Celery Blanching Cultivation Techniques: Reducing Fiber and Increasing Edible Value

    Celery is a vegetable grown for its edible leaf stalks. If management is not careful, it will lead to increased fiber and loss of edible value. Celery cultivated by the blanching method has a low cellulose content, the chlorophyll in the leaf stalks decomposes, lutein forms, oil gland secretion decreases, its edible value is high, and it increases yield and income. The blanching cultivation methods for celery are:

Celery

    Mounding soil blanching method:With a row spacing of 33-40cm for celery and a seedling height of 35-50cm, first apply 1 heavy fertilizer treatment, and water thoroughly three times in a row. After 5-7d (days), tie up the base of each celery clump with rice straw, then loosen the soil once to make the soil slightly dry, then mound soil on both sides of the celery and pat the soil firm so that the soil surface is smooth. The first mounding is about 33mm thick; after 2-3d (days), mound soil again, and continue mounding 5-6 times in this way, to a height of about 20-25cm, letting the heart leaves of the celery be exposed and not damaging the buds. It is best to mound soil on a sunny day in the afternoon when the soil is not damp. It can be harvested after about 30d (days).

    Board-enclosure blanching method:With a row spacing of 33-40cm, when the seedlings are about 35cm tall, first lift the celery up so that it stands upright and upward, exposing the soil between the rows. Then use two wooden boards (bamboo, milled boards, or plastic boards are all acceptable) about 1.7-3.5m long, about 13-17cm wide, and 2-3cm thick, and place them on both sides of the celery, fixing both ends of the boards with wooden stakes. Mound soil 13-17cm thick between the two boards, so that the celery is not injured and soil does not fall into the heart of the vegetable, avoiding celery rot. For early celery, only 1-2 moundings are needed, and it can be harvested after about 30d (days).

    Bamboo-clamping blanching method:The row spacing and seedling height are the same as above. Use slender bamboo poles to clamp the celery leaf stalks together along the direction of the planting row. Expose the rows. Tie and bind both ends of the slender bamboo with grass or nylon string, then mound soil in stages according to the mounding soil blanching method; generally it can be harvested after about 30d (days).

    Natural blanching method:Close planting with semi-shade blanching. Sow celery in autumn in clumps at a plant and row spacing of 7cm×7cm, with 3-4 plants per clump. Mound soil 20-28cm around the edges of the bed, and use rice straw, reeds, thatch, or similar materials to make straw curtains to enclose the surroundings. Before the celery closes its rows, cultivate 2-3 times, and in combination with cultivation apply quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer 3-4 times, promoting celery tillering and lush leaf growth, so that the top closes its rows as early as possible, causing the leaf stalks to grow in a dark environment and achieving the purpose of blanching the leaf stalks.