Celery: planting, harvesting and preparing the healthy vegetable

The crunchy celery variant is considered to be particularly healthy. We show how to properly plant and harvest celery and how best to prepare it.

Fresh green stalks and a strong, spicy taste characterize the healthy vegetables from the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, it is not nearly as common as its family members carrot (Daucus carota), parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) or fennel (Foeniculum vulgare). That should be changed, because celery (Apium graveolensdulce) is not only very tasty, but also full of healthy ingredients such as vitamin E, provitamin A, potassium, magnesium and calcium. At the same time, the green vegetables have hardly any calories and can be used in a variety of ways in the kitchen. With a little patience and the right care, the healthy stem can be grown in the garden without any problems. In this article you will find out how this works and what you should pay attention to.

Celery: characteristics and origin

Most people know the typical celeriac (Apiumgraveolensrapaceum) from soup vegetables. Along with its siblings cut celery (Apiumgraveolenssecalinum) and celery these three varieties belong to the type of celery (Apium graveolens). In total there are about 30 species that belong to the genus Celery (Apium), which in turn are part of the umbelliferae family (Apiaceae) are. The wild form, which originated in the Mediterranean region, was already cultivated in ancient Egypt between around 1200 and 600 BC. Chr. used as a medicinal plant and also served as grave goods. In ancient Greece, the leaves of the celery plant were braided into a wreath for the winner of the Nemean Games, and the Romans also used the herbaceous plant with its intense aroma. However, the varieties of celeriac and celery known to us are only available from the 17th century. known for centuries. There are now nine different cultivars. In Germany, celeriac is still the most popular.

Compared to celeriac, celeriac forms a small tuber and has strong, thickened leaf stalks. These can be short, medium or long-stemmed and come in different colours. The herbaceous plant can grow up to one meter in height and forms double umbel inflorescences. The leaves are dark green and pinnately or bipinnate.

The best celery varieties

To find the right variety of celery for your garden, you can use various criteria Decide: Would you like green stems, for example, or would you like a more unusual color? be? Whether the respective variety is resistant to diseases and how much yield it produces also play a role. Last but not least, you can also decide whether the variety is self-bleaching or whether it needs to be piled up just before harvest or enclosed in a lightproof, for example, paper bag.

The following varieties have already proven themselves in cultivation and meet a wide variety of criteria, so there is sure to be something suitable for your garden:

• 'Tall Utah': Dark green, vigorous celery with 25 – 30 cm long, green, fleshy ribs. Excellent taste, medium late maturity but not self-bleaching.
• 'Peppermint Stick': Showy variety that features white stems with pink stripes. Color persists when cooked, strong taste.
• 'Conga': Fast-growing variety well suited for spring and summer cultivation. Medium green, long stalks.
• 'Tango': A strain suitable for beginners that can be grown throughout the season. Resistant to bolting and heart rot.
• 'Giant Dorato': Large plant with firm, wide ribs that turn golden yellow when the plant is piled up. Strong aroma reminiscent of lovage.

Buying celery: This is important to note

You can purchase celery both as a young plant and as seed and grow it yourself. You can buy the young plants in nurseries, garden centers or hardware stores. However, since celery is not one of the most popular types of vegetables in Germany, the selection there may be smaller. An online seed mail order company, for example, can be a good address for a large selection of varieties. However, if you want to grow your own, patience is required, because it takes a total of eight weeks from sowing to planting outside. In the next sections you will learn how the cultivation of the young plants works.

Tip: Since celery is affected by leaf spot disease (Septoria apiicola) can be infested, which is passed on via the seed, it is important to buy only strong and healthy young plants and to plant them outside. When buying seeds, you should also choose resistant varieties.

Plant celery

As soon as the threat of frost has passed in spring, you can plant your celery stalk in the garden. But even without a large garden, growing celery is no problem, because the green vegetable can be cultivated in a bucket or raised bed without any problems.

When to plant celery?

