Detailed Explanation of Common Celery Seed-Saving Methods and Technical Points
In recent years, many regions have cultivated some high-quality common celery varieties, and they also account for a relatively large proportion in sowing. Because celery is a cross-pollinated crop, for common varieties it is especially important to do a good job in seed saving and preventing degeneration, to truly establish a good seed-saving field or seed-production site, and to select and retain good seed plants. Strictly isolate in the seed-saving...
In recent years, many regions have cultivated some high-quality common celery varieties, and they also account for a relatively large proportion in sowing. Because celery is a cross-pollinated crop, for common varieties it is especially important to do a good job in seed saving and preventing degeneration, to truly establish a good seed-saving field or seed-production site, and to select and retain good seed plants. Strict isolation: within at least 4000 m around the seed-saving field, no other celery varieties may be planted. Normally, special terrain such as lake islands, remote areas or woods is used as a natural isolation barrier to establish a seed-saving field or a small-area propagation site. There are two celery seed-collection methods: the large-plant seed-collection method and the small-plant seed-collection method. Large-plant seed-collection method: also called mature-plant seed-collection method or old-root seed-collection method. Before the summer celery crop is harvested, in the celery field to be supplemented, select high-quality individual plants that can specially represent the typical characteristics of this variety as seed-saving plants, and remove impurities and inferior plants. When saving seed on a small scale, the selected high-quality individual plants may also be transplanted to the seed-saving field; in early spring, selection is carried out again, that is, eliminating those with early bolting, poor starvation tolerance and susceptibility to disease. After fruiting, attention should be paid to watering and fertilizing. Celery has a long flowering period, and the fruit maturation period is not uniform. To ensure fruit quality, it is best to harvest in stages and batches. Normally, each mu of seed-saving field can produce 75-100 kg of fruit. When the large-plant seed-collection method is adopted, selection can be carried out for the commercial traits and starvation tolerance of the plants, and to a certain extent this can prevent variety degeneration and decline. Because of this, this method is more suitable for the purification and rejuvenation of local celery varieties. Small-plant seed-collection method: sow this year, harvest the fruit, or cultivate small seedlings before winter, plant them in the seed-saving field the following spring, then let them bolt, flower and set seed, and then collect the seed. Although this method has low seed-collection returns, strict selection cannot be carried out on the seed plants, and repeated use over successive years easily causes variety degeneration; therefore, it is mostly used to propagate seed for production when high-quality new varieties are just beginning to be promoted. In the small-plant seed-collection method, mastering the appropriate sowing period is key. Normally, direct sowing in the open field is done around late February. If sowing is too late, the seedlings cannot go through the high-temperature vernalization stage, and the seed plants cannot successfully bolt and bear fruit; but if sowing is too early, the seedlings go through the vernalization stage while still very small, bolt and bear fruit, and the vegetative growth period is too short, so the nutrients accumulated are few, resulting in low fruit yield. When adopting the small-plant seed-collection method, because the plants are smaller, the seed plants have weak branching ability after bolting; therefore, the planting density should be denser than in the large-plant seed-collection method, generally with a hole spacing of 20 cm and 50 cm, and 2-3 plants per hole. The other cultivation and management techniques and the fruit harvesting methods are the same as those of the large-plant seed-collection method.