Stalk celery Malachit

Apium graveolens - Malachite

Celery originates from the Mediterranean. It is grown in three forms - celeriac for swollen roots, stalk celery for thickened leaf stalks, or as a leaf form for abundant leaf rosettes.

This biennial plant belongs to the Apiaceae family. The fruits, like the entire plant, contain many aromatic substances. Celery is a source of vitamins, especially vitamin C (the leaf form contains up to 10× more vitamin C than bulbs), as well as B1, B2, and a whole range of minerals. Its strong aroma and taste come from essential oils.

In the kitchen, it is used for both cold and hot dishes, suitable for salads and soups. Many people are bothered by its essential oils which can cause allergies - legislation therefore lists it as an allergenic plant.

We consume stalk celery raw, in salads, or it can be eaten as a snack with meat. It provides the most benefits to our body in the form of juice at breakfast. Leaf celery is used to make salads, the stalks are consumed cooked, and raw juice is pressed from it.

How to Grow Celery

• Celery likes sunny locations; conversely, it grows poorly in shade, lacks aroma, and is more susceptible to fungal diseases. It needs adequate watering throughout its growth period. Watering is important during planting and in the second half of the growing season when the bulb is developing. Celeriac needs to be regularly hoed.

• The long growing season can be shortened by pre-cultivation. Seedlings don't need to be grown in a heated room. A greenhouse or conservatory is suitable for pre-cultivation until planting time. February or March sowing applies to celeriac, leaf, and stalk celery. We don't plant celery earlier than mid-May at the final location.

  Celeriac requires pre-cultivation of seedlings under glass. The ideal time for planting is early May, latest mid-June.

  For stalk celery, we sow seeds in a greenhouse or hotbed. Planting is done in May in beds, at 30×30 cm spacing. During growth, we earth up the stalks to blanch them.

  We sow leaf celery in February in a greenhouse or hotbed and plant out in May.

  Seeds germinate in two to three weeks at temperatures between fifteen and twenty degrees.

• It is demanding in terms of nutrients and calcium content in the soil. It requires clayey, humus-rich soils. Leaf and stalk celery need more sandy-clay soil. Optimal pH is 6.5 – 7.5.

• During the growing season, we apply multi-component fertilizer. Root vegetable fertilizer is suitable.

• Among pests, celery is mainly attacked by carrot fly and celery fly. We treat celery with Basudin (carrot fly) and Sumithion Super (celery fly) preparations.

  Septoria leaf spot of celery appears on celery leaf blades, where small gray-brown spots with yellow edges and a large number of very small black dots form. The centers of the spots later turn brown and dry out.

  Celeriac scab appears as brown spots that enlarge. The affected tissue becomes corky and cracks. This is followed by rotting decay of the bulb. We prevent the disease by not growing celery on the same plot for at least 3 years. Partial protection is the use of borax at a dose of about 20g per 10m².

  Celery leaf spot appears on older leaves as yellowish, later yellow-brown spots. Leaves dry out and die. We carry out preventive protection with Kuprikol.

• Smaller celeriac bulbs can be harvested in July. We harvest celery leaves by thinning, so that sufficient leaf area remains.

  Leaf celery starts to be harvested gradually from July, and only at the end of September do we perform a one-time harvest.