Grower’s Corner – Celery
Celery has always been seen as a difficult crop to grow and there’s a lot of truth to the myth, partially because traditional varieties needed perfect conditions and quite a lot of regular attention: planting in deep well-conditioned trenches to which layers of soil had to be added regularly to blanch the green stems white. Celery, and celery production, have both changed, and now you can get self-blanching varieties (which means that do not need earthing up to produce tender white stems) They are still something of a problem to germinate though, so unless you are an experienced vegetable gardener, it’s wise to make your first experiments with celery using ready-grown seedlings which can be planted out in May or June.
Self-blanching varieties that you should find as seeds or seedlings include:
- 'Galaxy' – very tender taste
- 'Tango ' - long green stems
- 'Golden self-blanching ' - yellow foliage and cream stalks, some people think it looks a bit ‘unwell’ but it tastes great
- 'Loretta' - thicker, sweeter stems – very popular with children
- 'Green Utah' - crisp, smooth stems, excellent for cooking
It’s a crop with definite preferences, which are a moisture-retentive, well-drained soil in a sunny spot. This makes it an ideal crop for the allotment, but with the self-blanching varieties, you’ll often find a mini-row can be squeezed into the standard garden or you can try sticking the odd plant into a border because they are quite decorative. It is said that you can grow celery in very deep, long pots, like troughs, but this does require pretty well daily attention for fear of drying out.
Dig the soil in the spring, removing big stones and any weeds and incorporating plenty of garden compost or well-rotted manure. Then, a week to ten days before planting, rake a general purpose granular fertiliser into the surface layer of the bed.
Assuming you decide to buy seedlings, try to get them when they are between three and five inches tall so that you can be in charge of the hardening off process. Once they get past five inches they should be hardened off, but it’s better to get them earlier and acclimatise them yourself so you can be sure they are properly ready for outdoor growth. Do this placing the seedlings in a cold frame or sheltered, but shaded place outdoors for the day and back inside in the evening, then leaving them out both day and night, before planting them out permanently
For perfect plants with lots of well-branched sticks you need to set your celery seedlings ten inches apart and with the crown of the plant at ground level. Plants will grow better if they are arranged in a grid pattern or a staggered row, rather than planted in long rows.
You must keep celery well-watered! If you are growing in containers, this means watering from the bottom and checking every single day – the soil a finger’s depth in the pot or trough should be damp. It’s also important to keep the area around them free of weeds. Plants can be given a boost by feeding with a liquid fertiliser about a month after planting. Self-blanching celery will be ready for picking from August until the first frosts. To harvest, simply lift plants as required using a hand fork, taking care not to damage neighbouring plants.
Celery photographs by kramerhawks and apium, used under a creative commons attribution licence