I haven't grown regular celery before, but I have 20 plants to set out in the garden right now. From what I've read on the forums here, celery likes bogs. Seriously, some people have said that it likes a lot of wet soil. I am going to put out Golden Pascal celery. This is one of the few plants I didn't start myself and they are about six or seven inches tall right now. Last year I bought beautiful celery at one of our local stores for .99 each. Its running about twice that much per bunch right now.

Thanks for the reply. I am certain I can replicate a "bog-like" grow media by using 100% Potting Mix in my self watering container.

What I am confused about is does celery grow within the soil like carrots? I have read to pile up soil around the celery stalks as it grows. If this is the case, do you dig out a "trench" to then plant the seedlings, filling in the trench as the plants grow. As the EarthTainer is 12 inches deep, the trenching and back-fill process during the growing Season will be quite easy.

Raybo

I grew celery for the first time last year. Despite neglect (it was a busy year for us in other areas of life) and far less than ideal soil conditions (silty soil and with little organic matter, it still produced stalks that I could use in soups and such. Had I paid attention to them (they're heavy feeders), I'm sure we would have had lovely, large, juicy stalks like those in the shops.

Have 18 plants in the ground again this year. I started them earlier than last year, so they're much, much sturdier transplants this time. Celery grows above the ground; it is not a root crop (don't confuse with celaric, which is a root). I suppose you can choose to hill or trench it if you want to blanch the stalks, but I prefer the stronger flavour of the green stalks myself, so I don't.

I'm growing Tango celery.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tango celery

I have grown celery many times, and other then mulching real well i have not given it anymore water or attention then the rest of the garden. The only extra attention given is towards the end of the season I will wrap with paper bags or large paper roll tubes to block out the sun and blanch the stems so the are white and not green. White stems are sweeter, but there is nothing wrong with letting them be and harvesting green stalks, i just prefer the flavor of the blanched stalks. BTW you can harvest a few stalks from each plant through the growing season to add to soups or other dishes without harming the plant. Easy to grow in my opinion.

Thanks All. I was concerned that it would need to be buried like asparagus, with a lot of steeping up, etc. I was wrong. Just ordered a pack of Tango seeds to start in July, then put out in September. We don't get a hard freeze here until mid-January, and I can grow Snow Peas all Winter, so I am hoping the 85 DTM Tango Celery will do well in our Fall / early Winter temps.

Raybo

It's a great home garden crop -- stalks can be harvested individually and are much tastier than store-bought. I've grown it a few times and found it very easy, though last year it bolted after a month or so (I suspect because of growing conditions in the greenhouse I bought it from).

Celery takes a while to germinate, requires a long season to grow, and is cold-sensitive. Check out Johnny's growing info for Tango: sow 10-12 weeks before transplanting, and harvest 80 days after that (though you can start picking stalks much sooner).

I'm growing some right now, in Sac. You just need to transplant out so that it matures before the heat hits. I transplanted some out (from plants I bought at Whole Foods) around February 15 and that was a little late. I'm trying again with cutting celery for the fall -- starting indoors. I hear the germination and seedling stage can be tricky.

Mine is starting to have decent stalks (I posted a so-so picture on my blog yesterday). The biggest stalks are only about as big as the middle of a grocery store bunch, not the long outside stalks, but they're absolutely delicious. Celery is one of the dirty dozen -- the plants with the highest levels of chemical residues. I'm much more concerned about the huge amounts of pesticide that's sprayed on it than I am with the little bit of dirt that gets inside the bunch. It's nice to have my homegrown organic celery, so I'll definitely keep trying to grow it.

Here is a link that might be useful: my blog

Thanks, I am looking forward to transitioning the EarthTainers devoted to carrots currently, over to celery as my next Fall crop. The chemical residue, as well as who knows where and under what conditions the Safeway celery is grown. Taking this into my own hands will bring me a bit of "peace of mind".

With 100% Potting Mix, I think I can replicate the "muck field" growing conditions, even in San Jose. Warm Summer temperatures may be a negative, but the EarthTainers for celery are up on a deck somewhat shaded by an overhead trellis roof. I can put up additional overhead shading with some Coolaroo fabric, if you think that is necessary.

Raybo

I am growing Afina Cutting Celery that I started from seed and have put in about 100 transplants. I also put in about 75 transplants I grew of 'Redventure' from John Scheeper's. My celery are growing at the bottom of a slope on my land that stays fairly moist but not soggy. I will side dress with some well-composted manure and mulch with straw. One wouldn't blanch 'Redventure' with paper would one? Or would this still be needed to keep the stalks from getting bitter? I would imagine the stalks might turn out to be a cool pink color as opposed to the lime green or whitish-green of regular blanched celery. Let me know what you all think. I'm excited about growing this celery. The cutting celery has been easy in the past. You can't really eat it (too tough and strong) but it is a great herb for soups, stews, roasts, etc.

