Celeriac anyone??

PharmaAl

Just had two celeriac for dinner. Needed them both for a decent addition to a turkey pie. Any ideas for growing to a reasonable size next year?

I started mine off in Feb indoors, put into cold frame late March. Took off frame after frosts in late May and watered regularly but very disappointed

loopy_lass

i mash mine in with potatoes.... MMMMmmmm nice

Primrose

Pharma - you seem to be doing the right things with your celeriac. I too started mine off early and grew them in two different places in the garden, both in well manured places. The ones in a south facing border which got more sun were slightly bigger than those grown in my vegetable patch which is slightly more shaded but having grown it for three years now I still haven't succeeded in growing bulbs to the size of the commercial ones so not sure I've got an answer for you.

angelavdavis

I have three celeriac plants that I picked up as almost freebies someone at the allotment was giving away (for a donation to the allotment society).

These are quite tall and I have noticed are flowering, yet it looks early to be doing anything with these. Shall I just remove the flowering shoots to allow the root to bulk up more? I can't seem to find any info online about what to do if they run to seed.

Thanks

Primrose

I was told that it's advisable to strip away some of the lower leaves on celeriac bulbs to encourage them to bulk up and although I've been doing this to mine, at this stage they still only have very small bulbs on them. I've never actually seen celeriac plants flowering, but if yours are doing this, then they won't bulk up any more and are actually going to seed, so the best thing you can do with them is pull them up and see whether there's anything at all in the bulb worth saving.

macma

I tried growing these for years without success then discovered they like well manured soil,loads of water and removing lower leaves as they naturally collapse downward.Last year we had a fab crop so fingers crossed for this year.But I'm not pulling them yet.
I've made the mistake of thinking home grown should look like shop bought,when lets face it it certainly doesn't taste the same.

Kay_Peel

I prefer growing celeriac to celery. It's one of those vegetables that I can plant and leave.

It needs a l-o-n-g growing season and I don't expect to harvest it until October/November/early December. In mild dry winters, I've left it in the ground until I've needed it for a tasty warming casserole or soup.

wssla00

Hi all i have a LOT of celeriac seeds. Are they like parnips where you plant them in say feb and just leave them? Any help would be appreciated!

Primrose

Save your celeriac seeds until February then sow thinly in trays of compost in a cool greenhouse or other protected environment. When they're about 2 or 3 inches high and are developing more shoots, transplant them into single celled trays until they're strong enough to plant outdoors around May. Because they need a very long growing season to allow the bulbs to develop I'm not sure it would work to sow them direct into the soil in May as it wouldn't provide them with a long enough growing season.

Sally_A

I've never managed to grow one, they get so big, and I've used the leaves as seasoning, but the bdooly slugs munch and kill them. :mad:

This has to be the slugs most favourite plant ever!