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22 Aug 17 Eileen Stowers (New Zealand - temperate climate)

Just a query. How is celery grown in NZ. ? When we lived in UK (many years ago) we used to dig a trench and when the celery was showing above the ground it was wrapped in news paper up to the leaves and then increased as the plant grew. This meant that most of the stalks were white and crisp but we find that the NZ celery is stringy and dark green on the outside . Is this to do with the climate or method of cultivating ? Also my father used to empty the soot from the chimney round the plants at a short distance away from the roots. (I know this would not be an option here ) !!!! but maybe there is an alternative.

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17 Jan 19 Mike Logan (New Zealand - temperate climate)

Celery is grown close together to stop the sunlight from reaching the stalks and lower leaves. If it receive lots of sunlight the stalks go green. You can use different ways to stop it as you said happens in UK. If you grow good big celery you pull the outside 10 or so stalks off to expose the lighter coloured stalks.

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