I have grown celery in my raised beds, and this season they are growing in the soil. The variety I've grown is Tango. It was really easy to grow. No bog needed. I started them from seed indoors about 12 weeks before I planted them outside. The only "special" attention I give them is a good watering when it hasn't rained in several days. They produce great celery. The best part: No need for blanching (covering stems) with this variety. Just chop off the stalks you want and enjoy.
Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: My Garden

Kim,

Do you plant them in a "trench"? I've seen other posts where people plant the seedlings deep down, about 6 inches. Then (I guess) they back-fill the trench as the seedlings grow. Not real sure about this point. That is why I am asking. I'm also going to grow Tango (seeds on order from Parks right now).

Raybo

No, no trenching. The trenching will help blanch the stalks, but with Tango there is no need for that. It is self-blanching. Just plant it like any other plant.
Kim

I grew some from a 6-pak from the organic nursery. Forgot to ask about the care! LOL
They're fine for soups and stews, but a little rough for eating with p-nut butter!
Can I just cut them back and keep them watered for a new batch? NT

Redventure is the tastiest celery I have grown -- loads better than the green or golden, IMHO. We freeze chopped celery for winter soups, rice, etc. Wonderful! It is a heavy feeder and likes moisture, which is challenging during the recent dry summers in the mid-Atlantic, but even drought-stressed home-grown celery is tastier than store-bought. I highly recommend it!

Raybo, Celery should be mounded up with loose dirt at least 6 inches on the stalks to blanch the stems. Celery is mildly poisonous and blanching helps reduce the level of toxins. The leaves make excellent flavoring for soups and stews.

Celery is a cool season crop best grown either in late fall or early spring. It can handle short periods of sub freezing temps down to 22 degrees, but this seriously slows down growth. Do NOT grow celery in the heat of the summer, it will not be happy. Knowing your climate, you could probably grow it successfully from either December or January seed start. It is best started in cell trays with 2 or 3 seed per cell. The above tip about taking 12 weeks from seed to transplant is pretty close. I've managed to transplant at 8 weeks but the plants are small.

My suggestion would be to fill an earthtainer 1/2 full of a very rich soil mix and set the plants to grow. When the plants are nearly full size, fill the earthtainer up with peat moss to induce blanching.

DarJones

DarJones,

Thanks for the growing tips.

This particular variety I will be growing is Tango, which reportedly requires no blanching. I should be receiving my seeds from Parks by Monday (they shipped on Thursday) so will start in cell trays as you suggest. Figuring 12 weeks to plant-out, that would put me about Sept 5, then 85 days to full harvest, which would be the first week of December. I am assuming I will be able to snap off individual stalks by mid November, right?

When you say "2 or 3 seeds per cell", I am assuming that after germination you would thin to only one stalk per cell. Also, I thought steeping up the sides of the stalks with more (moist) Potting Mix would cause the outer stalks to rot. Again, I am totally new to growing celery - - but I am really looking forward to seeing what works - - and what doesn't.

Raybo

With Tango, I found that it is really easy to get seed to germinate with the paper towel method. I take a paper towel. Dampen it. Toss it in a sealed Ziploc. Sprinkle a couple of seeds onto the damp paper towel. Celery needs light to germinate so keep them facing up. Once they germinate, you will see tiny "tails" coming from the seed. They come right off the paper. Place them on moistened seed starter mix, and they're good to go. Germination rates have always been excellent for me with this method which means no wasted seed. I do this every season with my Tango seeds.
Kim

I have eaten celery grown in my friend's garden in Alaska and it was not blanched and the entire plant stalk was above ground. It was darker green and the taste was a little stronger, but it was very good.

how do you know when to harvest it?

Last year I grew celery for the first time, it was awful. What I didn't realize, there are two types, cooking and stalk celery, I got the cooking. It made good soup, but hopeless for salads etc, tough and stringy.

I have been very interested in this post because I want to try it for the first time this year as well.

I was going to use UTAH. Has anyone tried that variety? or would recommend a different one?

Also, Raybo, you are not too far from me, but you do get hotter weather.

Is it too late to start celery if it gets planted out in Sept/october? hotter days but getting shorter, with cooler nights?

I am growing Afina Cutting Celery from John Scheepers (sp??). I am also growing Lovage which has a "celery type" flavor. The Afina is more of a seasoning celery with a fantastic celery flavor. The Lovage has a "mmmm what is that flavor -- celery??" flavor. I started growing both in EarthBox (the brand name type) and they did quite well. I had to remove the Lovage from EB because it got HUGE. The Afina comes back every year but I put in new plants this year.

Try the folks on the EarthBox Forum -- I'm sure someone there has grown "regular" celery in the EB.

Cheers,
DL