He takes them inside in winter, then because they won't fruit much, if at all outside of in ground in zone 10a no matter what anyone says. They're tropical and need extreme light and heat all year to fruit. I can't get an avocado off pot grown plants here in 9a. Hass are supposed to be self fertile if I remember correctly.
Yes, and I have been reading that fast growth is necessary. They say 140 days between sowing and cropping, which, evidently is the reason for giving high potassium liquid all round feed every two or three weeks, and a constant fresh water supply.
Hi TettersYes, and I have been reading that fast growth is necessary. They say 140 days between sowing and cropping, which, evidently is the reason for giving high potassium liquid all round feed every two or three weeks, and a constant fresh water supply.
We were talking with a friend yesterday who has been working on the farm since he was 8 years old, and he was telling us that the celery crops need to be earthed up - like potatoes. If this crop in fact grows well in the fens, as @blenor 2 has mentioned, it rather backs up the need for water and feed. The fens are so boggy where the rivers have flowed and much of the soil is peaty and full of nutrients.
This is beginning to feel like an exciting and doable project for all of us.
PS.. Hello Iain, I wonder if you are within ''coffee time'' distance from us in Womenswold
You're always welcome to call in. Zigs is usually in charge of the beverages, but I'm allowed to try making biscuits
We are about 20 minutes from either Dover or Folkestone, and only 30 minutes from the north coast towns, brought up mostly in Whitstable (many many years ago) It's probably time for you to think of moving if you are close to London !!
They sent the wrong seeds I got some this morning called ''Greensleeves'' insteadView 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
Growing tomatoes and celery together does sound a very good idea that has not occurred to me before. We already grow tomatoes in greenhouses with various watering gadgets and ample feeds for nutrients. So interplanting with celery is definitely worth a try as we don't have a large requirement. We already grow companion pots of marigolds and I should remember to put some basil in as well. Thanks for these ideas. I'll make a note
Right now I am just trying to learn the ins and outs of gardening. If I can get my celery to thrive I have an idea for a hydroponic set up utilizing mostly reclaimed materials. But I need to figure out how much sun/shade they need, how to grow them outside year round, and how to properly fertilize them, etc. But my idea is to take used car tires and stack them five tall four times over, hole drill 4" holes into the tread every so many inches/CMs, make support structures out of old soda bottles to fit in the 4" holes, and then run a simple PVC system that will automatically load the ground facing sidewalls of the tires with premixed water and nutrients. The plants will lay on their sides so that the roots will lay in the watered sidewall to collect the water and nutrients. I will then concoct a green house type of structure around the hydroponic set up with a solid roof so that during the hottest parts of the day (Freaking Florida) the plants are shaded and during the mornings and later afternoons the plants have access to sunlight. I'll try and make an illustration at some point. So far tea leaves seems to be the 'homemade' fertilizer that works best for them. I tried onion and banana tea and they stopped growing and their roots got all slimy. Had to change the water and give the roots a bit of a scrubbing.
I have my first celery plant outside in a 'pot' I made from cutting the top off of a gallon water jug and drilling two holes in the bottom. Its pretty cold outside, for Florida at least, Staying around the 50's to 60's during most days, occasionally peaking into the mid 70s. Gets around 40-50 at night...I am speaking in Fahrenheit. So far its thriving from what I can tell.I'm finding this whole subject fascinating, and intend to follow all reports closely. As @blenor 2 has clearly attained far more knowledge than me, I look forward to his reply as well.
I do have a thought about the watering you mention, as well as home made fertiliser though, and although I have never even contemplated using hydroponics, my thoughts would be that the water used would need to be 1) moving, and 2) changed every week or two - a bit like water cress. For this I would consider a chamber for the plants to grow in, and another sub chamber to house a small pump - then if anything does start building up in the water, it will automatically clean.
Although I am not sure if you grow Comfrey in America, it does make a super liquid feed, as do our stinging nettles. We just leave the cut weeds in a bucket of water for a couple of weeks before straining it off for use. It stinks to high heaven, but it works on anything!
As long as the celery is in the cooler place I imagine that any direct sunshine would be best kept out, as long as there was lots of light.
I would find it difficult to manage the idea of not putting compost around the roots though
PS My very first celery clone is today showing a bit of lovely green growth in the centre. Thank you so much for getting me started - and it's far too cold to do anything much outside here at the moment.
