anyone grow celery out there?

I tried it a few years ago and did not maintain the watering schedule, and so they were gangly
I have started them indoors and they are just now showing their teensy weensy stalks now, so I thought I would see if there were any celery tips out there.... thanks

I grew celery. They one thing I remember is that it took FOREVER. However, once grown it was good. It had a lot of flavor. More than what you find at any market.

It says in the book that it requires at least 16 weeks of cooler weather, that it does not tolerate heat at all, is it warm in summer where you are. It gets very hot here, and so from what I can tell, I all have to get them grown before the summer gets hot

So much so that here in So Cal it is recommended that we plant them from August through October so most of the growing season is fall/winter.

well the way I figure it, if I can keep them alive indoors, and then plant them outdoors in April, perhaps I can harvest in May OR june before it gets really hot
What about trying to keep them cool by planting them in a partially shaded spot?

GWN obviously our temperate climate is different to yours

This is applicable over here & might be helpful to you as well , the peparation of a decent deep manured water retentive bed in a trench is essential if you want to earth up and blanch the plants to keep them sweet instead of the slightly bitter self blanching varieties that are not earthed up.
Band wrapping in brown paper round the growing plant stems to keep the soil off the stems is also a good idea if you earth up to blanch them .

My old beds were 3 foot deep well manured soil , not MM & I grew then in blocks of 12 plants , they dried the soil out like there was no tomorrow ..so much infact i ended up buying a moisture meter to indicate when the bed was saturated and when it had moved over to being past moist to dry .

The reason i grew them in blocks of 12 was so that the leaves made an umbrella to help stop them drying out .

Once they get growing keep the moisture level consisisnt , else they are like eating strips of old boiled woollen socks .

Well so a challenge.
I have an irrigating system that I can adjust.
Keeping these darn things all alive until they can survive outside will be hard, I am thinking that this might be a crop for a hoop house here, or at least pots in the greenhouse.
So you plant them in trenches and then as they grow, put brown paper around them and then bring the soil up around the brown paper, is that what you mean by earthing up?

plantoid wrote:GWN obviously our temperate climate is different to yours

This is applicable over here & might be helpful to you as well , the peparation of a decent deep manured water retentive bed in a trench is essential if you want to earth up and blanch the plants to keep them sweet instead of the slightly bitter self blanching varieties that are not earthed up.

In SFG talk, that would mean adding a riser to cover your celery squares and filling in as they grow.

Chopper wrote:

plantoid wrote:GWN obviously our temperate climate is different to yours

This is applicable over here & might be helpful to you as well , the peparation of a decent deep manured water retentive bed in a trench is essential if you want to earth up and blanch the plants to keep them sweet instead of the slightly bitter self blanching varieties that are not earthed up.

In SFG talk, that would mean adding a riser to cover your celery squares and filling in as they grow.

Man....I'm confused and had already bought seeds to try it this year. Are you saying, filling in as they grow like you do for potatoes?

EatYourVeggies wrote:

Chopper wrote:

plantoid wrote:GWN obviously our temperate climate is different to yours

This is applicable over here & might be helpful to you as well , the peparation of a decent deep manured water retentive bed in a trench is essential if you want to earth up and blanch the plants to keep them sweet instead of the slightly bitter self blanching varieties that are not earthed up.

In SFG talk, that would mean adding a riser to cover your celery squares and filling in as they grow.

Man....I'm confused and had already bought seeds to try it this year. Are you saying, filling in as they grow like you do for potatoes?

Yes. That is how celery is 'blanched'. It makes for sweeter more tender celery. As mentioned there are self blanching types. OR you can not blanch and just let them grow naked and get a tougher, but tasty celery. Alternately, you can blanch by tying paper or cardboard around the plant as it gets taller. The idea being, I believe, protecting the lower half or so of the plant from the sun.

Grew Tall Utah last year. I thought it turned out fine. Chopper is right about more flavor than the store ever dreamt. It's slow, but you can continually harvest from it once you get it up and going a bit. I treat it like broccoli....a long term investment.

I also started mine indoors. I found the transition outside easy. Just keep it moist and you should love it.

As I prepare for seed starting, I am so glad for this thread!! I have wanted celery for so long from the garden but put it off until this year and hoping by starting it in the hoop house I can be successful. I love celery and bought some Red Giant Celery this year.

Cant have a stalk of my own celery cut up into the soup, or even some of my own home made v-8 this year? oooooo
Ha-v-v

I have never been successful with celery.

Several years ago, I started growing herb celery instead. Basically, it gives you celery leaves without stalks. So it's good for addition to soups or stews or salads where you want celery flavor.

If I want "crunch", I use the stalks of Swiss chard, which I dehydrate separately from the leaves just for this purpose.

jpatti wrote:...snip...If I want "crunch", I use the stalks of Swiss chard, which I dehydrate separately from the leaves just for this purpose.

