Celery Experiment - Need Advice

[galmal]

Attention all celery scientists -

I read on another thread how you could start a new celery plant by putting the root end in water. So, I thought I would give it the old college try - you know Botany 101.

Lo and behold - success!! I have a sprout. That's step one. Now on to Botany 102 - what do I do with it to get a new plant?? I'm assuming that I wait until the winter thaw, then plant it outside. Do I need to wait until danger of frost is over or will it tolerate cold? How deep do I plant it?

Anyway, here's a picture of step one - will post more photos as I get to the next step.

 

[galmal]

Oh yeah, I forgot to ask - what do I do with until I can plant it outside? Can I keep it in the water or does it need to be potted? (Please tell me I can leave it in water, 'cause it's just too cold to go outside and look for a pot and deal with the potting soil, which is also outside!)

 

[headfullofbees]

You will either need to pot it now, or keep it in liquid permanently.
Any roots grown in water will be too weak to transfer to soil.

That's the only information I can help you with.

 

[Pat]

Celery roots very quickly. I started a stalk rooting some time ago but threw it away before it developed into anything. I did a quick search to get some information on what to expect and have posted the link here.

Very easy really and since we do use a lot of celery I think I will try again to grow some celery, I am short on space.http://www.17apart.com/2012/02/growing-celery-indoors-never-buy-celery.html

 

[Claire]

Honestly, just give potting a try. I did this with celery last year but forgot to pot it and it grew mold before I remembered. I'm not sure though that roots that sprout in water will be too weak for soil. This has NOT been my experience with propagating other plants, honestly. Though it takes some time, if you have good soil and a safe place, I've found that just about anything can grow. Just make sure you get some soil that is highly concentrated in nutrients.

Would love an "after" picture if you get it to work!

 

[Shimus]

Honestly, just give potting a try. I did this with celery last year but forgot to pot it and it grew mold before I remembered. I'm not sure though that roots that sprout in water will be too weak for soil. This has NOT been my experience with propagating other plants, honestly. Though it takes some time, if you have good soil and a safe place, I've found that just about anything can grow. Just make sure you get some soil that is highly concentrated in nutrients.

Would love an "after" picture if you get it to work!

This, pretty much. Just try potting it, if it fails then next time try hydroponic celery - it's quite good, and tenacious. I would also love an after picture and a description of how it worked (or didn't) for ya.

 

[galmal]

Thanks for the help. It's supposed to be really nice outside today, so I think I'll take my celery to the potting shed and give it a try. Should I keep it inside, do you think - we probably have some more freezing weather coming - is celery a cold weather crop?? What kind of temperatures can it tolerate?

 

[Shimus]

No, it's not a cold weather crop. It dies in low temperatures. Most celery likes 60-70 degrees during the daytime (or better, if you keep an eye on it!) or down as low as 40-50 degrees at night. Anything below 40, it starts damaging the sprouts/plants.

I'd keep them inside for now.

(keep in mind I rate my temperatures in Fahrenheit!)

 

[galmal]

Well, the weather was nice this week-end, so I sent my husband out to get a pot and I potted the celery. It looks a little overwhelmed in the big pot, but I'm hoping it will grow into it. I guess the next phase is to see if it will grow - or die. I would say at this point, it's about 50/50!

 

[Shimus]

Oh look how cute! It's a nice sprout. Just be overly cautious to temps like I said, or that 50/50 shot is more like 30/80!

 

[galmal]

Science experiment goes tragically awry!

Sad news to report today. After about 6 weeks of life, my little celery experiment bit the dust. I noticed that he seemed to be a little droopy one day, and by the end of the week, he was gone. I told you all I can't grow a plant indoors for the life of me. Maybe, I'll attempt a new experiment by planting it directly outside.

 

[claudine]

I'm so sorry to hear it Your celery looked super cute when it was alive. But don't give up! I'm sure the next experiment will be a success. I'll try to regrow a celery too, it sounds like fun

 

[zigs]

That's a shame, I was waiting for you to come back and say, what do I do with this 4 foot flower when it went to seed

Found some wild celery growing at the back of Chesil beach about 25 years ago, been back a few times looking for it but it seems to have died out

I would have collected some seeds, bet the flavour would be better than modern varieties.

 

[Durgan]

Celery is a very simple vegetable to grow. I plant eight plants each year and have abundant for various uses. Usually I use the plants to enhance juice. I keep the plant growing by selecting the large stalks and allow the rest to grow.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?WNPJD 21 May 2014 Planting Celery outdoors Eight
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?QPBLS 1 May 2013 Celery plants moved to outdoor garden
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?OZEIV 11 May 2012 Celery
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?SWHUT 2 August 2014 Vegetable Juice