If you grow young plants yourself, the work can begin as early as the end of February, provided there is enough light and Heat available, because celery germinates in the light, temperatures between 18 - 20 °C for optimal germination needed. Sowing can be done on the windowsill or in the greenhouse. For this you can use a breeding tray in which the seeds are very lightly covered with sand or soil after sowing. Then it's time to wait. After two to three weeks, the first cotyledons will appear. Now the young plants should be placed a little cooler. Also make sure that the substrate is not too damp to prevent fungal attack. When the seedling has developed the second true pair of leaves, it can be pricked out and separated into pots. From around May, when the danger of frost has passed, the young celery can be planted outdoors.

Tip: If you transplant into pots after pricking out, it is a good idea to add some garden lime to the substrate, because like its wild ancestor, cultivated celery also loves calcareous soil.

The perfect location for celery

Celery is a highly consuming plant that prefers sunny, sheltered and nutrient-rich locations. These should be loamy and sufficiently moist without causing waterlogging. Sandy soils with sufficient humus content are also suitable with regular watering. Furthermore, the umbelliferae have a preference for saline and calcareous soils due to its natural location near the coast. These natural site conditions can be imitated by monthly watering with salt water. Simply dissolve 5 - 10 grams of table salt without iodine in warm water, put it in a 10 liter watering can and fill it up with water.

If the soil is not calcareous, it can be finely ground before planting eggshells as fertilizer be mixed. Alternatively, you can work with pure wood ash or burnt lime. Do not forget, however, that despite the preference of celery for calcareous soils, the pH value must not exceed a maximum of 7.5.
Note, however, that celery is sensitive to boron deficiency. The trace nutrient element is no longer efficient, especially in dry conditions and immediately after liming be absorbed – so do not grow celery on sites that are too dry or on freshly limed ones surfaces.

Tip: If you are looking for suitable neighbors for the celery, leeks and types of cabbage are particularly suitable. The cabbage (Brassica) is particularly happy about the company of celery, because its strong smell keeps the vegetable pest away Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) from the neck.

Procedure for growing celery

Before the celery comes outside after the young plants have been cultivated, you can let the young plants get a breath of fresh air. So the planting shock is not so great. After the soil has been loosened up well, the celery can be planted at ground level at a planting distance of 15 - 20 centimetres. Celery has a high potassium requirement. Because it also has a high overall nutrient requirement, planting in a nutrient-rich, potassium-rich soil like ours is a good idea Plantura organic tomato & vegetable soil We recommend.

The row spacing between plants is a full 50 centimeters, which is because it helps prevent Septoria leaf spot. This is because more moisture is created between plants that are close together, creating an environment in which the fungus can spread very well.

Tip: In order to make better use of the wide row spacing, celery can be placed between the stalks salad to be planted. This can already be harvested before the celery starts to get really big.

Caring for celery: Everything for watering and fertilizing

In order to get nice strong stems, it is important to carry out a few care measures. Above all, sufficient fertilizing and watering are the be-all and end-all for the heavy feeder. For a suitable nutrient supply, it is advisable to fertilize the plant twice during its life. Once for planting and another time in summer. Potassium-rich fertilizers such as the Plantura organic tomato fertilizer be used, which provides the plant with a balanced and long-term supply in a sustainable manner and without animal ingredients.

Watering should also be done regularly, as celery likes it sufficiently moist and has shallow roots. It is important to ensure that the water that is not too cold is poured directly onto the ground and not over the whole plant. These measures can counteract infestation with leaf spot disease. The bed can also be covered with mulch, such as grass clippings, to ensure sufficient moisture. The soil loses less moisture through evaporation and the organic material provides food for the microorganisms. Those who particularly love their celery can also wash it once a month with salty water, which per 10 liters of water contains 5 - 10 grams of salt, so he feels like on the coast and thus happy as a fiddle.

Another important maintenance measure is hoeing. The soil should be loosened regularly with a hoe to free the celery from weeds.

