot them on then plant out in May. They are hungry beggars so I feed well and put compost around them also. As others have said you really have to keep on top of watering. I'm growing Monarch this year. Hoping carrot fly have left them alone, sometimes they have a go...
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We found that celeriac, when very small, has an intense flavour, so is a useful addition to whatever dish you're serving up.
Have to admit though, that we never used more than a few each year, so they weren't worth the hassle...
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We found that celeriac, when very small, has an intense flavour, so is a useful addition to whatever dish you're serving up.
Have to admit though, that we never used more than a few each year, so they weren't worth the hassle...
Same here, with celery and celeriac the commercial growers do a good job, but I did make the effort one year just to prove to myself that I could do it. Early sowing indoors and plant out into well manured soil and then just keep watering... I threw three buckets of water around mine every visit to the plot. Good idea to plant them next to the water butt.
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Don’t you have to pull the leaves of as the root swells, or is that something else?
I'm unsure as to the importance of this. If I remember I do it but more often than not forget it. The advice seems to be to remove the leaves when they have wilted to take on a horizontal aspect. Surely once they have reached that stage, they are irrelevant to the plant growth anyway? I'd appreciate any comments on this aspect of growing celeriac, please
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This is how I grow Celeriac.
First do not grow the variety Prague Giant. I grew it year after year and they never grew larger than golf/cricket ball size. The skins are very knobbly too meaning more waste when preparing them. I have been growing Monarch from DT Seeds with better success. This year they are grapefruit size and the best yet. DT Brown is offering a F1 hybrid celeriac so I shall try that next season alongside Monarch.
Second Celeriac needs a very long season of growth. I sow the third week of February grow them on in pots or modules and plant then out late april/early may depending on the weather under fleece to keep the cold off. A dressing of chicken pellets (or growmore) and another couple of applications throughout the growing season.
I try to keep them well supplied with moisture though I don't flood them as you would do celery.
In September the outer leaves begin to lay horizontal to the ground. I pull these off exposing more root. It may be my imagination but the roots seem to benefit from this pulling.
Finally I don't begin using them until November so they have had as much time to swell as possible. A light frost does no harm. However they must be dug up before hard frosts begin else they will turn to mush.
It is still very much work in progress but I believe I'm finally getting the knack with celeriac.
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I do the same as spadework, sow early, keep the plants warm, plant in good soil, water regularly. I always have good results, grapefruit-size or even bigger sometimes. I pull the outer leaves off once they bend down as well, I believe it helps the roots swelling. The varieties I grow are either Monarch or Brilliant, have not seen any differences.
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This is how I grow Celeriac.
First do not grow the variety Prague Giant. I grew it year after year and they never grew larger than golf/cricket ball size. The skins are very knobbly too meaning more waste when preparing them. I have been growing Monarch from DT Seeds with better success. This year they are grapefruit size and the best yet. DT Brown is offering a F1 hybrid celeriac so I shall try that next season alongside Monarch.
Second Celeriac needs a very long season of growth. I sow the third week of February grow them on in pots or modules and plant then out late april/early may depending on the weather under fleece to keep the cold off. A dressing of chicken pellets (or growmore) and another couple of applications throughout the growing season.
I try to keep them well supplied with moisture though I don't flood them as you would do celery.
In September the outer leaves begin to lay horizontal to the ground. I pull these off exposing more root. It may be my imagination but the roots seem to benefit from this pulling.
Finally I don't begin using them until November so they have had as much time to swell as possible. A light frost does no harm. However they must be dug up before hard frosts begin else they will turn to mush.
It is still very much work in progress but I believe I'm finally getting the knack with celeriac.
I've successfully grown the F1 (Ilona) for the past few years.