Celery

Does anybody have any advice on growing celery? All I know is the seeds need light...

I started a bunch of celery in November, and though our unusually severe cold fall/winter has slowed its growth (actually pretty much stopped its growth), it still looks like the seedlings are OK. I hope it will take off in the spring. It is all growing in my raised garden, in well-draining soil that has a lot of organic material in it. I also tilled in a couple of pounds of Osmacote before planting last fall. My raised bed is approximately 10x15'.

I don't see why celery could not be grown successfully in a large pot though. Like most vegetables, full sun will give you the healthiest, fastest growing plants. Last year I had beautiful celery from early summer until August. Celery does best when the weather is kind of cool, and late summer heat will cause it to bolt and the edible stalks will become fibrous and thus un-edible.

I thought planting it in the fall would give me a jump-start when spring arrived, but Mother Nature did not cooperate!

We've had rediculously nice weather out here most of this winter. If they can pipe oil across the nation I bet they could ship us some of that extra snow/rain back east! And if we could figure it out we could blow back a little heat! :-P
Anyway, yes, I'm trying to start my celery in a pot, but maybe I need to put it outside where it can get some cool night air? Did you just press your seeds onto the soil, or lightly cover them?
10x15 is a pretty nice sized raised bed, but how do you get to the middle? I made ours 4x20, 'cause when I'm 90 I don't want to have to reach that far!

I used those 12x12" and 18x18" ceramic tile that are used in homes. I had some left over from a couple of my "projects" and found a good use for them. Thus, I have a ceramic tile walkway throughout the garden. I also grow a bunch of garlic and those are in 8" high boxes, approximately 4x6' each. That means not only do I have the raised garden, with a depth of at least 2' at its deepest side, sloping to 12" on the uphill, shallowest side, but also have these boxed-in-garlic with another 6" of depth. The added depth gives me better drainage.

I have grown celery a few times from seed. They seem to take a while to germinate. The seeds are very small and need to be planted shallow. I have had the most success growing them in spring direct seeded or planted in summer for a fall crop. They need lots of water.

Celery is pretty slow to germinate. Sometimes I put the seeds on a moist paper towel in an open plastic bag until I see little thread roots, then I rinse the paper towel onto soil in a pot- they sprout quite fast that way. My celery is cutting celery since I don't like the stalks but love the taste. I grow it in cinder blocke and it does very well.

Thank you for your info... I can't get impatient, and I need to cover the pot to keep the moisture in till they sprout- and I might try the paper towel idea next time.

Kirkkr- I'd enjoy a pic of your garden. It sounds like plant heaven.

It isn't much to look at in the winter. Just those tiny celery, onion, and lettuce seedlings that have struggled to hang on through our cold, cold fall and winter. About the only thing I have a lot of and has at least some growth is my seven 4x6' raised beds over raised bed loaded with garlic. The pictures were all taken 10-20-2013, when I still had asparagus, sweet potatoes, and peppers, but the pictures were taken to show someone how I added those "garlic" boxes to the raised bed.

I think you have a 'raised garden'! And I love your yard in that last pic. I hope you will make a note to update with some pics this summer?
I'm learning to garden in the mohave desert, which has more up sides than you'd think. There are going to be three raised bed along the grey (shower) water line, and I also have this dream that a section of the yard will one day be a pasture for either mini cows or goats. I've already tried to grow stuff in the existing 'dirt' and no go, so I've set myself the task of digging down about two feet in a 4x4 square, removing the rocks and adding organic material, planting clover, rye, something in each square. I'm working on # 3 today. When I'm 1/2 done... Someday.... It should look like a chessboard. And then I will go back and work those middle squares. I can only tackle it in small maneagable sections, or it would be too much.

I've got spinach just barely up, and potatoes that are still trying to decide if they are ready to get started. But I dream of lush green gardens this summer and give thanks that I'm not knee deep in snow right now.

When I first built my raised garden, it was approximately 20' long by 8' deep. I dug out one foot of solid clay and then filled in with what is called "Planter's mix", a mix of topsoil and organic material, creating a very rich, very well-drained soil. It must have taken 4-5 cubic yards. This was 2 1/2 years ago. This summer I decided to enlarge the bed and heighten it. My raised bed is now 20' long by 15' deep and I raised the bed 12". That does not sound like a lot but it took 5 cubic yards of planter's mix to do it.

Our clay is just terrible to deal with. During the dry months it is literally as hard as cement and during the wet months is so sticky and so heavy that it is difficult to pick up a shovel full. Water will never penetrate it. It could be used as a pool, with clay being the sides and bottom, it holds water so well! LOL Needless to say, there is no drainage through clay. Water simply runs over it. My yard has perhaps 2" of topsoil and then clay for 6-8'. Just pitiful ground to even grow grass on. My oak trees do ok simply because there root structure is so strong and the roots go deep and many yards laterally.

Ken

It sounds like you are going to have a lot of fun (and work) building your dream beds and pasture.

You've just made me grateful for my rock-filled 'dirt'! I can practically feel the slimy clay from your description! Now I'm more amazed by the fact that you have anything growing in that stuff! And I know what you mean about the volume of top soil necessary. It constantly amazes me that digging out just 2 inches of dirt from a 4x4 square can fill a wheelbarrow. When we got the raised beds dug out and the grey water line in, and covered with rock, and were ready to backfill I thought just a couple of bags of mix would do the job. My much more realistic husband just shook his head and doubled the number. I even filled in the first foot (these are very deep beds) with the endlessly re-supplied cow-pies from the free range cattle I the area, and still needed huge amounts. But it will be worth it when the gardens are producing, and we are able to save all that money on home grown produce.
Here's a pic of step one of the screening process. Step 2 involves 2 smaller prospecting pans of decreasing sizes to separate out the smaller rocks, then gravel. I've got two huge piles of rocks and gravel for the driveway or paths when we get to that stage.
Yes, definitely much fun ahead, and I try to remember that it is truly the journey that I will remember.