Leaf celery: growing and caring for the country

Leaf celery varieties

Almost all types of leaf celery produce abundant greens and good taste characteristics. You can choose among them only based on their agrotechnical features: ripening terms, growing conditions. So there are early, mid-ripening and late-ripening varieties, some are better to grow in open ground, and some in a greenhouse or even on a balcony. If you plant varieties with different ripening periods in the garden, then the greens will be on the table all season, and everyone needs the same care.

When buying seeds, you should pay attention to the timing - after 4 years of storage, their germination drops sharply. "Samurai" is the most unpretentious of all varieties of leaf celery cultivated in our country. It easily tolerates drought and lower temperatures, the rosette grows up to 65 cm, its curly leaves with corrugated edges are very tasty and look attractive. They can be plucked 75 days after seed germination.

"Zakhar" is chosen by those who want to get a big harvest. It is a mid-late variety with undisturbed leaves, a semi-raised rosette of 26 cm in diameter and up to 35 cm in height. Up to 120 leaves are formed on one plant; after cutting, they quickly grow back. Leaves can be consumed 105 days after germination, but they are considered ripe only on day 150.

"Kartuli" is a mid-season variety of Georgian selection, the rosette is erect, the petioles are dark green, and the leaves can be cut off after 65 days. Plants of this variety very courageously tolerate lack of moisture or heat. "Delicate" produces greens in 110 days after germination, its semi-vertical rosette forms many lateral shoots.

"Vigor" is not afraid of temperature changes, tolerates cold snap and short-term drought well, its carved fragrant leaves ripen 70 days after seed germination. Variety "Local" is distinguished by a high content of ascorbic acid, leaves on long hollow stalks grow up to 65 cm. From 1 square meter of planting, you can collect up to 3 kg of greenery.

"Impruvd Green" forms a semi-spreading rosette, which can consist of 100 - 120 leaves. Parus is also a high-yielding celery variety with a semi-spreading rosette. Leaf celery is much less often grown in dachas than root celery, which probably explains the small selection of varieties of this species.

Celery Planting Video

Recommendations for sowing leaf celery seeds at home for germinating seedlings.

Landing

Celery is considered a cold-resistant plant, but its seedlings may suffer from spring frosts; leaf cutting begins 1.5 months after seed germination - all this determines the cultivation of leaf celery through seedlings. Indeed, sowing seeds in the ground in spring (and this is not before May) means getting leaves in the middle of summer. It is better to plant strong seedlings and feast on fragrant leaves from the beginning of summer. Therefore, they begin to deal with seeds in March.

First, they are soaked for several hours in warm water, preferably in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, then they are kept on wet gauze for a couple of days. When the seeds are nailed, they are laid out on the prepared soil in boxes or pots, lightly sprinkled with peat on top, and watered from a spray bottle. The drawers are then covered with glass or foil.

The soil is prepared like this - they take leafy soil, peat, humus and sand in equal amounts. It is advisable to leave the boxes in the light and maintain the temperature +20 - +25 degrees. Shoots should appear in 5 - 6 days. Celery seeds have a very uneven germination, and it increases during storage, so it is best to sow planting material two or three years ago, and not last year.

There is also such a sowing method: prepared seeds are placed on snow, laid on the ground with a dense two-centimeter layer, the boxes are covered with glass on top and placed on a windowsill illuminated by the sun. After the emergence of shoots, the glass is removed, the shoots are slightly covered with soil or peat. With this germination, the glass is not removed for irrigation, and the seeds have enough moisture from the melting snow.

After the sprouts appear, the glass is removed, and the seedlings are transferred to a bright room with a temperature lower - from 15 to 18 degrees. A higher temperature will cause weak sprouts to stretch upward, this will not make them stronger, but rather weaken them. The same will happen with a lack of light.

When the plants have 2 real leaves, they need to be dived. Each sprout is transferred into an individual cup (maybe peat) or at least 5 cm from each other, pinching the main root. After that, the seedlings begin to prepare for planting in open ground - every day they are taken out into the fresh air, accustomed to sunlight.

May, when it is already warm, is a great time to plant seedlings in the garden. Plants are planted at a distance of 25 cm from each other, this must be done very carefully so as not to bare the roots, but also not to deepen the growth point, it must remain above the ground. It is best to do this in the evening or choose a cloudy day. Leaf celery should not be planted after parsley, carrots, parsnips, or dill.

The soil for growing it should be light, fertile and neutral. Loam or sandy loam is best. If the soil is heavy, in the fall you need to add sand, sawdust (when there are no rotted ones, then fresh ones are specially prepared) or peat. Then, in the fall, humus or compost is introduced for digging. Celery, thanks to good care, will grow in slightly acidic soil, but it will have a slightly different flavor.

Care

2 weeks after planting seedlings in open ground, they are fed for the first time. It can be nitrogen-potassium fertilizers from a store or a solution of chicken manure, diluted 1 to 10. Repeat feeding after a month. When growing leaf celery, nitrogen-potassium-phosphorus fertilizers are used several times. Some owners prefer to feed the plantings only with a solution of bird droppings, mullein or grass mash. After watering with fertilizer, the leaves are usually washed with clean water, and the earth is loosened.

Celery cultivation does not require special care; this culture cannot be called capricious. A biennial plant is cultivated as an annual, from planting seedlings in the ground to autumn harvesting, several leaf cuts are made. To wait for your seeds, you need to protect the plant from the winter cold.

In the south, it is enough just to cover the plant for the winter, and then in the second year of cultivation, do not cut off the flower stalks, give the opportunity to bloom and ripen real fruits with seeds. If the weather does not allow wintering in the ground, then the plant with an earthen lump is simply transferred to the cellar, the shoots from it are pre-pruned, kept in a dark, cool, rather humid room. And in the spring they return to the garden.

Caring for leaf celery involves timely watering, weeding and loosening of the soil. He loves a lot of moisture, but excess water should not stagnate. High humidity and planting density can contribute to the breeding of slugs, snails, scoops, or infection with black leg, rot. Therefore, it is so important in caring for celery to prevent shading, weed breeding.

Plant residues should not be stored between the rows. After watering or dressing, it is imperative to loosen the soil; crust must not be allowed to form. Many summer residents solve all these problems with the help of mulching.

Growing celery leaf does not conceal any pitfalls, does not require too much effort or time, caring for it is within the power of a novice gardener. The benefits of spicy leaves are worth much more trouble. The leaves are not only eaten fresh, they are traditionally dried or frozen to promote health or simply enjoy adding it to food all year round.

Video "Growing celery, sowing seedlings» 

Video instruction for planting leaf celery seeds. Soaking, sowing, and caring for a young plant.