Is there an easy way to grow celeriac?

I really like celeriac. It is so yummy in winter stews and soups as it gives a nice texture and background flavor without having to add thickeners like flour or cream which is on my "avoid because of lactose" list.

My first struggle is with any seeds that take 2 to3 weeks to germinate. Does anyone have hints on how to keep that to the short end of the range? Would bottom heat help? That's definitely an area I struggle with, as our house is pretty cool in the winter.

My second struggle is that my ecosystem has a summer drought and this plant prefers reliably moist, rich soil. Has anyone tried growing it in a wicking bed? I've been thinking about building a wicking bed, and this might be the motivation!

Lastly, is it worth the effort? Nutritionally, celeriac has lots of fiber and vitamins B6, C and K. However, they seem to be higher if eaten raw, and I've only had celeriac cooked. Can anyone give me ideas of how they would eat it raw?

If nothing else, I'm the sort of person who gets a bit bored with the same food over and over. If I can figure out an easier way to successfully grow this crop, it would add a little diversity in the veggie department!

Jay Angler wrote:I really like celeriac. It is so yummy in winter stews and soups as it gives a nice texture and background flavor without having to add thickeners like flour or cream which is on my "avoid because of lactose" list.

My first struggle is with any seeds that take 2 to3 weeks to germinate. Does anyone have hints on how to keep that to the short end of the range? Would bottom heat help? That's definitely an area I struggle with, as our house is pretty cool in the winter.

My second struggle is that my ecosystem has a summer drought and this plant prefers reliably moist, rich soil. Has anyone tried growing it in a wicking bed? I've been thinking about building a wicking bed, and this might be the motivation!

Lastly, is it worth the effort? Nutritionally, celeriac has lots of fiber and vitamins B6, C and K. However, they seem to be higher if eaten raw, and I've only had celeriac cooked. Can anyone give me ideas of how they would eat it raw?

If nothing else, I'm the sort of person who gets a bit bored with the same food over and over. If I can figure out an easier way to successfully grow this crop, it would add a little diversity in the veggie department!

It’s a very interesting question. I remember when I was growing up in Denmark, that my parents would start them in cold frames. This would give them some extra heat, and enabled them to start it while we still had frost.
This winter, I am going to try and grow them here in California. I am actually very happy that you wrote this, because I forgot to get mine started LOL.
The seeds like it warm, so I would definitely put a mat underneath, but they also need sunlight, so if you start them indoors, you will need a grow light too.
Growing them here in California will give me some other problems. It’s too hot for them in the summer, but we still get some low temperatures during winter, and that brings a risk of them bolting. I still want to try growing them though, since it’s a vegetable we use a lot.
I usually use them in soups, broth or fermented. Fermented I am the only one liking them though LOL. They do store very well in a root cellar or you can do what I do and cut, blanch and freeze them.
The seed store I bought my seeds from, send a growing sheet with them. I am going to attach a copy of it. Maybe it will help you decide what to do. Good luck with them.

Celeriac can be used raw to make a coleslaw

My season is short enough that I got some 2022 already5-8" from a reputable greenhouse in a seedling pack of 9 desperate abused and abandoned specimens, end of season. Some were getting ravages by aphids but I was able to drown them out and they didnt come back. I put them at the edge of a 3' high compost heap which is now 2' high. They only get sun in the morning but they survived the droughts with no watering... For me this is the only hope of getting celery greens -- the roots are not worth harvesting. Celeriac aka celerave is too expensive to buy in the store so I only buy the 50% markdown dried up reject roots on occasion -- just as good in soups as the pretty ones.

I've been growing celariac for successfully for several years.  I'm not a huge fan of it, but like you said, I appreciate having a wider variety of winter veg and it is good in soups and stews.  We grow a pretty big annual veg garden and I start a bunch of things early so have the whole grow scene going late winter/early spring.  They do take awhile to get going, but I always end up with more starts than I really want lol.  I usually sprinkle seeds into one 4" pot around late FeB/early march when I start onions and leeks and then once they finally get big enough, I prick them out and separate them into 6packs.  We live off grid and have pretty limited power at that time of year so I don't use bottom heat and they do fine.  They get transplanted out into the garden about a foot apart around april and stay there until winter, I just pick out the biggest one whenever I want one.  You can get away with one good deep watering per week but they're happier with more than that.  and they do well with diluted pee fert.

Hi Jay,

It's well worth growing. I do use it in soups and stews. When young I also love it grated raw straight into a mixed salad or as a slaw. It also makes a great creamy mash, you can have alone or mix with potato, pumpkin or sweet potato and spices for a change of flavour. I'm allergic to lactose so don't use milk to make my mash, I add soy, oat or almond milk and butter with fresh or dried herbs and spices.

I can't get it to do too well in our hot summers as it bolts, but it is fine in the other seasons. Needs lots of light and yes keep it moist or it can get fibrous but it odes ok when bigger with a little less water than when starting it off and when young.

I use a lot of leaf mulch and compost, and as it gets hotter it can be seen regally residing under my old sun umbrellas I have stuck in beside the bed :-)  I scavenge any I see thrown out along the roadside and find them very useful, and saves buying artificial shade cloth.

I am just harvesting my celeriac now.  I start my seeds under lights and they take the same amount of time as parsley.  I start them indoors in late February and transplant them out in late May.  I harvest them in October and I have found they will take a few fall frosts.  The greens will be damaged but the root base  part is fine.  

I try and get to harvesting them before the tops are damaged so I can dehydrate the leaves.  I tend to not water them enough so the stems are hollow so I give those to the chickens.  Harvesting them is a bit of work because the roots are great at holding onto compost.  I have a washing station outside so I can keep the soil in the garden.

I have harvested them in November and kept them in a cooler on my porch for a couple of weeks.  Some are stored in zip top bags in my fridge and the rest are chopped,  blanched, and dehydrated to use in soups, stews, and sheppard's pie.