Celery...Ins and outs

[Ruler of the Roost]

Hello again,
I am just starting out gardening and no one I know has ever grown celery. However, Celery is a main course in my diet. I put it in almost everything, and I love mirepoix, even by itself. The more I grow my own food the closer to vegetarian I get. So this is the system I am currently working with...I Grow my stalks from cuttings, first by dangling the butt end of the cutting in water until I get leaves and a reasonably long. Once I accomplish that, I transfer it into a small pot until I get roots handing out of the bottom hole, then I transfer it to a much larger pot, usually made from a gallon water container that I cut, spray painted and drilled holes in on top of a dinner plate. I have a creamer pitcher that I fill with water and give each of the mid level to larger plants once a day. I recently started fertilizing all stages with unused black tea packets and that seems to be going well. (I'm broker than broke right now and just trying to get by until I can do things a little more on the legit side.) anyways, any advice on celery, such as how much or how often to water, better ways to fertilize, etc would be great. Once I get a hang on celery I have a design in my head for some hydroponic set ups for it.

 

[Tetters]

This will be a thread I keep my eye on, that's for sure. Hopefully an expert on the subject will pop in and visit us, but until then, the way you are planning this maybe it's the very best way to learn.
If you can post pictures of your experiments and progress @Ruler of the Roost , it would be even more helpful.
I understand from trying to research this subject, that these plants need a lot of feeding, and it is important to make sure it grows quickly, or ese it becomes unusual.
It was also very interesting to me to read @Anniekay 's message about Chinese celery, which might be an easier way to get the best results, especially in a hot climate.
As a PS if I am ever in doubt about which fertiliser to use, I always reach for slow release Osmocote as a first choice. I believe that potassium is what celery needs more than any other feed ???

 

[Zigs]

I'm giving Celery a go this spring, only grown the self blanching one before.

 

[Anniekay]

I had to look up mirepoix. It sounds delicious !! Carrots, onions, celery, YUM. I am going to try making that with my chinese celery ( if it ever gets big enough, that is ). !!

 

[Tetters]

I think from all I've read, that the western form of celery has its growing problems, and I'll leave that to Zigs, but I've sent for seeds of the big red celery which I'm hoping might be a bit easier. That is supposed to be quite sweet and reliable, as well as good raw or used in cooking. We shall see how that goes. I believe that bok choi is the same as the Chinese lettuce that Annie is growing, and I'm not quite so fond of that, but it is very passable.
It'll be good to compare notes.
As far as the mirepoix goes, I've been prepping the carrots and onions by dehydrating as it saves so much space, and I'm doing my best to lessen the amount of frozen stuff because we are expecting a lot of power outages.

 

[Mike]

I'm curious to see how this works out for you. Could be a fun fall project for me for next year. Probably already creeping on too cold to try it now. Looking forward to see your progress!

And yes, photos would be awesome if you can post some.

 

[Ruler of the Roost]

So what I’m gathering is that celery is among the more difficult things to grow and I just had to make it the first thing I try to grow! Lmao

 

[Ruler of the Roost]

Pictures as requested

 

[Tetters]

So what I’m gathering is that celery is among the more difficult things to grow and I just had to make it the first thing I try to grow! Lmao

Maybe so, but just think, if you can crack it as a first, you'll be able to claim ''Champion'' title, before anybody else.

Pictures as requested

Cor, that looks good, are they cuttings or have they started growing? That second picture looks as if it has grown and ''gone over'' already? The taller one in the second pot looks good enough to pick?
I wonder who that poser is in the photo

 

[Ruler of the Roost]

Maybe so, but just think, if you can crack it as a first, you'll be able to claim ''Champion'' title, before anybody else.


Cor, that looks good, are they cuttings or have they started growing? That second picture looks as if it has grown and ''gone over'' already? The taller one in the second pot looks good enough to pick?
I wonder who that poser is in the photo

That’s my stalker. He’s in the window every night, always right before bed. Every time I go out to organize a meeting between him and his higher power he’s gone. Must be a sprite or a dark elf or something.

 

[Tetters]

Phwarr you must be scared stiff - or, um, could that be one of your pupils I wonder

 

[Anniekay]

That’s my stalker. He’s in the window every night, always right before bed. Every time I go out to organize a meeting between him and his higher power he’s gone. Must be a sprite or a dark elf or something.

You need to take the mirror with you for that meeting !!

But, seriously, your stalker looks handsome clean- shaven .

 

[Mike]

So what I’m gathering is that celery is among the more difficult things to grow and I just had to make it the first thing I try to grow! Lmao

Well, if you can grow that, maybe you can grow anything!

I've always been up for trying anything. My son currently has an avacado plant going from a seed he got out of a grocery store avacado. I know many people who have tried it, but not a single one who has gotten a harvest. I'm not optimistic, but it'll be awesome if it works.

I'd think the same about celery after reading a few posts here about it, but I'd still be up for giving it a shot in early fall. If yours works out, that's exactly what I'll do.

 

[Tetters]

I'd never thought about making the cuttings like the Ruler does, but it seems like a good plan, and something to have a go at even right now. I have a north facing cool room here with a window ledge to root stuff in, and I can see a lot of sense in the plan. I cant wait to visit the farm shop again to buy some cutting material - in the meantime when the other seeds turn up in the post, we can see what Zigs can do with those - he'll have two varieties to try. Looks like a nice new challenge, and great to learn something new...

 

[Anniekay]

I'd never thought about making the cuttings like the Ruler does, but it seems like a good plan, and something to have a go at even right now. I have a north facing cool room here with a window ledge to root stuff in, and I can see a lot of sense in the plan. I cant wait to visit the farm shop again to buy some cutting material - in the meantime when the other seeds turn up in the post, we can see what Zigs can do with those - he'll have two varieties to try. Looks like a nice new challenge, and great to learn something new...

What are the two varieties you ordered @Tetters ? Maybe we should have a celery growing challenge; one for temperate climate folks and one for those of us in subtropical and tropical areas. I'd have to plant my regular celery in late summer as our cool season is winter, not spring, usually. Last year all I had was 6 weeks of spring weather then it got as hot as summer until late September.

 

[Tetters]

I ordered these, but I'm not sure about the ones @Zigs already has, I'll ask him when he comes in. I thought big and red sounded good

 

[Ruler of the Roost]

Well, if you can grow that, maybe you can grow anything!

I've always been up for trying anything. My son currently has an avacado plant going from a seed he got out of a grocery store avacado. I know many people who have tried it, but not a single one who has gotten a harvest. I'm not optimistic, but it'll be awesome if it works.

I'd think the same about celery after reading a few posts here about it, but I'd still be up for giving it a shot in early fall. If yours works out, that's exactly what I'll do.

You need two trees to get a harvest from avocado. The first house I bought had them. Lived there for eight years and had harvests for the last six which is when the second tree reached a certain point in its maturity. Harvests were small and it takes seven -8 years for an avocado tree to mature.

 

[Mike]

You need two trees to get a harvest from avocado. The first house I bought had them. Lived there for eight years and had harvests for the last six which is when the second tree reached a certain point in its maturity. Harvests were small and it takes seven -8 years for an avocado tree to mature.

Wow, thanks for the info! I'll let my son know he's better get to work on another then! I assume this has something to do with pollination, similar to peach trees?

 

[Zigs]

View attachment 2374 I ordered these, but I'm not sure about the ones @Zigs already has, I'll ask him when he comes in. I thought big and red sounded good

I looked at mine, white packet, just says Celery on the front

 

[Tetters]

I looked at mine, white packet, just says Celery on the front

It's probably the plain white one like this. That's what we see in the farm shop'