Hi, I've got a seed tray full of celeriac seedlings now in our southern spring, and wonder what's next . Although similiar to celery I read that it requires different spacing and treatment. Can someone help me with their experience? thank you in advance. Arturo

Hi Arturo -- I've grown both celeriac and celery in the past... the celeriac is by far easier than celery! It gets fairly large (I think mine was about 3 inches in diameter, but I'm in a pretty cold region, so you want to give the plants a fair amount of room. Other than that, they didn't seem to require any special treatment, just normal amounts of fertilizer and water. Celery, on the other hand... . I still haven't quite figured out how to get what I would consider "successful" results; mine always has small ribs, lots of strings, etc. etc. Not to mention being attacked by slugs and other bugs.

I hope that helps somewhat. (and I really wish it was spring for me, instead of the beginning of winter!)

Thanks Sandy, I've spent a couple of N. hemisphere winters... I visited Ann Arbor Michigan many years ago and it was my most cold bitter experience that I ever went through! What I only remembers that days are grey in a row . Fortunately where I live our mild winters seldom means snow and are quite sunny. Going back to celeriac room means 10 inches spacing? Does the soil have to be towards wet? . Our celery spends the full cycle in our greenhouses. Our summers seem to be just too cool for successful growth ( I suppose that celery needs really long growing season). Our trials outside ended as you describe; we have just tried Tall Green Utah and I'm looking for a self blanching yellow stalked variety, So for celeriac, I'm supposing that they should be placed inside in one of our cooler inheated greenhouses. After trial and error we reached the conclusion that simple greenhouses accumulate enough heat to emulate lower altitude conditions ( we are about 2700 ft high), plus two other bonuses: it is much easier to control insects plus everything requires much less watering and edible tissues are much softer. Also under controlled conditions crops can be predictably planned which, then keeps the commercial wheel rolling....If I can be of help with your celery trials let me know!

Arturo, you obviously have a much different climate than I do! (Picture about 400 miles north of Ann Arbor...)

For the celeriac, yes, I think probably 8-10 inches spacing would be right. That always seems like so far apart when the plants are little... And yes, it does like moist soil, so a mulch to help conserve the moisture can help.

I think I might try growing celery in my greenhouse next summer, in a large planter -- it definitely would be easier to control the conditions! (and I can't give up on growing it until I get at least one decent crop... )

Happy gardening! in just a couple of months I can get busy starting some seeds under lights indoors for next summer's garden...

Thank you again! When you get going with your celery let me know if I can help. I wonder 400 miles north of bitter Ann Arbor...now that is very courageous!...and yet at least with those short days one has a lot of time to plan, study, research, communicate and basically do all those things that one postpones because the growing season forces one to a non stop rush...characteristics of temperate regions. As I think about you I admire those living there even more...Warmly Arturo

There are lots of things I love about where I live, Arturo -- but the cold winters aren't one of those things! Fortunately, this year we're having a very extended autumn with still no snow on the ground here, so I've been able to continue cleaning up the yard and garden much longer than I usually can. And it will only be a couple of months and I'll be starting seeds (indoors, under lights) for next summer's garden!

Hi Arturo

If the 8-10 inches spacing seems wasteful of greenhouse space, maybe you could grow small Bok Choy between the celeriac plants. Just chop the Bok Choy or eat the outer leaves before they shade the celeriac.

It's easy to find Bok Choy varieties fully mature at 35-40 days, and cutting them younger and smaller only gives you more tenderness and sweetness.