What I'm Planting Week 3: Celery, Cauliflower, and Pak Choi

Have you ever grown celery before? Celery can be a little tricky, but I'm going to share a few tips with you today. 

I'm also planting cauliflower and Pak Choi. We aren't growing kohlrabi or broccoli this year, but if we were, now would be the time to start them as well.

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What I'm Planting Week 3: Celery, Pak Choi, and Cauliflower

​Each week the amount we are planting is increasing. Next week we are going to be quite busy, and planting outside begins as well.

Spring is here!

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The Stats

Pak Choi and cauliflower are planted the same way as the cabbage is planted. They are all Brassicas. I'm not going to go over planting them in this post since I already covered that method in my previous post in this series, What I'm Planting Week 2: Cabbage. Check out that post for complete directions. You can find the stats below.

Cauliflower
Varieties: Usually we grow a variety called Amazing Cauliflower. This year we are trying a different variety called Rober.
When to plant: 6-8 weeks before last frost date
Seed depth: 1/4"
Days to germination: 7-10 days > We keep our house pretty warm with the stove so ours usually only take a few days.
​Plant out: 4 weeks before last frost date

Pak Choi
Varieties: Shanghai Green Pak Choi
When to plant: 10 weeks before last frost date
Seed depth: 1/4"
Days to germination: 7-10 days > We keep our house pretty warm with the stove so ours usually only take a few days.
​Plant out: We are growing this in hopes that we can eat the baby greens which are supposed to be ready in 30 days. We aren't planning on planting these out. We are growing them strictly for some fast growing greens. We can't wait to have fresh greens again!

Celery
Varieties: Tendercrisp and Chinese Pink celery
When to plant: 8-12 weeks before last frost date
Seed depth: surface sown
Days to germination: 15-20 days 
​Plant out: 1 week after last frost date


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This year I am using soil blocks for our celery. My thinking is that the tender little seedlings will take transplanting better in soil blocks. Roots are air pruned in the soil blocks keeping the root sytem within the block. The soil blocks lift right out of the tray in one piece. This prevents any disturbing of the root system which makes for a happier transplant.

​In the past I have used 1020 trays (those are the black trays you always see with the seed starting stuff in the spring). 

I have planted celery directly in the garden even up here in North Dakota, in our short growing season, and had fabulous results. To be quite honest, that is when I have had the most productive results. 

The important thing is that you don't cover the seeds. Instead, gently press them into the soil. Now the trick is going to be to keep them moist. When starting inside, one trick is to cover them with a plastic sheet. Another option is to cover them with damp burlap. Or you can just watch them closely like I am doing. Choose what's best for you.

We are trying to clean out some of our older seeds this year so I greatly over seeded my soil blocks expecting lower germination. I typically plant a tiny pinch of seeds in each spot.

​When using a 1020 tray or direct sewing them in the garden, I make a little furrow then place my little pinches  1" apart in trays and 6"-8" in the garden. 


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​It is harder for me to keep the soil evenly moist outside with these surface sewn seeds and the wind we get. I do sprinkle a wee bit of loose garden soil over them. This is also great place to use burlap until they sprout.

​When starting indoors, once your seedlings reach 2" tall, you will need to transplant them into individual pots or do what we refer to as "potting up." From here they need to grow a bit longer until they are ready to transplant out at 6" tall. 

Like I mentioned earlier, I have had the greatest success in direct sewing celery in the garden. I think my issues were with transplanting, and that is why I am experimenting with the soil blocks this year. I'll add an update with the results at the end of the season.

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​Isn't that pink celery beautiful! What a fun pop of color to add to your meal!

Celery likes rich soil, plenty of water, and protections from the hot afternoon sun and temperatures. This is definitely something to think about when deciding where you are going to plant it. Celery is a bit more sensitive than other plants, so try and meet the above requirements as best you can. The most important thing is giving them plenty of water.

Giving them a little extra water in the afternoons when it is hot will help cool them down, and keep them happy.

Did you know that celery needs to be blanched? Not blanched as in giving it a quick waterbath on the stove. I'm talking about covering the stems while growing so they don't taste bitter. This also causes them to grow nice and tall, producing some great stalks for your eating pleasure!

I have used multiple methods for blanching celery, including wrapping newspaper around them, wrapping cardboard around them, hilling up garden soil around them, and using small sections of black drain tile pipe as seen below.


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So let's take a look at each of these methods.

Hilling Up Dirt:

It always seemd like my celery was more buggy when I used this method. It wasn't that there were always bugs in the plants when I harvested it, but the stems had multiple  spots where something was eating it. Besides this, they were very dirty. Go figure, burying them in dirt makes them dirty.

Wrapping in Newspaper:

This is kind of tedious. First you wrap the newspaper around the celery, then tie on the top and the bottom. 

As the celery grows you have to wrap more newspaper around the celery. 

The newspaper does not hold up to watering the greatest. 

Wrapping in Cardboard:

This is done the same as the newspaper and is just as tedious. The only difference is that it holds up to the water a little better.

Using Drain Tile Pipe:

By now you may have guessed that this has become my method of choice. 

We already use drain tile pipe in the garden, which you can learn more about here. I think it is something every gardener would find useful.

The process for using it to blanch the celery is very simple, and much quicker than any of the previous methods I've used. We cut our drain tile pipe in lengths of about 6". This length works well for planting rings to protect seedlings from cut worms, and it works great for the celery. 

When the celery reaches about 10", put the rings on the celery. Usually the celery has a good growth spurt every time you add a ring. As it grows keep adding more rings. You want to be sure that you leave 3"-4" of leaves exposed at the top.

This method works great, and there is no mess of newspaper or cardboard and twine left in the end. 

We are using the same drain pipe we started with 5 years ago. I'm sure we'll be using it for many years to come.

Alternatively, you could use plastic food containers such as those your yogurt comes in. Remember that the whole point of blanching the celery is to block the sun so the stems aren't bitter.

The takeaway for growing celery is keep the seeds moist, and the plants well watered. In really hot climates, consider providing afternoon shade to protect from intense sun and heat. Last of all, go with the plastic drain pipe. It is inexpensive and will last forever. It is also the easiest method.

Now it's your turn, do you have any tips for growing celery? Please share in the comments below. Or maybe you have another method for blanching celery that I haven't tried yet. Please do share!

Happy Planting!

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