Crisp celery shines as a cool-season vegetable in spring or fallbut you have to be patient.
Just-picked crisp celery from your garden is as close to fresh as you could get.
Homegrown celery is often darker in color and slightly smaller than the commercial varieties available at the grocery store.
Credit:Dean Schoeppner
Heres how to grow celery in your garden.
Celery grows best in well-draining soil with a lot of compost or aged manure added.
It needs consistently moist soil for tender and crisp stalks.
Credit: Jay Wilde
For a fall crop, start seeds indoors two to three months before thefirst fall frostin your area.
Typically, celery seedlings arehardened offand transplanted when they have three or four leaves and the roots are well-established.
Celery takes about four and a half months to reach maturity.
Credit: Scott Little
If you want to harvest sooner, choose a fast-maturing variety.
Celery Care Tips
Celery is easy to grow when you meet its growing requirements.
Light
Celery thrives infull sunwith a minimum of six hours of sun daily.
Credit: Peter Krumhardt
It benefits from some shade during the hottest part of the day.
Soil and Water
Celery does best when grown in well-draining soil with apH of 5.8 to 6.8.
Amending the soil with organic matter, such as aged manure or compost, adds important nutrients.
Credit: Scott Little
If itdoesnt receive sufficient water, the celery develops stringy, tough, or small stalks.
Celery needs around 1 to 2 inches of water per week.
Temperature and Humidity
Celery is a cool-season vegetable.
Plant celery outside once soil temperatures are 50F or higher, and temperatures dont go below 40F at night.
Celery that is exposed to colder weather can go to seed.
Celery needs high humidity levels to remain crisp.
Fertilizer
Celery benefits from ample compost in the soil.
Pests and Problems
Celery is prone to several pests and diseases.
Being proactive and checking the plants frequently is the best prevention.
Aphids, carrot rust flies, earwigs, andflea beetlesare common pests that bother celery.
Flea beetles snack on the foliage, leaving small holes.
Nematodes can cause root gall, which is the deformation and swelling of the roots.
Celery is susceptible to celery mosaic, bacterial blight, anddamping-off.
How to Propagate Celery
Celery is usually propagated by seeds.
Sow them indoors a couple of months before the last frost in your region.
The seeds are tiny and need to be soaked overnight in warm water to help with the germination process.
Cover the pot or tray with plastic wrap to keep in the moisture.
They typically germinate within a week, but the process can take as long as three weeks.
When the seedlings are about 2 inches tall, they can be transplanted to bigger pots.
Harvesting Celery
Harvest celery when the lower stalks are at least 6 inches long.
Depending on the variety, some celery stalks can reach 18 inches.
It grows to 24 inches tall and exhibits a tolerance to bolting.
It is so versatile that it can be grown year-round in many areas.
Tango
Apium graveolensTangois a celery variety with smooth, sweet-flavored stalks that reach maturity in 85-90 days.
This fast-growing celery grows to 20 inches tall and is perfect for areas with short growing seasons.
Utah 52-70 R Improved
Apium graveolensUtah 52-70 R Improved is dark green and matures in cooler temperatures.
The 30-inch-tall plant produces stalks up to 12 inches tall.
This variety is best planted in late summer and matures in 98 days.
Afina
Apium graveolensAfina is a cutting celery with dark green foliage on 20-inch-tall plants.
It is grown for its flavorful leaves and seeds rather than stalks.
In the kitchen, it is used as an herb.
This variety matures in only two monthsabout half the time as most types of celery.
Mint
Growingmintalongside celery can help reduce pests.
Mint is known to repel aphids, flea beetles, and white flies.
Marigolds keep slugs, snails, and thrips at bay so your celery can grow.
Spinach
Spinachand celery are cool-season crops that need fertile, well-draining soil with plenty of amendment.
They have similar watering needs, too; they both like moist soil.
Celery is grown as an annual in many vegetable gardens, but the plant is a reseeding biennial.
Then, you might harvest the seed or look for volunteer seedlings the following year.
Celery has a shallow root system, so avoid root vegetables like potatoes andcarrots as companions.
