How to Grow Celery

Celery is a great vegetable.  In my opinion anyway.  Celery adds wonderful flavor to soups, stews and celery tastes great raw with some peanut butter on it.  The best part is that you can grow your own celery right at home.  Celery will take some time and little more work than most vegetables, but the satisfaction you will get from growing your own celery will be tremendous.

Celery seeds are very and I mean VERY small.  In fact, celery seeds are so small, it is impossible to plant a single celery seed.  More on that in a moment.  I would highly recommend that you start your celery seeds indoors for a couple of reasons.

First, celery takes a long time to grow to maturity and if you have a short growing season you will never be able to grow celery by direct sowing outdoors.  Second, because celery seeds are so small, you can take a small pinch, plant them in your starter pot, and as they germinate and grow, you can thin them back by using a pair of scissors to “thin the herd” so to speak.  With your celery in individual pots, it makes that process a bit easier.

When sowing your seeds, sprinkle them on top of the soil in your starter pots and then lightly (I emphasize lightly) cover them with some more soil.  You can expect your celery seeds to germinate in 7 to 10 days.  You will do much better if you use a humidity dome, cloche, etc.

As a side note, I would also recommend that you start your celery seeds indoors about ten weeks prior to the last frost in your area.  That will help you get a jump start.  Believe me, it will be well worth it.

Once your seeds are germinated and they are ready to move outdoors, choose a location that receives full sun, celery, however, will do well in light shade.  Space out your celery starts about eight to twelve inches.  Celery grows best in soil where the pH level is 6.0 to 7.0.  Be sure to take a reading of your soil at the beginning of every gardening season so you can adjust that level as needed.

Fertilize your celery bed throughout the season.  Your celery will need plenty of nutrients to grow and thrive.  Fish emulsion is a great fertilizer to use, but you can also use your finished compost if you are fortunate enough to have the room for a compost pile.

Your celery is ready to harvest when the stalks are long enough to your suiting.  Usually takes anywhere from 130 to 180 days.  Of course that depends on the variety that you choose to go with.

How to Grow Celery in Your Home Vegetable Garden

The growth of celery has been documented back to at least 30 AD. Today celery is grown for more than just food consumption, its seeds contain a volatile oil that is used in the pharmaceutical industry as well as to manufacture perfume.

However, you more than likely just want to grow some as a garnish for a salad or my favorite, buffalo wings.

Here are some steps you can take to add a successful harvest of celery to your home vegetable garden.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5500377_grow-celery-home-vegetable-garden.html

Vegetable Gardening: Can I Grow Celery?

How do you determine which vegetables you grow in your home garden? I was recently watching a television program about gardening and the host was interviewing a home owner and the vegetable garden they had planted. The host was asking what the homeowner had planted and like clockwork the homeowner pointed out that in row 1 they had this vegetable and in row 2 they had another and so on, and that got me thinking about vegetables that we as home gardeners rarely plant.

When I plant my vegetables I, probably like most, plant vegetables that I enjoy eating the most, and completely overlook those vegetables that I eat but not probably as often as the most popular like tomatoes and peppers.

I have recently designated one row in my home vegetable garden to those vegetable plants that I eat, although not a lot of, to help reduce the costs I would normally incur on my shopping bill. Celery falls into that category. I do not eat a lot of it, and one single plant gives me plenty for an entire season.

Celery is a cooler temperature plant and grows better in temperatures 60 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. It is recommended that soil they are planted in remain moist at all times, and it usually takes anywhere from 100 to 150 days to fully mature. If you live in an area like me where planting begins around the end of April to early May, you will want to start celery as soon as the fear of frost subsides.

Now I won’t actually harvest the celery until the warmer months, which is ok, I just know that I need to make sure that the soil the celery is planted in is moist and receives little sunlight during the day so I make sure I plant it in a shadier area of my garden. If you don’t have a shaded area you can cover leaves with newspaper.

You will know it is time to harvest the celery when the stalks look light yellow. When that occurs cut the plant off just above the roots and you are all set.

Celery is just one of those vegetables that you might not have thought of when it comes to planting produce that you like to eat. Can you think of some others that you eat yet not a lot of? Remember a seed for a vegetable plant can produce hundreds of dollars worth of product and costs just a few cents per seed. So use your home vegetable garden this season to save a few bucks and plant those rare vegetables that you eat only once in a while.

About the Author
Michael is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person, a practical easy to follow guide for the home vegetable gardener. You can follow him on Twitter as well as join his Facebook Fan Page.