Celery stalk (stem), leaf and root celery is a useful and even fashionable vegetable culture of universal culinary purpose. Growing it through seedlings has a number of advantages, including obtaining an early harvest in any region and increasing plant viability. The main thing is to know about a number of specific nuances of how celery is grown for seedlings.
Sowing dates
Varieties of celery ripen in different ways – it takes from 85 to 200 days from the moment of sowing. An exemplary orientation by terms can be presented as follows:
- root celery seedlings are ready for planting in 70-75 days, that is, sowing seeds can be planned for mid-late February;
- stalked celery can appear in the garden when the air warms up to + 10 °C, so it is sown at the very end of February – beginning of March;
- Leaf celery brings a tasty harvest before anything else and is characterized by strong “health”, so you can sow seeds in early March.
It is worth noting that experienced gardeners plant primarily regional varieties of celery, that is, adapted to the local climate. While intended for other conditions, may not bring the expected results.
Seed preparation
The main wealth of celery seeds are essential oils, which, however, prevent their germination. Plus, the seeds have a fairly hard shell. So, in order to increase the similarity and activation of vital forces, planting material, regardless of whether it is store-bought or own, needs special measures. And you can choose one of the following actions:
- After pouring the seeds into a cotton bag, they are immersed in hot (+ 60 °C) water and left until it cools.
- Celery seeds are washed in melted water and soaked in it for 72 hours.
- The seeds are kept for 4 days on a wet cloth, then placed in the refrigerator for 10-14 days.
- The seeds are poured into a small container, fill it 2/3 with warm water and, dipping the compressor tube to the bottom, turn on the air supply. The scientific name of the method is bubbling, and the celery needs to be left like this for 12-18 hours.
Any method can be supplemented with treatment with a growth stimulator – Epin or HB 101. And it is important to emphasize – at the time of sowing, the seeds must be well dried.
Selection of containers and substrate
A loose substrate that retains moisture well for celery seedlings can easily be bought at a garden store. When mixing it yourself, it is important to take into account that it should be fertile – this will strengthen the immunity of the seedlings and you will not need to apply a lot of additional fertilizers. Usually, the soil is prepared according to one of two recipes:
- 3 parts of peat and 1 part of sod land and coarse river sand.
- 10 liters of peat, 2 liters of pre-soaked coconut substrate, 0.5 liters each of compost and vermiculite.
Also, for greater air permeability, it is advisable to add 1 glass of wood ash to every 10 liters of substrate. Experienced gardeners recommend disinfecting the soil in an oven (20-30 minutes at + 90 °C) a few weeks before sowing to destroy pathogenic microorganisms and weed seeds that may be contained in it.
Containers for celery can be, in fact, anything – from dense bags from under dairy products and clay pots to cassettes and plastic containers. Sufficient height of the container is 7 centimeters. The main condition for the container is the presence of drainage holes at the bottom.
Sowing and germination
It is convenient to sow small celery seeds in rows, spreading a little at a time in grooves about 0.5 cm deep, made in well-moistened and compacted soil. Then the seeds are lightly sprinkled with sand mixed with peat and sprayed from a sprayer.
It is easy to create the greenhouse conditions they need – simply cover the containers with a film. So that the planting material can “breathe” and does not suffer from the accumulation of condensate, it is removed for half an hour a day.
Celery seedlings are expected to appear approximately in 2 weeks. And it is extremely important that the first 7 days after sowing the lighting should be 24 hours a day. In the future, seedlings can get by with only 12 hours of daylight, that is, the lamps are turned on only in the morning and in the evening, plus – if the weather outside the window is gloomy.
Favorable development conditions
With the friendly appearance of seedlings, the film is removed from the containers, and spraying is also abandoned – water droplets that have fallen on celery sprouts can cause burns and be a provoking factor for some fungal diseases.
Celery – a culture in the seedling stage is extremely capricious to the air temperature, which should be equal to:
- + 25 … 26 ° C on a clear day;
- + 18 … 22 ° C on a cloudy day;
- + 14 … 17 ° C at night.
There are no special requirements for air humidity, the only caveat is that you should not keep celery close to the battery. It is enough to water the seedlings 2-3 times a week, mixing Fitosporin-M with the water every 7 days – this tool has proven itself well in relation to many popular garden crops.
After watering, the soil near the seedlings should be carefully loosened and it is better to use a small blunt wooden peg for this purpose, not a fork or something similar sharp.
If there is access to chicken droppings, this is a very good addition to the above-mentioned remedy. The manure solution (1 teaspoon per 3 liters of water) is applied three times – 2-3 days after the emergence of seedlings and then 2 more times at intervals of 10 and 20 days.
Pikirovka
Ideally, the fewer transplants celery undergoes, the better. Damage is especially dangerous for varieties grown for root crops. When the main root is damaged, instead of it, which is large and strong, a kind of washcloth with many liquid processes can form.
Picking is carried out as soon as the plants have 2 leaves. Some gardeners practice pinching the root system of root celery – precisely for its correct formation in the future. So, if its individual parts have grown to 5 cm or more, then 1 cm can be safely removed. However, there is another opinion – it is said that picking lengthens the adaptation period of celery after picking, as a result of which root crops are formed smaller, not so juicy.
If celery is grown on petioles and greens, nothing needs to be pinched. The recommended gap when planting celery of any variety is 4-5 cm. For the first 72 hours after picking, the seedlings must be shaded, and for the entire subsequent time, the air temperature should be reduced for them – to + 15 °C during the day and + 12 °C at night.
Extraction problem
The reason for pulling out any seedlings is a violation of the rules of agricultural technology.
If the celery sprouts have acquired 3-4 leaves, as an emergency measure, it is possible to apply a growth regulator to delay their development.
It is also recommended to dive and check whether all the necessary favorable conditions are provided.
Hardening before planting in open ground
Celery begins to strengthen about a month before moving to the garden. First, during the day, the air temperature is lowered to +8-10 °C for 2-3 hours, then, gradually increasing the time interval, the celery seedlings are left in the cold for the whole night. After 10 days of such overnight stays on ice, the celery is ready to be transferred to open ground.
In addition, by this time, seedlings should grow to an average of 20-25 cm in height and have 4-5 real leaves.
In conclusion, we can say that growing celery seedlings is not such a difficult task, which can be learned masterfully in one season.