It takes about 130 – 140 days for celery to mature from seeding to harvesting. However, celery care continues once your seedlings have been transplanted. For greenhouses grown varieties and some seed cultivars, blanching is required so as to prevent them from becoming too bitter.
1) Propagation
Start your celery seeds either indoors or outdoors. You can also start from seedlings purchased at a greenhouse, or perhaps, from a used stalk of grocery store celery. In high North, Alaska being an example, celery should be a summer crop. In hot, humid areas, American South being an example, celery makes a perfect winter crop.
2) How to Grow
Celery is a cold-hardy plant which loves cool weather. Do not transplant too early as this might make your celery bolt. Also, ensure that the soil is loose, very rich in compost, used coffee grounds, kept evenly and adequately watered but not boggy, and also free of weeds.
Celery matures to harvest stage between 130 – 140 days after seeding. Once you’ve transplanted your seedlings, do not stop caring for your celery. To prevent your greenhouse-grown varieties and some seed cultivars from becoming too bitter, blanch them.
To blanch your plants, exercise patience until they double in size from their seedling height and then, bank soil up around the plant’s base. This will prevent sunlight from reaching the bottom half of the stalks, producing a white, less bitter, and also, a bit less nutrient-dense stalk.
Keep your celery fertilized in its 2nd, 3rd, and 4th months. This is done by adding a tablespoon of 5-10-10 fertilizer to a tamped-down area which is dug about 3 inches away from the plant. Above all, keep your celery adequately watered. Inadequate water will make the celery shrivel and become extra stringy.
3) Growing Tips
- Ensure that the soil is rich in organic nutrients
- Give your celery all the sunlight it requires
- Carry out fertilization in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th months
- Water evenly and regularly in addition to rainfall
Popular varieties of celery
Some of the most popular celery varieties are Pascal, Tall Utah, Tango Hybrid Chinese/Cutting Celery.
4) Pests and Diseases
Some of the insect pests affecting celery are aphids, thrips, celery leaftier, e.t.c. Diseases affecting celery plants include; Bacterial blight & Brown stem, soft rot, celery mosaic virus, downy mildew, and fusarium yellows.
5) Harvesting
You can harvest celery about 85 – 110 days after transplanting on the basis of the variety. Once the stalks are nothing less than 6 inches tall from the bottom of the stalk to the first leaf, they are ready for harvesting.
You can slice the whole plant at once or cut off individual stalks from the outside in if you don’t need all the celery at once.
Recommended reading: also learn how celery is grown from stump here
Conclusion
Celery can be preserved and kept fresh by putting them in a refrigerator for up to two weeks. Before carrying this out, remove the leaves, wrap stalks in moist towels, and seal them in plastic bags.
Another way to preserve them is by cutting them to cooking size after which you blanch in boiling water for up to a minute. Afterwards, drop them into some ice, remove and allow them to dry. Then, stick in a freezer bag and put them in a freezer. Also, if you want grow celery commercially, read this guide to growing celery commercially.
