Celery should be planted out using a spacing of 30cm between plants and 30 cm between rows as well. Before planting, water your plants. This should be an hour before planting or thereabouts. Read on for detailed step by step guide.
1) Growing Celery
A lot of care is required when growing your transplants. Ensure the plants are not stressed or pot bound. Celery is originally a wetland plant, thus, when planting out, ensure that the soil around it is kept moist. Without this, you might end up having celery with stringy and bitter stems.
2) Sowing Celery Seeds
Sow celery under cover in March. The seedlings are thereafter, planted out after the last frosts in late May or early June. The young plants are started off early, spending a relatively long time indoors.
To grow your celery seeds, sprinkle them over a seed tray or pot containing a fine seed compost. Avoid covering the seeds as this will block light which is needed for their germination. Place the pot or tray in a warm place. It can be a south facing windowsill or it can be a propagator if you happen to have one. It may take up to 2 or 3 weeks for germination. You may find it too long but patience is required. To prevent the compost from drying out, keep it moist. About two weeks after germination, pick the seedlings out into modular trays.
Read also: How Long Does it Take to Grow Celery?
3) Pricking Out
Fill your modular tray with compost and create a hole in the cells you want to plant close to the size of the seedling football. To do this, gently loosen the roots beneath the seedling using a suitable stick and lift it gently by the leaves.
Place the seedling root in the modular tray and fill the compost in around the root with care. One seedling should be planted per tray. To prevent root disturbance which can lead to bolting, prick the seedlings out and at an early stage.
4) Hardening Off
When the celery plants are about 10 cm tall, move them to the garden and harden them off before planting them in their final positions. Plants which have been raised indoors will need to adapt to the outdoor temperature and conditions before planting them outside and this takes about a week to 10 days depending on the weather.
The most ideal way is to use a cloche or mini greenhouse. Leave the cloche off the plants on dry frost free days and replace at night then gradually, increase the time with the cloche removed until the end of the week when you leave it off both day and night. You may not need the cloche if the weather is mild. You can just move the plants outside for longer periods daily.
5) Planting Out
Plant your celery at a spacing of 30cm between plants and 30cm between rows. An hour prior to planting, water your plants. To plant your seedling, create a hole in the soil the approximate size of the seedling ‘plug’.
It is required to push the soil in to around the roots firmly with your fingers so as to get good contact with the soil. Do not firm down on the top of the soil as this can not only compact it but can also prevent moisture from getting down to the plants’ roots. Water the plants after planting using adequate but not excess water.
Recommended reading: also learn how celery is grown from stump here
Conclusion
It is much better to transplant on a dull day or in the evening to prevent the plants wilting in bright sunshine. Also, plant your celery with using the correct spacing between plants and rows as explained earlier in this article. Also, if you want grow celery commercially, read this guide to growing celery commercially.
