Growing celery in containers at home is not uncommon. It is well-said that growing celery in containers at home is more flavorful than the typical celery from the store or market. Celery loves to grow slowly and steadily within almost 4 months under a cool environment. It is advisable for you to grow in late summer in warmer regions before complete winter. In this article, you will be able to grow your own celery in containers at home.
How to grow celery from stalk
If you want to grow celery from stalks or are curious about how to grow celery with water, then get some stalks and cut from base up to 2 inches. This will help to grow a new celery plant from a stalk without getting lost in nutrients. Now take a half-filled with a warm water bowl which should be 2 inches deep. Now put a stalk into it and put your bowl in a sunny place for 5-7 days. It is mandatory that celery stalks should get plenty of sunlight. Celery stalks needed six to seven hours of sunlight per day.
Watering
When stalks start growing absorbs more water in the surrounding and it is necessary to replenish the water every second day.
Celery in pots/ containers
When celery has the roots grown after five to seven days. It is necessary to transfer in a container with potting media. Now, it’s time to transfer your celery stalk with newly developed roots into the outside of the container. For this purpose, remove the stalk gently from the bowl and place it in the container filled with potting media where celery stalk will be grown further into a complete plant.
Celery plant requirements like water, fertilizer should be done very carefully. Celery plants should not get water stress. It should be available with water when it is necessary. Availability of water should be in regular intervals especially in hot summer seasons. It is a common observation as a vegetable researcher that all vegetables which are concerned with leafy areas need a cool and more watery and misty area should be around it. Celery loves to grow where the surrounding soil is wet and cool.
Celery needs a small amount of fertilizer. If synthetic fertilizer is not available, which is also not recommended by me. You should take the mixture of sand, silt, and well-rotted farmyard manure with a 1:1:1 ratio. Mix it thoroughly where it can be used as a potting media inside a container. This media will be incorporated as a natural fertilizer and then you should not be worried about its fertilizer requirements because celery is an easy growing vegetable at home.
What extra care is needed for celery at home?
Well, as I had mentioned above, celery is the easiest to grow but there are some formalities that should be considered as a good gardener. Celery will grow bigger in size when its roots will flourish down inside. so, it is suggested that your container should be big enough to keep roots flourishing easily. According to my a normal-sized container with almost two feet of depth is good to grow the celery.
The second important note while growing your celery is that, sometimes, celery stalk or stem can be susceptible to a common disease which is a fungal disease “Stem rot”. This happens when your soil has poor water drainage capacity and water remains standing in the root zone area over the soil for a longer period of time. That’s why it could be dangerous for the stem to be infected with stem rot.
Now, if you were unfamiliar with this disease and now you are observing a stem is being rotten then you should be in a hurry. To overcome/ control this problem applies chamomile tea over it. Make a paste of it and apply it to that area.
Celery harvesting
When celery reaches the optimum height approximately 18 to 20 cm longer then you should be ready for its harvesting. Celery is used for juice-making purposes as well as culinary usage as well. Cut out the stalk over the head with the help of a shearing knife. Commercially, the plant is harvested with heads holding the stalk and top green leaves are cut out as well and then it is processed further and cleanse with each stalk. But, at home, it is up to you whether it should be cut out with heads or either only above-ground area. Whatever, you got a point.