Allotments 4 All

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!  >:(