I like fresh fennel for the taste and the crunch. But I am going to try celery this year.

very interesting that you can keep them growing into the fall, I WILL find a shadier spot, I guess.
In Oregon last year I tried the red celery and it was very bitter, but I did not blanch it at all though.
For the past few years in oregon I have been purchasing seeds from Italy that were just incredible. A few years ago Territorial seeds could not guarantee that they were GMO free, (apparently they have rectified this), and I had heard that GMO were illegal in Europe and so bought Italian seeds (not celery though)
I had the most amazing zucchini and tomatoes AND peppers, so I would recommend the italian seeds to anyone, a bit expensive and so seed saving a must.
To those who grew celery indoors, how long before you had to do the first transplants? Mine are just in the very small seedling pots, and they are so tiny, I wonder how I would transplant them

GWN wrote:Well so a challenge.
I have an irrigating system that I can adjust.
Keeping these darn things all alive until they can survive outside will be hard, I am thinking that this might be a crop for a hoop house here, or at least pots in the greenhouse.
So you plant them in trenches and then as they grow, put brown paper around them and then bring the soil up around the brown paper, is that what you mean by earthing up?

Yes make the collar about 3 inches tall on the first session and then as the plant grows remove the old band and make a bigger one till you get to a decent ten inch high band on a 12 inch long stem . The tops are extra height but the general rule was to re band or add more when there was 3 inches of stalk showing thern carefully earth up to near the top of the band .

My Uncle Jack ( died at 84 yrs old 25 yrs ago ) was renowned locally for his massive hands of celery at Christmas & the new year. ity was a fantastic amost white stalk that was as sweet as can be for celery ,none of the sharp oily taste you get from self blanching green stuff .

He'd use coal fire soot from a swept chimney that had been standing out in a small uncovered heap in all weathers ( weathered soot ) for a year or more to sprinkle around the celery to keep slugs away and used the black of the soot to make the soil darker to absorb more heat . I also suspect it was used to make the soil more acidic as there would have been a reasonable trace of sulphur in the soot even after a years weathering.

If a hard frost was forecast He'd lightly cover the heads of celery with up to a foot of clean straw along the row and move it back off when the danger was past.
But nowadays I try and use a fleece covering as it is quicker and easier for me .

Re the small celery plants . When they are about 3/4 long and all wiggley on the seed tray use the handle of a tea spoon and gently lift out one at a time to plant straight away in 3 inch pots with a potting compost ( these are not so nutirent rich but just enought to get the roots developing ) ..it's a pain in the butt for there's a good chance you have a lot more than you think .
When they get to about five inches high either repot to a 4 1/2 pot of if the weather is good plant in a 14 inch deep trench at about 8 inches apart into the bottom of the trench , making sure you have actually dug a bit of well rotted manure into the trench bottom before planting . if you do the repot try and get thm in the ground before they get to 7 inches tall .
Puddle the plants in the holes with ever so slightly warm water , like you do with leeks if you seed tray grow them

When they are about 3/4 long and all wiggley on the seed tray use the handle of a tea spoon and gently lift out one at a time to plant straight away in 3 inch pots with a potting compost ( these are not so nutirent rich but just enought to get the roots developing ) ..it's a pain in the butt for there's a good chance you have a lot more than you think .

This is EXACTLY what I do with Basil, I broadcast the seeds and then gently move them over once they are big enough......... interestingly enough, I use the end of a teaspoon or sometimes a nail file.
Actually though it sounds like a pain, I really love to do it, you are taking what just appears to be a maze of teensy seedlings and making them into an actual plant.... if that makes sense.
So that is what I will do.
You sound like you must have inherited something from your uncle.

My great grandfather was a horticulturalist for the "dominion of Canada" i guess before we were independent from mother england.

I tried 2 celery this year. Started them from seed inside before spring planting time. Transplanted them outside into a square together.

They took all season to grow and they looked fairly decent come September when I decided to sample a stalk.

They were woody and dry. I guess I didn't water or mulch them enough?

Welcome Back, Bullfrogbabe,

Nice to see you again.



My celery were very strong so I used them only to flavor soup. Probably would have been a good idea to try to blanch them, but I was unable to work in the garden for a couple of months due to health issues.



At least they grew.

plant list

Check this site above. He grows celery in his square foot garden, and it looks great!

What an amazing topic!

I want to grow celery (and leeks) this year. I had no idea it was so involved.

OSH actually has a 6 pak of celery plants.

Much to ponder.

It might NOT be involved for you.

Celery has never worked for me, which is why I switched to growing herb celery (basically, just celery leaves) and using chard stems for "crunch".

But... I read somewhere someone (a relatively experienced gardener) said they could not grow peas and peas are just the easiest thing possible. I don't know how I could screw up peas if I tried.

So... what one person has trouble with isn't necessarily what another does. Try the celery - you might have the touch with it where I do not.

jpatti wrote:It might NOT be involved for you.

Celery has never worked for me, which is why I switched to growing herb celery (basically, just celery leaves) and using chard stems for "crunch".

But... I read somewhere someone (a relatively experienced gardener) said they could not grow peas and peas are just the easiest thing possible. I don't know how I could screw up peas if I tried.

So... what one person has trouble with isn't necessarily what another does. Try the celery - you might have the touch with it where I do not.

Very well said

I don't think this has been referenced yet...
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Rookie Topic XIII: Celery

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t8266-friday-rookie-topic-xiii-celery