DESCRIPTION: This is the botanical name for Celery, Leaf Celery (also called French Celery or Chinese Celery) and Celeriac (also called Knob Celery, Celery Root, or Turnip-rooted Celery).
Celery (A. graveolens variety dulce) - This is a popular vegetable that grows wild in Europe. It is a bushy, mounded plant; what you see in the grocery stores are only the center parts of the plant, the tough, outer stalks are trimmed off. There are three different colors that varieties may come in: Golden, green and a rare reddish-green color. In its second year, this plant would produce small, yellowish flowers atop a 2- to 3-foot stem.
Leaf Celery (A. graveolens variety secalinum) - Also called French Celery or Chinese Celery, is grown for its pretty, fragrant leaves. It is a biennial that's grown as a long-season annual. This herb was used centuries ago in Europe and the Orient, where its ancestor was known as "smallage". It has thin, rounded stalks that grow up to a foot high. They have a strong flavor and usually become stringy as they age.
Celeriac (A. graveolens variety rapaceum) - This is a variety of Celery. The edible, swollen root grows from 2 to 4 inches across. It isn't as popular as Celery, but is used in stews and soups. The plants have open growth, with Celery-like leaves growing on thin stems from the root. Celeriac root tastes something like Celery, but stronger.
POTTING:
Celery - Celery needs deep, fertile soil that has been enriched with organic matter and plenty of water at all times (moist soil, not saturated). Young plants shouldn't be exposed to 40- or 45-degree temperatures for more than 7 to 10 days, because this will cause them to go to seed. To avoid this, keep plants indoors until the average frost-free date. In the North and other cooler regions, spring is long and cool enough for good stalks to form before summer heat riddles the plants. In warm-summer climates, delay planting until late summer and start seeds in a nursery bed protected by lath shade or muslin. Transplant when cool weather comes. Set the plants 9 to 12 inches apart. Celery roots don't spread out far and they are hearty feeders, so two or three applications of 5-10-5 fertilizer throughout the growing season would be beneficial. When fall frost threatens, stand 1 x 12- inch boards on each side of the row and bank soil up to hold them in place. Spread straw over the tops of the plants. Protecting them this way allows them to keep for 3 or 4 weeks and also blanches them to a pretty golden yellow. When you harvest Celery, take one head at a time. Begin to eat the thinnings when they are half grown. If you need less then a full head, you can snap off a few of the tender stems as long as you don't destroy the center leaf buds.
Leaf Celery - Grow this plant in fertile soil in a sunny position. Keep the soil moist, but not waterlogged. Leaf Celery should be harvested when the stems are 9 to 12 inches high, but before they develop strings and fiber. Snap off outside stems. Use the leaves as a garnish, chop and mix in salads, or add to soups, stews and vegetable dishes. Lovage (Levisticum officinale) can be used as a substitute, but has a stronger flavor.
Celeriac - Celeriac need rich, moist soil and a sunny location. They need plenty of water and nutrients to supply large roots. Prepare raised beds with manure or compost and add phosphate and calcium. Circle the bed with an irrigation furrow or place drip/trickle irrigation. Mulch with straw or bank up around the plants to protect roots for late harvest. Remove all lateral shoots and keep soil away from the base of the plant so that is doesn't hinder growth. Grow enough Celeriac so you can eat the small (2 to 3 inches in diameter) roots, which were thinned from the bed. Pull the whole plant up. Some of the small center stems and leaves may be tender enough to throw in with the peeled roots a few minutes before they are completely cooked.
PROPAGATION:
Celery - Celery is a biennial that is grown as annual, therefore it needs to grow rapidly without stress or interruption to develop large, succulent plants during the short cool spring or fall season. Buy seedlings if possible. Starting your own from seed is difficult unless you have a greenhouse. If you are starting from seed, they should be sown in flats filled with sifted compost containing loam, leaf mold and sand. Cover the seeds with the tiniest bit of soil. They are gradually hardened off before they are planted outside.
Leaf Celery - Start seeds inside very early to have large seedlings to transplant. Don’t transplant in early spring, because long periods of cool weather can cause celery to go to seed.
Celeriac - Celeriac seeds are fine and slow to germinate. The seedlings grow very slowly and are vulnerable to damping off. In the North, start seeds very early indoors. In warm climates, start seeds outside under a lath shade in late summer to grow large seedlings for transplanting when the weather turns cool. Set the seeds 6 to 12 inches apart.
VARIETIES:
Celery - (Green) - Tall Utah 52-70, Summit (fusarium-tolerant), Green Giant, Tendercrisp. (Golden) - Golden Plume, Monarch Golden.
Leaf Celery - The leading cultivar is Dinant.
Celeriac - Blanco, De Reuil.