Chapter 6: Common Vegetables for Seed and Fruit


Chapter 6: Common Vegetables for Seed and Fruit


CELERY
Apium graveolens L. var. dulce (Mill.) DC, family Umbelliferae

In 1970, celery was grown on 31,980 acres, about half of which was in California with Florida second in production. The crop was valued at $85,657,000. The seed was produced primarily in California although some was produced in Michigan, Idaho, and Utah (Hawthorn and Pollard 1954 *). Under ideal growing conditions, 3,000 pounds of seed per acre can be produced (Watson 1943). The acreage devoted to seed production was small - 100 to 200 acres (Hawthorn and Pollard 1954*).

Plant:

The celery plant is a many-branched glabrous biennial. The first year it develops an upright rosette of leaves with ribbed petioles to 2 feet. This part is harvested as a vegetable. If seed is desired, the plants are left until fall or winter, depending upon the location, then the roots are dug, and stored until spring when they are re-set in another location in 3- foot rows and about 3 feet apart in the row. The plant is then allowed to develop its grooved and jointed flowering stalk about 3 feet high.

Inflorescence:

The inflorescence is a series of umbels and umbellets, smaller and less compact than those of the carrot (fig. 68). The small white flowers are arranged in whorls, the outer ones opening first with successive whorls opening over a period of several days. The individual flower opens in the early morning and the anthers dehisce shortly afterwards, sometimes before the petals have fully spread. The afternoon of the following day the petals fall. On the third day, the style begins to rise but is not fully erect until the evening of the fifth day. From about then until about the eighth day, the stigma is covered with stigmatic fluid and is receptive to pollen (Emsweller 1928). Celery in bloom is strong smelling but yields abundant nectar and is highly attractive to bees (Root 1919).

[gfx] FIGURE 68. - Portion of celery stalk, showing leaves and flowering stem

Pollination Requirements:

The individual flower is self-fertile but incapable of self- pollination, since the pollen is shed and dissipated before the stigma is receptive. The flowers are receptive to pollen of the same plant (Jones and Rosa 1928*), but the pollen must be transferred from the anthers to receptive stigmas of other flowers by insects.

Pollinators:

Because of the attractiveness of the flowers to honey bees, these insects are probably the most satisfactory as pollinating agents, provided they are present in sufficient abundance. No information is available on the desirable population density of pollinators on celery, but the eight bees per square yard suggested for carrots (Hawthorn et al. 1960) should be satisfactory.

Pollination Recommendations and Practices:

No recommendations have been made on the use of pollinating insects on celery, probably because of the small acreage devoted to seed production.

LITERATURE CITED:

EMSWELLER, S. L.
1928. POLLINATION AND FERTILIZATION OF CELERY. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Proc., pp. 29 - 30, 25th Ann. Mtg.

HAWTHORN, L. R., BOHART, G. E., TOOLE, E. H., and others.
1960. CARROT SEED PRODUCTION. Utah Agr. Expt. Sta. Bul. 422,18 pp.

ROOT E. R.
1919. ALONG THE SACRAMENTO RIVER HONEY FROM PARSNIPS AND CELERY BY THE CARLOAD IN CALIFORNIA. Gleanings Bee Cult. 47: 711-713.

WATSON, M.
1943. THE CULTURE OF CARAWAY AND CELERY SEED IN CALIFORNIA. Calif. Hort. Soc. Jour. 4: 9 - 13.


Capturé par MemoWeb ŕ partir de http://www.beeculture.com/content/pollination_handbook/celery.html  le 10/03/2006