Seed to Harvest Celeriac through 7 Months (No Dig Guide)

Celeriac is not an easy vegetable to grow. Quite often people tell me how theirs has stayed small, and there are usually clear reasons for that. It’s a long-season crop, and success comes down to timing, spacing and watering through the summer. Timings need to be spot-on, from sowing in mid March to planting early May and using a cover over the plants for the first six weeks. Then harvest in autumn before it's too wet. In this video I show the full seven-month journey, from sowing tiny light-germinating seeds in mid-March and pricking out at the two-leaf stage, through to transplanting at generous spacing and harvesting in October and November. Because the seed is so small, early care makes all the difference. Celeriac does not like to be cramped, so I plant at around 35cm spacing to allow roots to swell properly. I water well at planting, then hold back in early summer, increasing moisture later when the bulbs are swelling. Too much water early on can lead to softer growth and more risk of septoria in autumn. Growing no dig, with compost mulch on the surface, helps retain moisture and feed soil life while keeping disturbance minimal. I also show companion planting with dwarf French marigolds (Tagetes patula), second cropping after radish, and a simple harvesting method that leaves most roots in the soil to feed microbes. By autumn, roots can reach 800g to 1kg (around 2lb). There’s no rush to harvest early — they continue swelling into late October and November. Harvest before winter really sets in to avoid leaf disease spreading into the bulb, then store in boxes in a cool shed for delicious winter meals. 🎥 Filmed March to October 2025 Filmed by Carly Dutton-Edwards In Homeacres No Dig Garden, Somerset, UK 🎵 Music: Rory Dunwoodie, @rorydinwoodiemusic IG: rorydinwoodiemusic You can join this channel by paying a monthly fee, to support our work with helping gardeners grow better, and to receive monthly videos made only for members:    / @charlesdowding1nodig   00:00 Introduction 00:22 Small seeds - need light, don’t cover with compost when sowing 01:19 Sowing in seed tray then pricking out 04:23 May - planting in a bed following radish, option to add more compost 05:15 Planting Marigolds with celeriac, and using cover against aphids 05:49 Interplanting with leeks, and another interplant option - spring onion 06:39 Transplanting - spacing and watering 10:22 Marigolds as companion plant 10:52 Putting in hoops and covering with mesh 11:58 Watering 13:00 Mid-July, plants not yet watered 14:10 De-leafing 14:41 Marigolds, keeping seeds 15:34 Other flowers - penstemon and malope 16:28 October, timing of watering 17:13 De-leafing 18:22 Harvesting and trimming 20:34 Timing of harvest #celeriac #growyourown #nodig #charlesdowding #vegetablegardening #growyourownfood #wintervegetables