How to Grow Celery the Fastest? A Detailed Guide to Celery Cultivation Techniques
Celery has a very long cultivation history in our country, with records about it dating back to ancient times. Even now, celery is still a vegetable very much loved by consumers. Celery is grown in many parts of our country, and it looks simple, but if you want to grow it well, you still need to pay attention to certain methods.
The Fastest Way to Grow Celery
1. Sow at the right time. Generally, sowing is done in a greenhouse from late January to early February, in a cold frame or plastic arch shed in late March, and open-field seedling raising is usually done in mid-April. Each region can sow at the appropriate time according to local conditions.
2. Transplanting. Apply fertilizer while plowing and preparing the land. Select strong, large seedlings, plant from the outer edge toward the center, and set the planting depth so that the root crown is just covered. The usual plant and row spacing is 20-30 cm. Each region can flexibly determine planting density according to market demand. 5) Fertilizer and water management. When transplanting, be sure to water thoroughly the first time, then keep the soil moist regularly. After 15-20 d (days), keep the soil alternating between dry and wet, and carry out intertillage, loosening of the soil, and weeding. About 30 d (days) after transplanting, the plants enter the vigorous growth period, and heavy water and fertilizer management should be carried out: irrigate once every 5-7 d (days) and apply topdressing once every 10-15 d (days), applying 20 kg of urea or 15 kg of diammonium phosphate per 667 sq m each time. When the high-temperature season arrives in June and July, pay attention to maintaining field water-holding capacity to create a moist, cool growing environment for celery. Stop irrigation 7-10 d (days) before harvest.
Celery Cultivation Techniques
1. After the previous crop is harvested, apply about 5.000 kg/667 sq m of decomposed organic fertilizer, deep plow 25-30 cm, fully sun the soil clods, then fine-till and level, and make flat beds 1-1.5 m wide. Choose a cloudy or partly cloudy day for transplanting. When lifting seedlings, it is best to leave roots 4-6 cm long, and grade large and small seedlings for transplanting. The planting depth should be such that the roots are not exposed below and the heart is not buried above; if planted too deep or too shallow, celery is prone to slow recovery, low survival rates, and slow growth after survival. After transplanting in dry soil, water once thoroughly, but the water flow should be gentle to prevent washing out the seedlings.
2. The wet-planting method promoted on a trial basis in recent years is simpler. In wet planting, after the bed is prepared, water it thoroughly first, use a homemade rake with teeth spaced according to the row width to draw lines along the bed, and plant celery seedlings at the plant spacing into the wet mud along the drawn lines. Wet planting allows fast transplanting, fast recovery, and good rooting, and is superior to traditional dry-soil transplanting. Set plant spacing and row spacing according to the variety: generally 12 cm × 15 cm for local celery, planting 28,000-33,000 plants per 667 sq m, with appropriately dense planting; for large celery seedlings 20 cm × 30 cm, medium seedlings 20 cm × 25 cm, and small seedlings 20 cm × 20 cm, planting 10,000-15,000 plants per 667 sq m, ensuring sparse planting with large stalks to achieve high quality and high efficiency.
Field Management After Planting Celery
Field management must be done well. In winter, spray with new high-lipid film to keep warm and prevent freezing, isolate pathogen invasion, and at the same time press the greenhouse film tight to avoid air leakage. At noon on sunny days, uncover the greenhouse film, ventilate to exchange air, and reduce humidity. Before the plants close the rows, splash-irrigate with clear water and manure 2—3 times; after the rows close, drench once with urea solution. One month after transplanting and one week before harvest, spray with Zhuangjingling respectively, to make the plant stems thick and strong, the leaves thick, the leaf color fresh and tender, and the plants luxuriant, with a rich natural flavor. At the same time, it can enhance disaster resistance, reduce the amount of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and lower residual toxicity.
Celery Pests, Diseases and Control Methods
1. Soft rot. Control methods: implement crop rotation of more than 3 years. Avoid damaging roots when transplanting, loosening soil, or hoeing weeds. Drain promptly after rain; when diseased plants are found, dig them out promptly and sprinkle lime for disinfection. During the disease period, reduce or temporarily stop watering. When disease occurs, promptly spray the following agents for control: 72% agricultural streptomycin sulfate 3000-4000 times solution, 50% copper succinate-glutarate wettable powder 500-600 times solution, once every 7-10 days, for 2-3 consecutive treatments.
2. Viral disease. Control methods: adopt aphid prevention and aphid avoidance measures for control. Strengthen fertilizer and water management to promote robust plant growth and improve plant disease resistance. Foliar fertilization can also improve disease tolerance. In the early stage of disease, spray 1.5% Zhibingling emulsifiable concentrate 1000 times solution, or 20% Virus A wettable powder 500 times solution.
When growing celery, the first thing is to do a good job of site selection, and then the drainage system must be well built; if the planting site has severe water accumulation, it may affect the growth of celery. Because celery is also easily attacked by pests, pest and disease control work must also be done well in the later stage. Only after doing all this well will celery grow well and have high yield.