Page 15 - Allotment Gardener Issue 2 2024

Award winning celery
Celery just planted out
Celery blanched with paper
hardened off in a cold frame and then planted out eighteen inches (450mm) apart when all likelihood of a frost has passed.
Growing on
The most important thing to remember when growing celery, is that in their wild state they are bog or streamside plants and therefore need a lot of water. Another thing is that
they are one of the slug’s favourite meals. For suggestions with how to deal with them, see pests and diseases guidance below. As regards feeding, I usually give two or three feeds of a seaweed fertiliser in May and June, and a feed of phostrogen in July, because this has a higher potash content to harden the growth.
One problem with celery is heart rot which can be devastating. I think it can be caused
by too much feeding with nitrogen which softens growth, which is why I have suggested high potash feeding towards the end of its growth cycle. Also, what I have suggested about preventing the plants from sweating, should help to prevent this problem. Medwyn Williams recommends watering the plants with a 2% solution of Calcium Nitrate, trickling the solution onto the foliage and into the heart
of the plant. The Calcium, he says, hardens the tissues in the heart and thus helps to prevent heart rot.
Harvesting
It is advisable to leave the celery as near to the show date or use date as possible before lifting because it can go limp if left out for very long. You will need to lift them with a fork pushed right under their flank. They have quite a large root system which is normally cut with a knife into a wedge shape. The plants need to be washed thoroughly, paying particular attention to between the sticks. Remove completely any sticks which are damaged, hoping that there are not too many!
Pests and Diseases
Slug damage is probably the number one pest of celery, evidenced by bitten, brown edges
at the base of the leaf stalks. Non-chemical measures include the use of nematodes (trade name “Nemaslug”) or using sharp grit sprinkled around the base of each plant as slugs find
it difficult to travel across grit. It doesn’t kill them, just stops them damaging your celery plants. Frogs and birds love slugs so if you have a pond nearby let the frogs do the work for you. Traditional methods include slug pellets as a first course of action. Chemical pest controls are no longer recommended, but as a last resort for show celery, a liquid slug killer is effective when applied from above, helping to get rid of eggs and young slugs in the heart of the plant.
Celery leaf minor; this is becoming a serious pest. The maggots leave tunnels in the leaves, and a bad attack can almost remove all the sap in the leaves. In the past, insecticides would have been used; however, this is no longer recommended due to the impact on pollinators. Contact sprays have little effect as the leaf skins protect the maggot, so the best solution is to remove the leaves with maggots by hand. Bolting or premature flowering is evidence
of stress at some stage in the growth of the plant, particularly prevalent as a result of underwatering. Also avoid planting too early or in cold soil. Once the seed head is seen the plant has completed its life cycle and is not fit for eating.
Heart rot has been discussed earlier, and finally; Celery leaf spot is becoming more prevalent, and currently I don’t think there is a control that we can buy as amateur growers that will control this disease.
Cultivars (or varieties most commonly grown)
Self-blanching cultivars, although useful, are easier to grow, although seldom, if ever, grown for the show bench. They must be grown in a block so they blanch each other. I also use scaffolding boards round the outside of the block to blanch those grown at the edge of the block. Useful varieties include Victoria, Lathom self-blanching, Loretta and Octavius. These also mature up to one month earlier than the trench types.
Those grown for exhibition are almost without exception trench cultivars. “Ideal” has been the standard cultivar for many years, but more recent ones are Evening Star, supplied by Medwyns of Anglesey as seed and seedlings and a new variety introduced in 2018 is “Discovery”, seed supplied by Select Seeds of Derby. I grew this as a trial last year and it performed very well for me, but you must start the blanching process early. If a pink variety tickles your fancy, then “Giant Red” is the one to go for.
Author with winning celery
Blanched celery
Allotment Gardener | Issue 2 2024 | 15