In this guide you will learn how to grow celery in different ways and therefore choose the method that’s best for you.
Did you know that ancient Romans used celery as an aphrodisiac? Apparently, eating celery was believed to boost one’s sex drive and increase the pheromones of males. On the other hand, it was used in ancient Greece as a bouquet of flowers. For the winners of athletic games.
A type of celery that’s different from what we know today. Has also been used in ancient Greek funerals to honor the dead. Due to its strong smell and dark color, which they believed was associated with death and the Underworld.
But let’s just get it out there: celery is definitely not an easy plant to grow. It’s, in fact, considered a gardening challenge to grow celery due to its long growing season and low tolerance for heat and cold. In other words, it always has to be at the right temperature if you want it to grow well.
How to Grow Celery from Seed
Celery seeds need to be started indoors. At least two months before your area’s last frost date since the growing period for celery takes a while.
Celery seeds are very tiny and may therefore be a little tricky to plant. One way to make it easier is through mixing the seeds with sand. Then sprinkling the mix over potting soil. Cover the sand-seed mix with a little bit of soil since celery seeds prefer to be shallowly placed in the soil.
When the seeds sprout into seedlings that are large enough to be transplanted, thin them out or carefully prick them and put them in their respective pots.
Transplanting the seedlings outdoors require a constant temperature of 50ºF (10ºC). Celery is very sensitive to temperature, so planting them too early out might kill or weaken them significantly.
Place your plant on an area in your garden where it can get about 6 hours of sun, although preferably shaded during the hottest part of the day. Always remember to plant your celery in nutrient-rich soil to meet its demands.
As if being temperature sensitive wasn’t enough, celery also can’t tolerate any drought. Always check to see if the soil is evenly moist, and water them if they start feeling dry. If you don’t keep the soil consistently moist, it will have noticeable effects in terms of the taste of your celery.
And that’s basically how to grow celery from seed.
How to Grow Celery in Water
You also have the option to start growing celery from fresh green stalks. Learning how to grow celery in water may also prove to be easier for you, so it might be nice to give it a try. Celery won’t survive mainly in water, so you’d still eventually need to transplant it onto soil.
All you have to do is buy a bunch of fresh celery with its stalks still attached to and held together by the base. Cut the stalks away from the base and wash the base. This is all you need to grow celery.
Then, fill a bowl with warm water to help with germination. Put the base cut side up in the water and place it near a window to get natural light. Change the water every day and let it soak for a week to encourage new growth.
After this, you should start seeing tiny sprouts, which means it’s ready to be transplanted to an 8-inch deep pot with drainage holes. Fill the pot with fresh potting soil up to 2/3.
Remove your base from water and plant it onto your pot. Cover it with a little soil so that only the sprouts are visible. Spray it with water to keep the soil moist. Keep the soil evenly moist as the plant grows. Mulch helps lock in moisture.
Leaves of celery need much sunlight, although its stalks appreciate more shade. To know the best place to put your pots in, you can put it out on your balcony or porch during the morning, put it inside during noontime, and then leave it out overnight.
New growth might take a while to happen, so just be patient. The 5-month wait is really part of learning how to grow celery.
Harvesting Celery
The general window for harvesting celery is around 3-5 months after transplanting it, before temperatures drastically soar again.
Once your stalks are at least 6 inches high measuring from the soil to the first node, you can begin harvesting celery, given that the stalks are still close together. Harvesting celery is done by cutting below where the stalks are joined. This is how you usually see celery being sold in markets as opposed to just individual stalks.
Leaves can also be harvested if you’re only using them for soups. Use sharp and clean garden scissors to cut off the leaves of your celery plant.
You can choose to not completely harvest your celery plant, especially if you’re planning to have seeds to plant for the next season. Not harvesting celery on the short harvest window allows it to mature into flowers and eventually develop seeds.
Conclusion
There are a lot of uses for celery in the kitchen, but in the ancient times, it was actually originally used for medicinal purposes such as treating toothaches, insomnia, and even anxiety. It still provides a lot of health benefits today such as relieving heartburn and lowering cholesterol.
This is probably why people always say to “eat your greens”, and rightfully so, because vegetables really provide us with a lot of health benefits that we usually just overlook but prove to be vital in our overall well-being.
And it doesn’t have to taste like punishment every time our parents force us to eat vegetables. Celery tastes great in soups and salads. It’s also a part of many keto-friendly dishes and is even recommended for consumption due to its low calories and high fiber, which is exactly what the keto diet requires.
While celery may not be the easiest crop to grow, it’s still worth a shot as it has a lot of uses in the kitchen and in overall health. Now that you’ve learned how to grow celery, five months wouldn’t be too long a wait, especially once you see your plant becoming mature enough for harvest.
I bet that after your first harvest, you’d want to grow it again. Happy gardening!
Read my other post on Sustainable backyard gardening and Urban gardening.
