Allotments 4 All

Tell me more...

How does celeriac grow? Is it easy to grow? how much room/time does it take? What ways can you cook it?

I had it for the first time ever at the weekend and it was lovely (soup. yum!)

Is it related to celery?

Needs a bit of attention - like water - same room as beet - Emma's the girl for this?

Look at recipes under 'Recipes'!! Whatever you can do with potatoes & more.

was going to ask this myself Aqui as I have just sown some in pots (Snow summat is the variety).

I've sown some in plugs also...  Mine are Monarch from Kokopelli...

It`s not difficult to grow,a reasonably rich soil and plenty of moisture. Some advocate removing a few leaves to encourage swelling but I have never found it made a difference.

Stephan

Stephan, I noticed on the packet I bought that it only suggested sowing in pots, is it possible to sow straight in to the ground as I dont have a greenhouse at the mo so space in coldframes/windowsills is at a premium.

Last year I sowed mine in modules and planted out, well, as you know, record keeping is not my strong point, so probably any time about now.  One lovely row.  Watered them in, and left them to it.  Started pulling lovely tennis ball sized roots late summer and cleared the last a few weeks back when I needed the room.  Have another module tray ready willing and able as soon as I can get down there to get them in.  Mine received no extra water and I didn't remove any leaves other than those that looked tatty when I was weeding.  All I would say is, if you want them big, give them room.  Some of mine were very close to their neighbours and they remained small, others with more room, grew to monsters!  Alabaster I did and not one was woody or hollow in the middle.

OK - I'm convinced. Next year, though. All my root veg bed has been allocated to other things.

Well, based  on EJ's experience  ;D I now have 2 seed trays of Alabaster having germinated in the greenhouse! We have no water on site so I am planning to use a straw mulch and will dig some compost in before planting out! If anyone else has any advice I would love to hear it....celeriac is one of our favourite veggies having 1st tried it in France years ago.

Ta EJ for that wisdom.  I've never grown them before myself but my pal does and they are delish.  His were quite small as squashed too close but still lovely flavour  ;D   I feel confident that I could grow them this year  :)

 I have sown Celeriac Balder - courtesy of Lishka, but they have not shown yet.

How long do they take to come through??

Mine are in a heated greenhouse.

Debs

Usually through in about 7-10 days

My Alabaster took 14 days to germinate.......high success rate though  ;D
My greenhouse is unheated!

Which company do the Alabaster seeds ?  GC or wilkos

The ones I picked are Johnson's (no relation!)  ;D, but I am sure others sell them.

its my first year with celeriac too - got a tray of tiny alabaster seedlings on the go, much higher germination rate than i expected and i am terrible for keeping seedlings so we'll be eating a lot of celeriac!!

does it need protecting from any specific pests?

My germination rate this year was awful! Have had to get another tray going! Can't remember the variety though. :-\

Mine didn't seem to be bothered by anything legless, but there is always a first!  Slugs might be a problem when  they are small, but once mine were growing nothing touched them, apart from me!  ;D

Quote from: Mothy on April 13, 2005, 23:01:51
The ones I picked are Johnson's (no relation!)  ;D, but I am sure others sell them.

Kings have 2 types, and the Organic Catalogue have one too  :)

hi all,  :D

there is an excellent article on growing celariac in the January edition of the kitchen garden,  the thing no one seems to have mentioned in this thread is that they do not like cold weather, they need to be cossetted indoors or in a green house & put out after all chance of frost has gone, the same time as beans etc,

                                                   Adrian.