Growing Celery

Apium sp. : Apiaceae / the umbelliferae family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
                  S S  
T                     T

(Best months for growing Celery in New Zealand - cool/mountain regions)

  • S = Plant undercover in seed trays
  • T = Plant out (transplant) seedlings
  • Grow in seed trays, and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 54°F and 70°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 6 - 12 inches apart
  • Harvest in 17-18 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Not applicable as celery needs to be close together to encourage blanching.
  • Avoid growing close to: Sweetcorn

Your comments and tips

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10 Mar 12, Ken (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Any tips on growing Chinese Celery from seed?
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30 Jan 12, PK (Australia - temperate climate)
Gidday, I just moved 2 S'th Adelaide & have a V-small B-yd. I,ve had 2 raise my 5 x 10 plot by a foot or 2. But the 40+ day's r hell, so i,ve covered the area with white mesh & it has improved the celery that was not looking healthy at all. Most thing i have noticed is the water factor, twice a day is ex 4 them, a good watering is OK i have found. so i hope 2 eat them real soon in my slow cooking stew's lol.
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18 Dec 11, (Australia - temperate climate)
my celery have been in the ground for 6 weeks and are really slow.is this normal
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17 Mar 13, Emily (Australia - temperate climate)
Yes, it is normal for celery to grow slow especially if you have had alot of rain ? :)
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14 Nov 12, (Australia - temperate climate)
same! mine's been in the ground about 2 months and it doesn't seem to have grown much more than it did in the first week
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20 Mar 14, Jessica (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Adding fertiliser did the trick for me. The instructions said liquid but my father in law gave me some chicken manure pellets. I never followed up so they didn't grow big fat stalks but the flavour sure is concentrated.
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25 Sep 11, Ray Gambling (Australia - temperate climate)
My celery although wellestablished and ready to pick is very bitter any ideas how to cure this
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08 May 11, Roy (Australia - temperate climate)
How big should the celery plants be before wrapping them in pape or enclosing them in milk cartons?r
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10 Feb 11, Becky S.R. (USA - Zone 5b climate)
I couldn't find Central/Plains region as we live in Kansas. Is it possible to grow celery in our area?
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18 May 10, Nicola (Australia - temperate climate)
I've had some celery plants in the plot for months - initially the older plants tasted salty but some plants are growing new stems. How long should you continue to eat them ? Thanks
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Showing 91 - 100 of 113 comments
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Hello all, I agree with EC sunshine coast and Rokky, I have both seedling plants (garden centre bought) growing nicely in raised garden beds since the beginning of May (temperate climate -Adelaide, day temps range from 14 - 18 currently overnight temps 6- 10 . I started planting Celery bottoms in June from supermarket bought celery bought weekly. Both lots are growing really well. All are planted close together, to promote blanching and structure, some are stringless and some regular stringy type. Now that we are past the Solstice hopefully the longer days will encourage good growth. I treat the growing beds with Bicarb water solution for disease and sprinkle the growing beds with Blood and Bone for plant growth and to keep the local possum away.

- Michael

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