How to plant celery: features of growing by seedlings

Tell me how to plant celery? I found a packet of seeds in the old stocks. They seem to be not very old, but they definitely lie for two years. Actually, I never had celery, I don't really like its smell. But my husband, somewhere on a visit, tried it in pickled form and decided that he must definitely grow in the garden. The seeds were bought, but they forgot to plant them in a hurry. Can these stale, old seeds be used? And yet - I heard that it is best to grow celery with seedlings. Is this true and why is it so?

Fragrant lush foliage and no less fragrant celery root are familiar to everyone, but not every gardener has it on his site. Some simply do not like its specific smell, while others are deterred by the difficulties of growing. Indeed, the seeds sown in the beds often sit there for a long time, not wanting to sprout. As a result, there is a lot of trouble, but there is zero sense, since by the fall the roots simply do not have time to form and mature. But if you do decide to get hold of this vegetable, do not be upset. If you know some of the nuances of how to plant celery, it is quite possible not only to wait for the shoots, but also the harvest.

Features of growing celery

Celery is a two-faced culture. On the one hand, it also has its advantages. For example, pests do not like a specific smell and scares them away, in a peculiar way protecting the plantings. In addition, the longer the seeds are stored, the higher their germination capacity. Even after 4 years of storage, they are able to germinate. But there is also a "reverse side of the coin": seeds sprout for a very long time, seedlings also grow slowly, and root crops ripen at a slow pace. In our climate, sowing seeds in open ground will not be able to produce results: celery simply will not ripen until the cold weather.

In order to have time to harvest, celery is grown mainly in seedlings. It can significantly shorten the growing season and accelerate ripening.

At the same time, there are early ripening varieties that in warm regions it is quite possible to sow directly into the ground (celery Utah and Golden Pen).

How to plant celery seedlings?

Young celery sensitive to frost, so it is planted on the beds not earlier than the end of May, or even at the beginning of summer. To get full seedlings by this time, the seeds should be sown in February.

Before sowing, the seeds must be soaked in a growth stimulator - this way they will sprout faster.

Growing seedlings is as follows:

1. Fill wide containers with a nutritious universal substrate. You can also mix ordinary soil from the garden with humus and sand.
2. Make shallow grooves, moisten them.
3. Spread the seeds, leaving a distance of about 5 cm between them.
4. Spray again with a spray bottle.
5. Cover with foil and put in a warm and bright place.

When shoots appear, the film is removed and the temperature is lowered to 16 ° C for a week. To prevent the seedlings from stretching, it is also necessary to provide additional lighting.

When the seedlings grow up, they dive into separate pots, and with the onset of heat, they are planted in open ground. At first, it is better to cover the beds until the frost passes.

Root celery growing video: from planting seedlings to harvesting