celery

[ray_thornhill]

hello i have been given some celery to grow of a mate of mine but i dont know how to grow it can anyone help ps its for our show in september...thanks

[ray_thornhill]

[windygale]

Hi Ray, this is how i grow celery, not sure if it's right but it works for me,
i dig a trench twise the depth of a spade, and twise as wide, and as long as you want, then work some compst into the base of the soil, i plant my celery plants 1' x 1' apart in both directions, then water in.
when they grow to around 6" tall,  i wrap some brown paper loosely with eleastic band this helps with blanching the plant (makes the base stay white) then fill in the trench to give the plants some surport as they will be getting heavy now, dont cover the leaves, start to water now, two-three time a week, add some plant food some times, when they grow to around 12" tall un cover plant 2-3 down and wrap some more brown paper around the plant up to the leaves, elastic band, fill with soil, harvest around september/october time
i hope this is ok
windy

[asbean]

Thank you for that - I put in self-blanching in 2004.  It was quite disgusting, very stringy, even tho they were well watered.  This year I've got Giant Pascal from Suttons, and will grow them as per your instructions.  They're about 2 inches high at the moment, healthy and very wet.

[ray_thornhill]

thanks windy for that,one question do u think i can use piping instead of the brown paper.

[windygale]

Hi Ray, well i cant see that it wont harm, you may have to keep an eye on them,
i've allways used paper,

question, how big of a pipe would you use,
they will grow up to 8" x 10" across, if things go well, (fed and watered) hence the brown paper, it will give when the plant grows,
windy ;)

[gordonsveg]

Morning All (from a dull windy nearly raining again Plymouth),
    Has anybody tried growing celery in containers? Only i`m running out of space in the garden. :-\ :-\.