Cultivation: Start transplants indoors from February into April. Germination is affected by the interrelation of temperature and light. The seed will germinate with soil temperatures below 50ºF if the temperature is held constant and the seeds are in the dark. It will germinate at 70ºF if it is in diffused light and germinate in temperatures up to 85ºF if there is a 10-degree difference between day and night temperatures. Cover the seeds lightly with potting media, keep moist, but not wet. Germination is very slow (sometimes up to three weeks) so be patient. Set out plants when they are three to five inches tall in late spring after all danger of frost has passed. Space them twelve inches apart in rows twelve inches apart. Mulch to help maintain moisture. They are heavy feeders and like rich, well-drained soil, loaded with organic matter. As with many root vegetables, celeriac is at its peak in the fall. Select roots that are somewhere about the size of a medium apple. Too small and there will be little to eat once peeled. Too large, and the flesh tends to be woody and dry. In areas with mild climates, they should be allowed to remain in the garden and harvested as needed. In areas of harsher freezing weather, they should be harvested in the fall and stored in slightly moistened sand or sawdust in the root cellar like you store carrots. The roots will keep three to four months this way. If you are raising them to save seed, they are biennials and therefore flower the second year. Click here for an interesting treatise on raising celery published in 1898 by A. W. Livingston's & Sons.
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