Celery: diseases and pests

Even if celery is considered to be less susceptible, it is not spared from diseases and pests. Above all, the already mentioned seed-borne leaf spot disease Septoria (Septoria apiicola) can lead to problems in rainy years. It presents with large brown, gray or yellow-greenish spots in which the black spore vessels can be seen. Since the fungus is transmitted with the seed, it is important to only plant robust and healthy young plants outside. Seeds from unsafe sources can also be subjected to a hot water treatment as a preventive measure. To do this, the seed is treated with warm water at 53 °C for 10 minutes.

The most common pests are the celery fly (Acidia heraclei), but also voles and snails to create the vegetables. The approximately 5 mm large celery fly, which likes to stay on umbelliferae, lays its eggs on the underside of the leaves. From these then hatch the voracious maggots, which eat wide tunnels in the leaves. A close-meshed plant protection net helps against flies or, as a preventive measure, mixed cultivation with cabbage plants. However, a net also leads to high humidity on the plant which in turn causes it Septoria is promoted. In general, it is important to consider: If you tend to have problems with leaf spot disease, then the priority is that the plant and its surroundings always dry off as quickly as possible. For this is suitable as mulching material instead of damp lawn clippings, black foil should be used, for example, and interim plantings or nets should be avoided as far as possible. However, if your location is open to the wind and drying does not cause any problems, it is worth using nets, natural mulch materials and interim plantings.

Harvesting celery: When is the time?

From June, delicate stems can be cut off as needed and as long as the plant is not damaged underground, new stems will keep growing. However, everything must be harvested before the first frost, because unlike celeriac, celery is very sensitive to frost. To harvest, you can simply pull the entire plant including the roots out of the ground. If you have planted your plant in a bucket, you can also bring it indoors and overwinter the celery at temperatures of 10 to 20 °C.

Tip: Some new breeds are already self-bleaching. However, if you don't have a self-bleaching variety, you can mound the plant with soil or wrap it in a paper bag three weeks before harvest. Due to the lack of light, the formation of chlorophyll is interrupted and the spears later taste milder.

Store and freeze celery

Celery keeps best at temperatures around 0°C, so the refrigerator is the best storage option. It will keep there for up to four weeks if handled carefully. Be careful to avoid bruises, otherwise the sticks will quickly become soft and no longer taste fresh and crisp. If you have more celery than you can use, the whole plant can also be stored in the basement, wrapped in moist soil or sand.

tip: The camp neighbors are mainly leeks and horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) suitable. Next to apples, pears or avocados should not lie on the stems, as celery is sensitive to the ripening gas ethylene.

You can also freeze celery without any problems. It can go into the freezer both raw and blanched. For both methods, it is advisable to remove leaves and roots beforehand. Raw celery keeps for a few months. If it has been blanched beforehand, it can stay in the freezer for up to a year.

Prepare celery

Celery can be processed in no time at all. The roots are cut off and the stems are cleaned under water. If the outer stems are a bit fibrous, you can use the strands as in rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) with a knife.

Is the celery vegetable edible?

The fine seasoning of celery can refine dishes in your kitchen in a variety of ways. Finely chopped, the leaves are great in soups, sauces or pasta dishes, for example. The stalks can be sliced ​​or diced and used in a variety of recipes. But the aromatic plant also cuts a fine figure raw. With a delicious dip, the sticks can serve as a small snack between meals, for example, or they can be put in the juicer, where they are freshly squeezed to produce the green wonder drink celery juice. The intensely tasting juice is very trendy at the moment because it is said to have a calming effect on the stomach and drain it.

Ingredients and calories of celery

Celery is extremely low in calories. Since it consists of over 90% water, 100 grams bring about just 15 calories. In addition, celery also shines with extremely healthy ingredients. Stems and leaves contain provitamins A, E, B1 and C as well as minerals such as iron and calcium. The typical taste comes from the essential oils such as Apiin, which are said to have an antibacterial effect.

Want to learn more about celery? In our article about the Real celery there is more to read about the plant.