Celeriac germination

[Paulottie]

never having grown, or eaten, celeriac previously, how many seeds should i be sowing for a family of 4?

You've been missing out....they are fantastic particularly mashed with potato...whole new dimension to mash. Best thing is they last long into the winter... although perhaps a bit of cloche might help where you are. (also helps keep the carrot/celery fly off as they can get to it a bit in Autumn.)

I grow about 40-60 for our Family(that said there weren't many seeds in the suttons pkt...nothing like the pkt I brought in France) in a shallow trench with lots of added compost. to allow watering.

I don't know about growing in pots.....I sow in 3" pot prick out to modules at four leaf stage and set out in late May. They do like rich moisture retentive soil. Easy to grow to tennis ball size.... bigger requires love and LOTS of water. keep tearing off outside leaves later in Summer to encourage swelling.

[zazen999]

Sorry for the ultra-daft question coming up. I'm sowing celeriac for the first time too this year ,and I thought I had it sorted in my head until I read this thread.

... er, so do I sow the celeriac in soggy compost, and keep it soggy until maturity, or do I sow as normal, and only keep soggy once seedlings appear?

Any or all; celery and celeriac love water. It's very hard to kill them by overwatering!!!

[Dianne1234567]

Thought I would update you all, most of the seeds have now germinated - obviously it was me being just a tad impatient. Thanks for all the advice.

[WeeGarden]

Ok. From the first post where Dianne said "30 seeds to a packet", I had the impression that they were big seeds. So I thought to myself, "I'll sow two to a mini fibre pot, and take out the weaker one, then plant on outside".

I opened my pack of Franchi seeds, and, um, let's just say that celeriac seeds are a lot smaller than I imagined.

I had to sow about 30 per mini fibre pot...

I've got the pots sitting in a tray with water. Hope that will be ok.

[selfraising]

I've got to re-sow some of mine. Some haven't come up at all and some I think dried out and collapsed

[Alison]

I opened my pack of Franchi seeds, and, um, let's just say that celeriac seeds are a lot smaller than I imagined.

I had to sow about 30 per mini fibre pot...

All brassica seeds are about the same size and you tend to get a very good germination rate with them. The disadvantage with sowing as many as 30 in a fibre pot is that you'll have to prick them out meaning that you don't have the advantage of sowing the whole fibre pot insitu. Good luck with them anyway

[WeeGarden]

Thanks Alison. I'll know for next year.

Is celeriac ok with root disturbance?

[LolaLou]

Celeriac really beat me last year - I managed to get about 10 seeds to germinate on a window sill only to revisit the pot they were in the next day to find they had all rotted (had covered the pot with cling flim to keep the warmth up....

So this year, bought fresh seed (from Seeds of Italy) and there were thousands in there, sprinkled them on top of a seed tray full of really moist compost and left them in the dining room (fairly warm) uncovered (to avoid the rotting/damping off issue from last year) and as soon as the seedlings appeared sprayed them with a fine water spray morning and night - they went crazy and I had about 100 little fine hair-like seedlings growing away. That was in January (took about 10 days to germinate) and I have since potted them on and they are outside in the greenhouse getting used to the cooler weather........and growing.......REALLY slowly .........just about have their second set of leaves showing through but I'm really glad I decided to give them another go this year so would say to anyone waiting on germination or getting none - just hang on in there or give it another go, it will work eventually (in their own time though!)

[zazen999]

All brassica seeds are about the same size and you tend to get a very good germination rate with them. The disadvantage with sowing as many as 30 in a fibre pot is that you'll have to prick them out meaning that you don't have the advantage of sowing the whole fibre pot insitu. Good luck with them anyway

[Celeriac isn't brassica].......celeriac seeds are minute...and notoriously difficult to germinate but the boiling water plus leave them sitting in water really helps. [Honest]...

[Alison]

[Celeriac isn't brassica].......celeriac seeds are minute...and notoriously difficult to germinate but the boiling water plus leave them sitting in water really helps. [Honest]...

Doh, my mistake, mind was still on the sprouts thread (hence brassicas) I'd just been reading - sorry

[Paulottie]

Lots of teeny little seedlings appeared yesterday....whooopeeee!

[Dianne1234567]

I'm now at the potting on stage, stick them in the greenhouse ready for going out when warmer - can't wait.

Paulottie - isn't it exciting to see those seedlings - I know how you feel.

[Paulottie]

So, I guess I'll sow the other half of the packet today.....not sure about the boiling water..... Should I trust her folks?!!

[Dianne1234567]

Didn't bother with the hot water - just put seeds in soil and voila, eventually.

[vegnut]

Iv'e never found celeriac seed hard to germinate. I pretty much get full germination every year. I even use the same seed packet for two or three years with no problems. Maybe i'm just lucky i suppose.