Topic: Celeriac from seed

[bennettsleg]

I did a forum-based search on celeriac and have read the old threads I could spot but one aspect still bothers me:

All the books I'm reading states that celeriac is notoriously difficult to grow from seed.  Could anyone enlighten me (us) on whether this is true and if there are any ways around it (bit like the hot water on parsley seeds trick).

I am planning to sow them indoors and bring them on before planting out.  Having never grown them before - and loving them so much - I'd hate to lose all my seeds to truculence on the seed's part and ignorance on mine.

Thanks

[Curryandchips]

Sowing them indoors is the trick, they need warmth to germinate. I will be sowing mine soon, so they get a decent head start, then plant them out about April time. I have never had a germination problem, just getting the blighters to a decent size.

[grawrc]

Not only have I never grown them, but I've never eaten them! Bought one once and then forgot I had it so it ended up in the compost. :-[
Waht are they like?

[Jesse]

I don't have lots of experience with celeriac as last year was my first one growing it. But I didn't have any problems growing from seed. I also started in modules indoors, I don't think I covered the seeds with soil, or if I did only a very thin sprinkling as I believe they need light to germinate. I sowed them on 18th Feb, they germinated on 2nd March and I potted them up on 8th April, I didn't record a date for planting out so can't remember now but think it was around May. I remember they grew very slowly at first but once planted out they grew away steadily.

[supersprout]

Gorgeous veg grawc, celery with no strings attached and lovely mealy texture, crudites or grated or julienne for celeri-remoulade with creamy dressing, roast in the oven or celeriac chips, mmm  :P Like curry, I have trub getting them to more than tennis ball size but hope to do better this year  ;D

[Jesse]

I've read that the ones tennis ball size are tastier than the larger ones :)

[grawrc]

It was celeri remoulade that I had in mind at the time. Well I'll have another go. Might even plant some if I get plot 2 cleared!

[Diana]

I've grown them for the past 2 years, but have real trouble getting them bigger than a golf ball  :-\

I think they need a lot of water or water retaining material in the soil

[agapanthus]

Celeriac is nice boiled and mashed with butter, pepper and a grating of nutmeg. After peeling put a little lemon juice in the water, this help stop it going brown.

[mr salad]

Like most of the other people who've replied so far I have never had any trouble getting them to germinate.  However, even with a long growing time and relatively early planting out mine have never grown to any size. 

Fantastic veg though, good raw, great in a variety of veggie mixed, good keeper, very nice in soups.  Great all round.

[Curryandchips]

Tennis ball size? Mine are more Table tennis ball size !

They are delightful grawrc, either cut up and put into stews etc, or roast (my favourite).

[adrianhumph]

Hi bennetsleg,
                        If you have read the previous postings you will have a good idea about celariac growing. My own experience (first year) was that they took quite a lot of looking after, as they do not tolerate the cold but do need to be sown early, germination was not a problem, just a little slow. As I do not have a greenhouse I was putting the seedlings out, bringing the seedlings in putting the seedlings out...... ::)  get my drift.
 To avoid this this year I have ordered from Dobies 20 pre grown plants that will be delivered sometime at the end of May ready for planting out. They are £3.95 p for 20,
  which i think is not too expensive. Too give you some inspiration here is a picture of one of mine that i grew from seed, they have all reached a good size about 800grms
                                                     Adrian.

[LesH]

I've grown celeriac a few years but never had any problem with germination. It's a very slow growing plant. I always start my plants off on a heated seed tray, in mid to late January. I usually grow Suttons Monarch. Pot them on at the end of March and plant out beginning of May.
The earlier you get them started the bigger they get. I dig in horse muck where I'm going to plant them, remember they are marsh plants.

[supersprout]

heavens to betsy adrianh, you sure it's not a giant pineapple? cor!  :o ;D  didn't know they were marsh plants, that could make all the difference this year  ::)

[grawrc]

Does the "bulbous" bit grow above the soil like kohl rabi or is it a root?

[Curryandchips]

A root. The plant is also known as celery root.

[grawrc]

Adrian that photo looks so good I'm really tempted to give it a go. And Curry thanks for the info.
Next question: do you peel it before cooking? And if so, as it looks rather rough and bumpy, do you not lose a lot of it by peeling? Or can you just scrub it?

[Curryandchips]

You do appear to lose a lot, the size of the peeled root looks tiny compared with the original vegetable as lifted. However, most of the outside is almost hairlike, very fine roots, so you are not really losing that much is actual weight. Just allow for this when planting out, I generally would plant out about 50 roots, this seems enough for my demand, since we only use it as a supplement to roast potatoes etc, or as a vegetable in stews and soups.

[katynewbie]

In my experience a sharp knife is essential. Peel off all the rough bits and cook like spuds, you do lose some, but its worth it!! As has been said before its GORGEOUS mashed, I do 50/50 spuds and celeriac with butter etc and its delish!!

[bennettsleg]

Does the "bulbous" bit grow above the soil like kohl rabi or is it a root?

Bit of both, really.

One of my gardening bibles (1948 Penguin "The Vegetable Grower's Handbook" by Arthur J Simons - fantastic stuff!) states:

"Do not plant deeply. Relentlessly remove side shoots, keeping the plants to a single stem and continually drawing soil away and removing lateral shoots, suckers & fibrous roots from the basal thingy as it forms so that this thingy stands out of the ground as bald as a coot.

Towards the end of the season, when growth is complete (ping-pong size, then? Ed) any plants that remain in the ground may be earthed up tho' this should not be done before November.

When lidting for storage remove all the leaves except the little tuft in the centre.  If you cut that then the root will waste all its energy in producing another set of leaves. Trim fibrous roots & store in sand."

How did anyone else find their practice contradicted/agreed with the above.

The marsh plant knowledge is extremely helpful, thanks, as is all the other pointers.  The ping-pong sized celeriac photographed under a microscope was also intriguing and proof of what is possible.  ;D ;D Fingers crossed, eh?