To grow celery in Florida you need to plant in the cooler months.
Celery needs day time temperatures to be around 70°F in order to thrive. Celery also needs lots and lots of water and at least 3 months of these conditions. These reasons make it difficult to grow celery in Florida. North Florida will have the best luck.
Celery grown from home is supposed to blow grocery store celery out of the water. I’ve never grown celery so I can’t speak from experience but I will certainly be giving it a go this season. Read on to find out different varieties of celery and things to look out for.
Florida Friendly Varieties
Certain varieties of celery can take up to 5-6 months in order to be ready for harvesting. In Florida, we don’t have a window that large of ideal conditions for celery to grow.
So, we must choose faster-maturing varieties.
- Conquistador – 80 days to maturity
- Giant Pascal – 110 days to maturity
- Golden Pascal – 110 days to maturity
- Giant Red – 80 days to maturity
Conquistador and Giant Red are the fastest to mature and would be the varieties that I would suggest for central and South Florida gardeners trying to grow celery.
Golden Pascal is a really cool looking yellow celery. It’s a very tender and no so stringy celery.
When To Plant Celery In Florida
Celery doesn’t like the heat but it also doesn’t like the cold. Anything below 40°F and celery will begin to die back. Celery needs the weather to be just right in order to grow. This makes it difficult to grow in Florida’s warm weather. The best time to plant is as soon as the intense summer heat has left.
- North Florida: Mid to Late August
- Central Florida: Early September
- South Florida: Early October
These dates are just guidelines and you may have to alter them depending on the weather. If you’ve had a particularly long and hot summer you may want to wait a little bit to plant.
Can I Grow Celery From A Stalk?
You will have a better chance at growing celery from a stalk if you know that it has come from a local source. Small farmers markets and local small farms are the best places to find these.
If you cut the bottom end off and place it in a cup of water you will notice some new growth pop up. Roots will start to emerge and at this point, you can try transplanting.
If planting from seed you need to know that Celery seeds are very very tiny. This is one of the reasons that the germination rate on these seeds are low.
When starting from seed its best to just sprinkle them over the top of your soil. You don’t really want to cover the seeds with much dirt if any at all.
Celery seeds are also difficult to start because they need constant moisture. Any sign of the dirt drying up and it’s probably already too late. It’s a good idea to start them in seed trays so that you can keep them constantly moist.
Growing Celery In Florida
It is difficult to grow celery in Florida. for this reason, most home gardeners will avoid planting celery.
To grow celery you will need an area with part shade. Hopefully, the shade could be cast during the warmest parts of the day. This will help lower the temperature around the plant.
You will also need a spot with well-draining organic-rich soil.
Don’t forget the mulch, especially when it comes to celery. The celery plant has very shallow roots and needs to have the soil constantly moist. A thick layer of mulch will be your best friend. Supplying this plant with enough water is a challenge that many home gardeners don’t enjoy.
Drip hoses set to timers would be a good option to combat this challenge.
If celery is mature and the soil is allowed to go dry, the stalks will become tough and stringy. So tough that you may not be able to eat them raw.
Fertilizing Celery
Celery benefits from a well-balanced fertilizer applied at a steady rate after two sets of true leaves have grown.
Since celery has shallow roots it benefits greatly from regular fertilizing. Every 1-2 weeks I would apply a water-soluble fertilizer to celery. Something like Jobe’s Organic All-purpose fertilizer (Check price) which is a 5-2-3 would work just fine.
Harvesting Celery
Depending on the variety that you choose to grow, you can expect to for your celery to be fullt mature anywhere from 80 – 140 days after plantings.
Celery stalks are actually edible at any stage of growth so you don’t have to wait the full time but you also don’t want to be eating baby sized celery stalks either.
Harvest if you think particularly warm or cold weather is on the way.
How To Grow Celery In Florida
- It is not easy to grow celery in Florida
- Plant varieties that are quick to grow. Conquistador and Giant red are the fastest growers.
- Plant in during the late summer to early fall time.
- Ensure that celery stays well watered throughout its whole life.
- Starting seedlings can be challenging because they must stay consistently moist and they are very tiny.
- Fertilize regularly with a well-rounded fertilizer.
- Harvest as soon as you think stalks are a reasonable size.
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