Medwyn Williams hedges his bets when sowing celery
I’m doing two 10 days apart in case something goes wrong again
Last year wasn’t a great one for my celery. I sowed the variety ‘Evening Star’ around mid-March, which is good timing for me for the Malvern display during the last weekend in September. There was no problem with germination or when I moved the seedlings into their small cells. However, at the point I moved them into 10cm (4in) pots, the growth rate was exceptionally slow and, after a month, I had to repot them into some fresh compost. Growth was still rather slow and when it came to plant them outside they were smaller than usual and even in their final growing position they never grew like they should have.
This year, I’ll do a small sowing of ‘Evening Star’ this coming weekend and another one in 10 days to cover my back in case anything goes wrong again. When sowing celery seed I use a fine seed compost such as Levington F1S and sow the seed sparingly on top and press it down with a flat board. I cover the seed lightly with a superfine grade of Vermiculite as celery benefits from diffused light to germinate. I water the seed tray from the bottom and leave it on a heating blanket set at 21C (70F). Germination should take around 10 days.
I’ve already done an early sowing of both ‘Evening Star’ and ‘Morning Star’ in January. These are for my friend Bill Jones from Wrexham and my son Alwyn. Both are hoping to grow a specimen for the heaviest celery class at Malvern in September.
One thing is certain, we’ve plenty of well- rotted stable manure on the land which we had delivered over 18 months ago. I’ve no doubt that celery loves well-rotted manure and not only will I use it in the beds, but it’ll also be spread out on top of the soil as a mulch. This way any goodness in the manure will be washed down to the roots every time the bed is watered.