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Harvest to Table

A practical guide to food in the garden and market

How to Grow Celery

Filed under: How to Grow, Tagged as: ,

Celery is a cool-weather crop. It requires 16 weeks of cool weather to come to harvest. Start celery seed indoors 8 to 10 weeks before the last frost in spring. Set transplants in the garden 2 to 3 weeks before the average last frost date when seedlings have 5 to 6 leaves. In cool spring and summer regions, plant celery in early spring. In warm spring and summer regions, plant celery in late summer for harvest in late autumn or early winter.

 

Ideas for preparing and serving celery: click here.

 

Description. Celery is a hardy biennial grown as an annual. It has a rosette of 12- to 18-inch stalks, topped with divided leaves. Celery is grown for its stalks, leaves and seeds.

 

Yield. Plant 5 plants per household member.

 

Site. Grow celery in compost rich, moisture retentive soil that borders on wet but still drains. Celery prefers a soil with a pH between 5.8 and 6.8. Celery has a low tolerance for heat and prefers a cool, cloudy location where growing temperatures range between 60°F and 70°F. Plant celery where the growing season offers 4 months of cool weather.

 

Planting time. Celery is a cool-weather crop. It requires 16 weeks of cool weather to come to harvest. Start celery seed indoors 8 to 10 weeks before the last frost in spring. Set transplants in the garden 2 to 3 weeks before the average last frost date when seedlings have 5 to 6 leaves. (To delay transplanting time and slow growth, cut seedlings down to 3 inches tall and then allow them to grow on.) Cold weather will inhibit growth as will warm weather. Temperatures below 50°F for more than 12 hours may cause celery to bolt. In cool spring and summer regions, plant celery in early spring. In warm spring and summer regions, plant celery in late summer for harvest in late autumn or early winter.

Planting and spacing. Sow celery seed ¼ to ½ inch deep, 6 to 10 inches apart; space rows 24 inches apart. Transplant seedlings started indoors into trenches 3 to 4 inches deep set 6 to 10 inches apart. As plants grow mound up soil around the stems to blanch them. Plant self-blanching celery in blocks 6 to 12 inches apart; planting closer will give a higher yield but more slender stalks.

 

Water and feeding. Keep celery well watered during all phases of growth. Lack of water will slow growth, cause stalks to become stringy, and encourage plants to send up flower stalks. Celery is a heavy feeder. Add aged-compost to planting beds before planting and side dress plants with compost at midseason.

 

Companion plants. Lettuce, spinach, English peas. Avoid pumpkins, cucumbers, and squash.

 

Care. Keep celery planting beds weed free to avoid competition for moisture and nutrients. Keep cultivation shallow so as not to damage roots. Blanch celery to enhance its sweet flavor and whiten stalks. Celery that is not blanched can be bitter tasting. Blanching is achieved by covering the stalks with soil, straw, or paper cylinders rolled up to the top of the stalks to protect them from the sun, which encourages them to produce chlorophyll and turn green. Blanch celery up to 10 to 14 days before harvesting. Celery that sits too long after blanching will become pithy and may rot.

 

Container growing. Celery can be grown in an 8-inch container. Set celery on 10-inch centers in large containers.  To blanch celery growing in a container, tie paper or cardboard cylinders around the stalks.

 

Pests. Celery usually encounters no serious pest problems but can be attacked by celery leaf miner and slugs (during blanching).

 

Diseases. Pink rot, black heart, and blight can attack celery. Make sure there is adequate magnesium and calcium in the soil to discourage these diseases.

 

Harvest. Time from planting to harvest is 100 to 130 days from transplants about 20 days longer from seed. A 10 foot row should yield about 20 heads of celery. Start harvesting before the first hard frost when the head is about two to three inches in diameter at the base. Cut off the head at or slightly below soil level.

 

Varieties. French Celery Dinant (Chinese celery) (55 days); Golden Plume (85-116 days); Golden Self-Blanching, (80-118 days); Green Giant (95-115 days); Summer Pascal (Tall Fordhook) (115 days); Red Celery (120 days); Starlet (120 days); Utah 52-70 (125 days); Ventura (80-100 days).

 

Storing and preserving. Celery will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Leaves cut for use as an herb will keep in the refrigerator for up to one week. Celery can be dried, canned, and it frozen. Seeds can be as an herb.

 

Common name. Celery

Botanical name. Apium graveolens dulce

Origin. Europe

 

Grow 80 vegetables and herbs: KITCHEN GARDEN GROWERS' GUIDE

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Posted by Stephen Albert on January 30, 2009 under: How to Grow , Tagged as: ,
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2 Comments | Leave a comment

I cut the bottom from a celery stalk bought from the store and
stuck that in dirt. Now I have a stalk growing in my garden
but it is flowering in the leaves. I tasted a stalk and it is
bitter.. I WILL WATER IT MORE .. and cover it as you say.
But should I cut it just below the dirt since it is flowering?
Flo

Posted by: Flo | May 23, 2009 11:55 AM | Reply

There could be a few reasons for the bitter taste of your celery: (1) not enough water--celery is shallow rooted and needs regular water; (2) the soil is not rich--celery loves a compost-orangic matter rich planting bed; (3) it is not a self-blanching variety so it requires blanching--blanching improves the flavor of favorites such as Fordhook, Giant Pascal, or Utah 52-70; (4) the plant is maturing past the tender, tasty stage and is moving on in life to the flowering to produce seed stage (it also may have bolted in the heat if you are in a hot summer region--celery grows best in a mild summer climate). Reason 4 is the best bet since your celery is already flowering. Flowering comes in the second year or season of a celery's life (it is a biennial). Your celery is in its second year or thinks it is due to a cold snap followed by warm weather. So now the plant is on to reproducing itself before it dies. that makes sense since your celery was started from a nearly mature plant, from roots, not seed. The plant is concentrating its effort on flowering and seed production--it is beyond young and tender. If you allow the plant to flower and set seed, you can save the seed and sow and grow new plants next season. If you have plants that are not flowering they will likely still be tasty, you can harvest celery cut-and-come-again--taking the stalks you want when you want them by cutting the individual stalk at soil level or harvest the whole plant by lifting it roots and all.

Posted by: Author Profile Page Stephen Albert replied to comment from Flo | May 23, 2009 12:58 PM | Reply

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