The most useful vegetable plant, rich in vitamins and microelements, is stalked celery. It is used in their diet by people who lead a healthy lifestyle and want to lose weight. Growing stalked celery is within the power of every gardener. The main thing is that the elementary requirements for the planting process and further care are observed.
Originally, stalked celery was cultivated as a medicine, and only in our time it began to be actively used in cooking. This rare vegetable plant has a specific aroma, but its fresh greens are loved by many gourmets. The numerous beneficial properties of this plant prompted gardeners to grow celery in their summer cottage, and chefs to prepare various dishes in which the vegetable acts as a side dish or seasoning.
Preparing for planting celery
An open area for planting celery seeds must be prepared in advance. The soil should be fertile, loose, with excellent drainage properties. To do this, the land plot must be dug up by adding mullein or rotted compost to the soil.
Preparatory work must be carried out with planting material. It is better to plant seeds for seedlings in the first week of March. An earlier planting may affect the quality of the seedlings that appear, they are rather capricious crops. Tanks for planting seeds will require shallow, but spacious.
Seeds of stalked celery have one interesting property - the "older" in age they become, the more their germination becomes. Experienced summer residents and gardeners are advised to purchase seeds with a stock and keep them for 3-4 years before planting. From such seeds it will turn out to grow stronger and better quality seedlings.
Petiole celery is distinguished by a variety of varieties that can be selected according to the method of cultivation (for example, for home conditions), in appearance, in taste, in yield.
The main stages of the process of planting seeds for seedlings
Prepared wooden boxes or plastic containers must be filled with potting soil.
Using a sprayer, moisten the soil a little, then scatter celery seeds over its surface.
Each seed must be lightly pressed into the soil by one to 2 millimeters, and then cover the container with film or glass to create greenhouse conditions.
Seed germination will take approximately 15-20 days. All this time must be devoted to the proper care of future vegetable plants:
- Daily water treatments in the form of spraying and watering.
- Maintaining a constant temperature in the room (approximately 22-25 degrees Celsius).
- Regular ventilation throughout the day (2-3 times a day).
Such care must be continued even after the appearance of young sprouts, as well as until the moment of transplanting celery seedlings into open ground (after the appearance of 2-3 full-fledged leaves). Petiole celery grows very slowly, so it will take a lot of strength and patience to achieve this goal.
Planting celery seedlings in open beds
Before planting seedlings on the beds, it should get stronger. Vegetable culture will not survive cold nights, let alone night spring frosts. That is why you should not rush to transfer the seedlings to the summer cottage. The most optimal time for this is early or mid-May.
The seedlings are planted at a distance of about 25 centimeters from each other, and the same width is left for the row spacing. It is advisable to protect plants below 5 centimeters in height with a plastic cover (from a plastic bottle or glass with a cut off the bottom and top of the bottle). Taller seedlings do not need such a covering. After that, the entire surface of the soil in the beds with stalked celery must be covered with a mulching layer (for example, straw or small sawdust). At this initial stage, the first feeding of vegetable plants should be carried out. Liquid fertilizers can be applied to the soil along with irrigation water.
Among the numerous varieties of stalked celery, those whose seeds do not require planting for seedlings have been bred. Seeds of the "Utah" and "Golden Pen" varieties can be planted directly on open beds, and thinning is carried out as young seedlings grow. The distance between grown and matured seedlings should not be less than thirty centimeters.
Stalked celery care
The vegetable plant needs regular, moderate watering. Irrigation water volumes may vary depending on weather conditions, on the presence of a protective mulch layer and on the needs of the crop itself. Celery will not tolerate an excess of moisture in the soil, so the water should not stagnate in the beds, but the top layer of the soil should not be allowed to dry out either. The soil should always be slightly moist.
Celery needs regular organic fertilizing, which is applied to the soil in liquid form three times a month.
When growing such varieties of celery that bleach on their own, it is very important to regularly apply hilling of crops. As the vegetable plant grows, hilling is carried out about once a month. The base of the celery, from which the leafy part grows, cannot be covered with earth, therefore the hilling process must be carried out carefully.
Problems and difficulties in growing celery
Petiole celery is one of the most capricious vegetable crops. Growing it requires patience, attention and adherence to all care recommendations. With minimal violations of the basic requirements, problems may arise with the development and growth of a vegetable plant, as well as difficulties in connection with the appearance of pests.
- Insufficient soil moisture during watering will lead to the fact that the middle part of the celery stalks will become unusable. This will not be noticeable in the appearance of the culture, the growth and development of the plant will not differ from other specimens.
- When low-quality seedlings (overgrown or weak) are planted on open beds, peduncles are formed that cannot be eaten. For planting, it is necessary to select only healthy and strong seedlings.
- The rotting of the core of the vegetable fruit occurs due to the appearance of bacteria. For a long time, the external state of the vegetable plant remains normal, although the processes of decay are quite active.
- The quality development of celery stalks also depends on many factors. For example, insufficient irrigation water, irregular irrigation, prolonged hot weather and dry climates can lead to cracks in the stem of the plant.
- Cracking of the petioles also occurs due to an excess of nitrogen in the soil.
- For the qualitative development of celery, high humidity is needed, which some pests like very much. The most common of these are snails and slugs. Timely clearing the beds from weeds will help reduce the likelihood of their appearance.
Delicious and healthy stalked celery can appear on every table if you make every effort and patience to grow it.
