How To Grow Organic Celery

Celery is one of the oldest root vegetables in recorded history. The plant have been cultivated in the Mediterranean region for more than 3,000 years. Celery root first achieved culinary importance during the middle ages. Celery has been grown as a food crop for thousands of years. It has also had  many other uses dating back to ancient times, including medicine. Celery is a vegetable that is popular with the health conscious. The Italians domesticated celery as a vegetable in the 17th century resulting in selections with solid stems. Early stalk celery had a tendency to produce hollow stalks. After many years of domestication, selection eliminated this characteristic as well as bitterness and strong flavors. 

 How to Grow Organic Celery 

Celery takes a while to grow, so you’ll need to start planting your celery seeds indoors before transplanting them outdoors. Growing organic celery is quite easy if you understand its specific needs. Here are my tips from starting the seeds indoors, transplanting the seedlings, growing, and harvesting fresh celery!

Celery needs:
. An extremely long growing season, maturing in roughly 120 days, allowing generally for one crop per year. The plant will not tolerate high heat.
. Rich, fertile soil with plenty of organic matter mixed in. I always add a well aged chicken manure to the soil before planting and as the crop is a big feeder the plant needs to be fertilized during its growth period.
. A constant water supply and the soil must stay moised at all times. Celery requires lots of water. Provide the plant plenty of water during the entire growing season.
. Protection from hot sun and high temperatures. 

Growing Celery From Seed 

As transplants are hard to find, be prepared to start plants from seed.  You can start your celery seeds indoors about 10-12 weeks before the last frost.

Celery seeds are very small. They germinate best if you plant them just below the surface of the soil, or even simply pressed into the surface of the soil and kept moist. If you plant them too deeply, the seeds will use up all of their energy trying to reach the surface of the soil, and will die before emerging!

Celery takes up to three weeks to germinate. Just be sure to keep seed pot in a warm area where the temperature does not fall below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, If the seeds receive a cold chill, they will fail to germinate.

Celery seeds need consistent light watering during germination and early emergence to keep the growing environment consistently moist.

Once the seedlings begin to show, immediately put them under a grow light, or into a sunny south facing window.

Watch How to Grow Celery Indoors

 Planting Celery in the Garden 

When your celery seedlings have reached 8 to 10 cm in height, the seedlings can be hardened off in a cold frame or sheltered outdoors location and when the weather conditions are good, you can plant them into their final location in your garden.

You can plant your celery into your garden once the temperatures outside are consistently above 50 F. {10 C.}. Don’t plant it out too early as celery is very temperature sensitive or you will kill or weaken your celery plant.

 Soil Preparation 

Dig the soil before planting and remove stones, weeds and add plenty of well-rotted manure. 

You can make a hole deep and wide enough to hold the plant. Set the seedling into the hole and gently fill in and tamp the surrounding soil so all the leaves and stalks are above the soil.  Always plant  your celery seedlings with the crown of each plant at ground level!

Leave a space of 25 to 30 cm between plants. Water plants in thoroughly. Once established, the plants require no special care in the garden. As celery grows a large root system that can find easily water. 

Celery Common Problems 

Leaf spot and blight are the most common problems of celery. Splitting of stalks is a result of dry weather and little moisture . Blights occur most frequently in wet weather and should be treated early with fungicide. 

Watering your celery regularly and frequently is the key to producing a good crop. You have to keep the plants weed free, as weeds will compete for nutrients and moisture. Mulch heavily around your celery plants with organic compost.  As this will help to keep the soil cool, prevents moisture loss and creates a stable, long-lasting soil for your garden.

Celery plants are heavy feeders that require rich soil so you have to fertilize frequently. To keep your celery plants growing well, fertilize with a nitrogen-rich fertilizer every few weeks from planting to harvest.

Blanching Celery 

Early growers found that the naturally strong flavors could be diminished if grown in cooler conditions and also if blanched. Blanching is the practice of pushing dirt up around the base of the stalks to prevent sunlight from turning the stalks green. When the plants begin to grow big, you should mound the soil around their bases to keep them upright and help them to blanch. Never mound the soil more than a third of the way up the plant. Remember that if any soil gets into the center of the celery plants can cause the plant to rot and it will be very difficult to remove without breaking the stalks apart.

Benefits of celery 

Celery is high in Vitamins B1 and B6, Vitamin C, calcium, fiber, folic acid, and potassium. Celery is an excellent source of antioxidants and beneficial enzymes, in addition to vital vitamins and minerals. Eating celery will reduce high blood pressure risks, relief arthritis pain and suppress cancer cells growth. 

Harvesting Celery 

You can begin to harvest the stalks when they reach 8 inches (20 cm) in height. Always harvest from the outside stalks and work inward. As this will allow the innermost stalks to continue to mature. The longer the celery grows, and darker it becomes, the richer in antioxidants and more nutritious it will be. 

Harvesting Celery Seed 

As celery is a biennial plant. It won’t flower until the second year and you can’t start harvesting celery seeds until the plant make flowers. In the second year, the central stalk will thicken and an umbel shaped flower, will appear. This umbel is created out of numerous tiny florets on short stems. Each floret is a tiny white flower that collectively creates a burst of stars. You can wait until the seeds dry and turn brown in color before harvesting them.  Simply cut the blooms carefully and shake the seed into a paper bag and store them in a cool, dark location.

Celery is known as being a difficult plant to grow. But with these step by step methods of growing it, hopefully you can find good success with it and enjoy harvesting as much celery as you’d like. So if you are looking for all of the healthy vitamins and minerals that celery can provide give it a try in your own garden.

Big selection of Celery Seeds from HERE !

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Happy Organic gardening!