Celery Transplanting - Page 4

habitat_gardener · February 16, 2019

iirc, it takes a long time for those tiny seeds to germinate, but I've gotten great germination rates. One source said celery needs night temperatures 10-15 degrees cooler than daytime temperatures for good germination. I grew mine in an outdoor cold frame, which easily met those conditions.

I grew Redventure celery one year, and have had it ever since, even though I've moved a few times since then! It has reseeded not only in my garden beds, but the seeds have blown into containers and they are also in my compost.

I've used Redventure, as well as Amsterdam Cutting Celery (ACC), mainly as a soup ingredient. I've never blanched it, and it has been too bitter to eat raw -- but perfect for soup. I even dried a lot of ACC leaves and stems at the end of one year. I powdered the dried material and add it to all kinds of things.

clkeiper · February 17, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whwoz

I have not had much luck germinating Celery or Celeriac seed. Any tricks or tips that people can suggest would be greatly appricated

fresh seed, a heating mat, sterile potting mix, sterile trays and a cover of some kind. a plastic dome, cling wrap, or even a plastic bag, just keep the humidity up around the container. and time. it might take a week or two to see them.
my celeriac has been in the greenhouse for a month now and it is still just the two cotyledons.

greenthumbomaha · February 17, 2019

Don't throw away properly stored celery seed until you have tried to germinate it. I started the remainder of two packages of different varieties dated 2015. It appears that every seed germinated, I have a zillion to pot up and now the seed stash for next year is empty and they're both hybrids.

I'm taking a break from starting peppers but will get back with a pic. Snow total predictions kept changing and we exceeded the high end forecast. Cozy inside day for starting seeds.

- Lisa

bower · February 17, 2019

whwoz, try really soaking the seeds. If they're sprinkled already on your potting mix, water them til it runs away. and do that repeatedly. Celery has germination inhibitors in the seeds (this is why parsley is so slow too, apparently). They have to be dissipated by water before they germinate.

Celery seeds do want light to germinate, so sprinkle them on top, press them in but don't cover.

You probably aren't using a heat mat where you are, and that's good, let them cool down at night as they would naturally when the sun goes down, the natural day/night cycle seems to help too. If it's hot at night... try sticking them in the fridge at night? I dunno, could be interesting.

Celery are very slow growing so just be patient, keep em wet, and feed em a liquid fert if you want to see them grow a bit.

Whwoz · February 17, 2019

Thank you folks for all that information, was not aware of the germination inhibitors being present Bower, that explains a lot. Temperatures here are very mild for February, 25 to 28 C, some days not even making that. A few people about are starting to say summer is basically done for us. Nights ate still mid to high teans, so mi H t have to try that fridge idea. Thanks again everyone.

greenthumbomaha · February 18, 2019

Celery is very slow to grow. It not only took a few days to germinate, but it seemed like forever to get it's first true leaves. Not at all like tomatoes where they seem to grow in front of your eyes.
I don't have my sowing date handy but I estimate this is 1 1/2 month from seeding, with generous lighting and very light l feeding with weak MG.

Snow from this weekend in the background. Winter Storm Warning for tomorrow night. Already about 4x an average winter here.

bower · February 19, 2019

Those look great, Lisa.

If you pot some up now and give them more root space and regular liquid ferts they'll get bigger faster.

February 16, 2019	#46
habitat_gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: California Central Valley Posts: 2,543	iirc, it takes a long time for those tiny seeds to germinate, but I've gotten great germination rates. One source said celery needs night temperatures 10-15 degrees cooler than daytime temperatures for good germination. I grew mine in an outdoor cold frame, which easily met those conditions. I grew Redventure celery one year, and have had it ever since, even though I've moved a few times since then! It has reseeded not only in my garden beds, but the seeds have blown into containers and they are also in my compost. I've used Redventure, as well as Amsterdam Cutting Celery (ACC), mainly as a soup ingredient. I've never blanched it, and it has been too bitter to eat raw -- but perfect for soup. I even dried a lot of ACC leaves and stems at the end of one year. I powdered the dried material and add it to all kinds of things.

February 17, 2019	#48
greenthumbomaha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Omaha Zone 5 Posts: 2,514	Don't throw away properly stored celery seed until you have tried to germinate it. I started the remainder of two packages of different varieties dated 2015. It appears that every seed germinated, I have a zillion to pot up and now the seed stash for next year is empty and they're both hybrids. I'm taking a break from starting peppers but will get back with a pic. Snow total predictions kept changing and we exceeded the high end forecast. Cozy inside day for starting seeds. - Lisa

February 17, 2019	#49
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	whwoz, try really soaking the seeds. If they're sprinkled already on your potting mix, water them til it runs away. and do that repeatedly. Celery has germination inhibitors in the seeds (this is why parsley is so slow too, apparently). They have to be dissipated by water before they germinate. Celery seeds do want light to germinate, so sprinkle them on top, press them in but don't cover. You probably aren't using a heat mat where you are, and that's good, let them cool down at night as they would naturally when the sun goes down, the natural day/night cycle seems to help too. If it's hot at night... try sticking them in the fridge at night? I dunno, could be interesting. Celery are very slow growing so just be patient, keep em wet, and feed em a liquid fert if you want to see them grow a bit.

February 17, 2019	#50
Whwoz Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Victoria, Australia Posts: 870	Thank you folks for all that information, was not aware of the germination inhibitors being present Bower, that explains a lot. Temperatures here are very mild for February, 25 to 28 C, some days not even making that. A few people about are starting to say summer is basically done for us. Nights ate still mid to high teans, so mi H t have to try that fridge idea. Thanks again everyone.

February 19, 2019	#52
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	Those look great, Lisa. If you pot some up now and give them more root space and regular liquid ferts they'll get bigger faster.