My celeriac seedlings must be nearly ready to plant out :D. Could anyone tell me how far apart they need to be and what sort of spread they have? Also, is it OK to put them in now? I must admit I haven't bothered to re-pot them as they seem reasonably happy where they are. I thought I would plant them out in a compost lined drill on the allotment - they have been hardened off. :-\
this is my first celeriac year and mine are going out this week. the book i read says they need a 30cm radius per plant so i shall be doing this.
Mine went out about a month ago and I have a very scientific way of spacing my plants.....I use my trowel. So, however long my trowel is, that is how far apart they are. Already they are growing like mad, which I am very pleased about, so is my celery, which is also great as I have never grown it before, or at least, not successfully!
same here, EJ
planted mine about three weeks ago and they seem to have taken :)
the celeriac is slightly furhter spaced than the celery though, in my case. i think the celery will benefit from 'self blanching' by being in a square arrangement, with spacing about a foot each way. or something.
general disclaimers apply :)
svea
Self-blanching is normally 8" apart or it won't blanch. And some straw in between to help out?
ah well, green celery tastes yumy too :)
Don't forget the slugs to go with the straw ;)
I plant mine about 10 inches (250mm) apart and they seem happy with that.
As an aside, I was asked by our secretary, how the shops get the really large celeriac, as his (and mine) are only about the size of apples (smaller when peeled).
Does anyone know?
MT - yes indeed - but I feel that this is one case where the judicious use of bait is justified. And straw does help keep the moisture in, as well as blanch. (I don't use it!!)
Derek - yes indeed. Each to his own. But how nice to be able to save space if you wish! And is it not true that swedes & the like always grow best 'in the field'??
Svea - yes indeed. But some people won't eat green!
Mine's only just germinated ???
Ooooerr.....mine went in last weekend, fully hardened off etc Spacing about 8" apart. Planted Alabaster as EJ had a good result last year. Took ages to germinate but gave & threw loads away as they all seemed to take!!
Need to get a good result as my father-in-law failed with celeriac about 5 years ago and thinks I'm daft trying again.
I grew Alabaster last year & it was as big as yer 'ead, well it was as big as the shop stuff anyway, plenty of space (12" apart) and a long season works for me.
This year I'm trying Monarch for the first time as it's supposed to be smoother skinned, hope it's as good
Hi MT,
Have you got water on your plot? I know that others haven't and my FIL reckons you can't grow celeriac without lots of it. I'm banking on the fact that other folks are in the south east and i'm in the soggy midlands so I stand half a chance.
So fellow celeriac growers, are you mulching them with anything?
due to lack of mulch, no
other than my dry top inch of soil, that is
nice and moist below that :)
Mine were fine and I have no water. I didn't mulch them, as I didn't know much about them, and whilst they may not have won any prizes in the giant veg competitions, they were perfect family sized veggies, tasty, juicy, full of flavour and a s o d to peel and prepare!! ;D
mine have now been planted out and they look great. are they going to be nailed by slugs immediately?
mine got nibbled last year legless..............just been up at the plot and the evil slimey ones have eaten 5 out of 8 runner beans :'( :'( :'( :'(
oh. better not give away my extras yet then. something ate my tagetes. couldn't believe it.
Amazing how they can search and destroy overnight! I am off to p[lant more beans! >:(
My celeriac are still pathetically small. They've been in around 6 weeks - modules in a mini-greenhouse - and are lucky to be an inch tall. Only one true leaf on them. Anything I can do to help them along?
Don't think I can put them out that small, the slugs would have em in about 30 seconds!
Moggle some of mine are tiny too, I am hanging on to them! The first lot I did failed miserably germination wise, but the few I did get were awfully slow off the mark, but in the last week seem to have rallied! Maybe they are slow starters! ;D
i seem to remember it took two whole months (!) from germination to planting out size with mine. when did you sow yours, moggle?
i know, it seems like an awfully long time, doesnt it?
svea
am now prepared with 5kg of slug barrier - assuming they made it through the night!
Sowed mine 17/4
Will try to be patient for a couple more weeks and then plant out under pop bottle cloches. I bet they romp away once they've got the space. ::)
Is it too late to re-sow a few?
i would say forget the cloches, just literally ignore them for the rest of june and plant them out at the end (dont forget to water, obviously). i found they suddenly grew much faster when i wasn't watching (watched kettle syndrome ;))
svea
Cloches were more for slug protection than heat, but I will leave em till the end of the month and try not to look at them. That is probably the biggest problem, they are right at eye level and offending me every day with their lack of growth ;D
I have to say that mine were tiny for ages...literally...then all of a sudden they really romped away and looked quite strong when I planted them out. They were a good 2 months on when they went outside to harden off for 2 weeks.
This drizzle and warm weather has bought mine on no end. Never to late to sow Moggle, but don't expect big roots.
amazing. i'm sure they've doubled in size since wednesday, all looking good apart from 2 which are completely missing.
Do we mean 'small' like small - or like a bit bigger (18/4)??
i would say the once in the background should be out now, the once on the front right could do with another couple of weeks before going out.
i put mine out when they were about 3 inches tall and had about 5 or 6 true leaves.
Mine are looking good in unheated greenhouse.
If I leave them and harden off gradually before planting out at
end of June, will the slugs still devour them even if they are
'more mature'
...Would hate to lose my darling celeriacs to the slimey little sods >:(
Debs
Why not use Chase's ferric phosphate bait? 'Harmless to humans, pets & wildlife'??
Quest que sais Tim? (spelling?)
Iv'e never heard of it. Where would I get it from, how is it used?
Debs :)
Can I help? Qu'est-ce que c'est?? Good try!!
Chase Organics - www.OrganicCatalogue.com - pellets like your usual ones.