Tying up home grown Celery

All,
The celery is growing nice here in Nipomo. I was wondering if I should tie it up so the heads look like what you buy in the store, or let it sort of spread as it seems want to do?
The stalks are 15 to 18 inches high and starting to thicken up.
tim

What a great question! I hope someone with more experience than me comes along with a good answer because I would like to hear it too.

I only grow heirlooms and I try to be as organic as possible. This is my 4th year growing celery. The first year I grew Chinese pink celery in one gallon pots in my greenhouse. That worked surprisingly well. I did quickly realize that lots of small stalks grew around the outside, they kept yellowing, drying up and dying. The plant doesn't seem to need them so I occasionally pruned them off and the plants looked so pretty. I gently tied up the plants and was very happy. The 2nd thing I realized is that home grown celery tastes MUCH more intense then the bland stuff at the grocery store. 3rd.... When I harvested the celery and dumped the pots out 95 days later there was no dirt left in the pots. They had consumed every bit of carbon. Must be why they are so high in fiber! Good to know.

2nd year I planted outside in the garden. All those little outside stalk laid down in the dirt, attracted lots of pill bugs and made a mess. I began pruning them regularly but didn't tie them. But I water with a hose which splashes dirt all over the celery and stains them. Not too appealing.

Last year I tried tying them up in the garden with a variety of things.... string, yarn, newspaper with string, short lengths of cloth.... but the plant is still growing and needs room. And the items all fell down or started to strangle them from being too tight.

I have also just planted more celery. This year I am going to cut the bottoms off some plastic pots that should be just the right size, like ½ gallon and sleeve them over the plants. That will give them room to grow. I can occasionally slide them up a bit to trim the little outside stalks off and check for bugs. And it will help blanch them and keep them clean. Should work well. I guess I'll soon find out.

I've been told that commercial growers plant them in a trench and then hill it up with dirt as they grow. Maybe the hybrids they grow don't have so many little stalks and that is probably why they have to spray them with so much insecticide. (According to the EWG).
Happy gardening.

Hey everyone,

The celery in Nipomo is thriving! Tim here, wondering whether I should tie it up to achieve that neat, store-bought look or let it spread naturally. The stalks are already 15 to 18 inches high and thickening up. Any advice would be appreciatedhttps://bravo.limo/

Thanks,
Tim

This message was edited Mar 26, 2024 5:16 PM

This message was edited Mar 26, 2024 5:17 PM