Medwyn Williams says it’s time to plant out celery
Start applying a weekly dose of calcium nitrate now to prevent heart rot
I’ve grown a few early celery plants this year in an attempt to grow some really heavy heads. I sowed ‘Morning Star’ on January 12 and this is now ready for planting outdoors. I’ve potted on eight of these, four are for my son, Alwyn, and the other four are for my friend Bill Jones from Wrexham, who really enjoys growing heavy vegetables.
My show celery is doing well and is aimed at the Malvern Show held during the last weekend in September. I’m now moving it outdoors to harden off.
I’ll plant the celery in a raised bed, which will take 18 plants in three rows with ample room for me to get at each plant properly for collaring. The bed has been well prepared with layers of well-rotted horse manure and top soil from the field, with the whole lot mixed together with my Mantis tiller. A week or so before planting I’ll fork in 170g (6oz) of Medwyn’s Complete Base Fertiliser.
Then I’ll plant out the celery in this bed around the third week of May, weather permitting. When I’m planting out I make sure the plants are well watered in their pots and I also sprinkle some mycorrhizal powder in the planting holes. This not only increases the surface absorbing area of the roots, it also releases powerful enzymes into the soil that dissolve hard-to-get nutrients.
Once the celery’s planted the other thing I’ll do is give a weekly dose of calcium nitrate. This prevents heart rot, a devastating disease that puts a tin hat on any staging plans you might have.
I’ll apply the calcium nitrate in and around the celery heart at 10ml per 5 litres. It’s much better to add hot water to the calcium nitrate first to dissolve the crystals. I also add the same measure of fulvic acid as Medwyn’s Liquid Gold to every 5 litre mix. This ensures that the calcium nitrate is transported more efficiently throughout the plant.