They appreciate sun, water, and fertility. They don't mind heat given adequate water. They should be spaced generously. Cut off the greens if you plan to store them, and they'll last for months into the winter. Great for salads (shredded) soups, or asc a pureed side vegetable. A much underappreciated veggie, in my opinion.

Oh no! I had read up on celeriac and planned to plant it under my cukes b/c what I read said "part shade".

Billme, since you have grown this, what do you think?

I have grown it for over 60 years and hadn't heard about it liking light shade. Perhaps I'll try that next year. The ones I harvest are about the size of my closed fist, hey I've got big hands. We look on it as a necessary vegetable for soups and it is great used as mentioned earlier. May take the vote for the ugliest vegetable though. Rather knobby and can be difficult to peel but really not much more that a knobby potato. Keeps very nicely in our root cellar for months.

I started seeds indoors in early February--they can be slow to germinate and are slow growers for a while. Here in Seattle I planted them out in late March. It's a commitment of space and time in the garden, but well worth it--especially since celery root is $4/lb in the store! I harvested after the first (maybe 2nd) frost in late October. It takes the heat as long as it has plenty of water. In general, it has higher water and feeding needs than most vegetables. It likes sun--but I think 6 hours should be enough. I didn't have any pest or disease problems at all--once they were established they were the healthiest plants in the whole garden.

We have grown celery root for 3 years now  in different locations each time. One garden is very exposed, very rocky soil . . . lots of sun. I donÂt know what the problem was but the plants did not do well.

One year it was in very good soil and partial shade  the plants grew nicely.

This season it has lots of sun and thereÂs been plenty of sun to go around . . . high temperatures, also. What IÂve noticed is that the plants closest to some bushes where they have maybe an extra hour or 2 before the sun reaches them in the morning are the largest. None of the plants have grown much to date and IÂm thinking that they have just been suppressed because of the heat. Hope that is the case as the weather is cooling now and IÂd like to see a little more NORMAL development.

We start them in a heated greenhouse  72 to a tray about the 1st of March. As I say, we had one very good year in good soil with quite a lot of shade. And, taste  delicious!

Steve

Thank you so much for your helpful advice. I'll give Prague a try next year, unless there's another variety more suitable for my conditions.

This being my second year of growing a veggie garden, I haven't tried starting seeds indoors yet, so will need to buy the necessary equipment. Have to start a new thread, I suppose.

Thanks again for being generous with your information....

All you really need for seed starting are some trays with humdity domes and a fluorescent shop light. You could try some now to get practice and start some fall greens.

Celeriac is easy to peel if you slice off the top and bottom, lay it on a cutting board, and pare the sides with a chef's knife. It's a bit too tough and bumpy for a vegetable peeler or smaller knife.

I planted Celeriac President in early April inside and moved the seedlings into two locations in my garden in early May. One location had sandy soil amended with compost while the other site had fertile loamy soil. A few weeks later the difference in plant growth was profound. The loam location had plants three times as large as the sandy soil garden. Soil conditions appear to be critical to having large roots. The small roots and foliage in the sandy soil will be still be delicious for soups and stews. I once went to a dinner where celeriac was used for a coleslaw and the taste was fantastic. Celeriac is a very useful vegetable.

Chervil2

My experience re celeriac and soil was the same: sandy soil, small roots.

In Europe (Switzerland?) I had a delicious salad of root vegetables: a plate with one heap each of lightly steamed celery root, beets and carrots, a mayonnaise vinaigrette over all.

Yes, grated celeriac is delicious. Have you tried Waldorf salad? It's heavenly..... From the taste of it, you'd never - ever - guess its ingredients.

marquette,

How else did you enjoy eating it other than the Waldorf salad?