Anyone Ever Grown Celery In A Home Garden??
 

I just used the "Search" function here, and after reading 4 pages of Posts, I can't find any Threads of TV members successfully growing their own Celery in a home garden. What prompts my question is that I just returned from the local Safeway, and their celery is selling for $2.50 for a small bunch of stalks today.

That, coupled with the contamination concern I have when looking at all that dirt inside store-bought celery stalks, and where this stuff was grown / fertilized has prompted me to research if I can grow my own celery. I am currently growing carrots in EarthTainers with pretty decent results:

[IMG]http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af179/rnews/IMG_2837.jpg[/IMG]

So, does anyone have recommendations as to the considerations to be researched when growing celery? Cool weather (Spring) or warm weather crop? Moisture requirements? Varieties that you have had success with, etc.

thanks,

Raybo:)

Deep soil!!!! At least 4 feet to grow good celery (in my experience)....difficult to come-by in this area.

I made some special beds, but it was hardly worth it in the end.

~Dig

Hi. I grew all my own celery in the Uk but haven'te since I cam home 2 years ago. I used to start them in pots and plant out 8 weeks later, I had a prepared trench ready about 15 ins deep,x12 ins wide, in the bottom I put a few inches of well rotted manure, then some good soil on top, planted in that and filled in the trench, they need lots of water, they are bog plants. Seeds fall into two types, ones that you must blanch yourself when growing and self blanching ones , so if you are looking for seeds bear in mind there are two types and many varieties of each. Do you want open pollinated varieties? They want to be fairly close together when growing so about 8 iinches apaer is about right. Let em know if I can help you further XX Jeannine

I may have some spare seeds

Thanks all for the responses.

The Potting Mix in the SWC EarthTainers is quite loose, and if I use 100% Potting Mix (without Microbark nor Perlite) I think I can replicate a "bog-like" moisture environment.

I've just ordered a pack of Tango hybrid seeds with an 85 DTM. As we have a mild Winter here (first hard freeze in mid January) I will start the seeds in July with plant out in September for a Fall / early Winter harvest.

Raybo:D

Ray, I've grown celery for a couple of years with reasonable success. As Jeannine notes, they need a LOT of water. Actually, my best success last year was in a long planter under my walkway (mostly shade) and daily waterings. Of course, did not get the long legged blanched beauties one finds in the produce department (for $2.50 and upwards), but they were reasonably sized plants with a lot of flavour, in fact I was still using them fresh in October, then cut it all and froze and dehydrated it for winter soups. A friend of mine in a slightly colder region always digs up a few of his garden celery plants and re-plants into large wooden boxes which he keeps in a root cellar where they do quite well into the spring. It's always worth a try!

I've been growing celery for several years and am still trialing different varieties, locations, etc. I've had success in both Mel's mix in a raised bed as well as in the ground but celery likes rich, moist soil. The small plants may bolt if set out when temps are still steadily at 50 or lower and seem to grow steadily through the summer. I plant out in late April after 12 weeks indoors and again around the beginning of July for a fall harvest. You can harvest all at once or take stalks from the outside. Slugs and snails have been a problem with all the methods I've tried to blanch the stalks so far. Tango and Ventura have been the best for me so far, but I'm also trialing Victoria this year.

I tried to grow celerey last year, God awful stuff!
Found out later there are two distinct types that are available.
Cooking and stalk! If you want it for salads then DON'T grow the cooking stuff, it's foul, not bad when used in soups, but terrible on it's own.
Trying the stalk variety this year, smells better!

Ray,Not to hijack this thread but any initial comments on your carrots?

[QUOTE=dokutaaguriin;216981]Ray,Not to hijack this thread but any initial comments on your carrots?[/QUOTE]

Kind of a mixed feedback on the carrots in EarthTainers. While as you can see from the above photo they are quite prolific, I had expected a significant taste advantage over store-bought carrots. While the Tendersweet variety has been tasty, it has not given me a "knock-your-socks-off" taste improvement. Second, I can buy at the store Baby Carrots in 1 pound bags for a Dollar everyday. So if I set the Tendersweet Carrots at a "10" for reference, then supermarket Baby Carrots in the bag are in my view, a "9.7".

Conclusion is that the EarthTainers dedicated to the carrots *could* be better utilized growing vegetables that have both a noticeable taste advantage, as well as have a good R.O.I. (cost / benefit payback). Case in point, with the store bought celery at $2.50 per bunch today and assuming I can get a yield of 15 bunches per 'Tainer, that yields about a $37.00 payback per crop / (2 crops per calendar year). This compares to about a $10.00 payback per 'Tainer from growing the carrots.

Again, cost is not the primary issue, as taste, food safety, availability, etc. are higher in ranking - - but carrots are not in the top priority to grow in the future for me. Peppers, tomatoes, Snow Peas, and celery seem to offer a higher R.O.I. in my assessment.

Raybo:)

I tried once but despite all my watering efforts it was entirely too dry upon harvest. Don't know what happened exactly. I surmised it was not a good choice fro my zone but am not sure I am right about that.

Hi Raybo,

I grow celery all year round in pots and step gardens. It is very prolific down here but I had 0 success with snow peas. I think it is just too hot for them here, they germinate fine but then die off when they get about 4 inches long. Maybe geothermal cooling could help...

I remember driving along miles of muck fields growing celery outside Oswego New York when I was a kid, and remember that black dirt. I think if I use 100% peat based Potting Mix for the grow media, I can replicate this constantly moist environment. The steady water wicking from the reservoir should also keep the celery "happy". Anyway, something new to grow for me, and the reduction in chemical residue on commercially grown celery is a big advantage.:yes:

Raybo:D

Mixed results with celery here. Perhaps my beds weren't deep enough,
perhaps I didn't water enough. However, they are biennials and I
kept them until the following year for seed. Home grown celery seed
is a wonderful smelling/tasting addition to your spice cabinet! Round
two is flowering this year, and should be harvested in about 4 weeks!


Lee

I'm trying it this winter. I think I'm just going to try a cutting variety. Maybe some stalks, but not blanched as it will only be cooked for soups and stews.
I understand that a lot of it is grown in Yuma, AZ in the winter. A few people in Phoenix have had success with cutting types. I use a lot for soups and don't want to spend the prices for organic celery. I guess celery is one of the worst veggies for pesticide residue.

Lee, glad to hear that you had such good results with seed production. I tried, but my celery planter did not come through the winter as well as the parsley and others stored in the garage. Will definitely try again. Actually had one flat leaf parsley plant survive in the garden, those flowers will attract a lot of beneficials.