Do you love juicing celery and now want to try your hand at growing your own celery for juicing? You’ve come to the right place. Really, organic and homegrown celery is the way to go. It’s simple to grow celery, and you can juice this vegetable right from the comfort of your home. So, let’s dig into how to grow and juice your own celery!
If you are looking for a way to boost your energy levels, celery juice helps you to consume more veggies! And celery in particular has many great benefits that make it ideal for juicing. But, you want to put the best quality celery in your body, that is free from artificial fertilizers and harsh chemicals. You can do this by growing your own celery using organic methods of gardening.
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Ideal Growing Conditions for Celery
When growing your celery, you need to ensure that you have the best growing conditions for your plants. This way your celery can grow strong, tall and really thrive in your garden.
Climate for Growing Celery
Celery grows in moderately warm to cool temperatures. So, they can be grown at several different times of the year. You can grow celery in early spring, summer, and even during early fall. But, you want to make sure the temperature is above 55°F (13°C) and not hotter than 75°F (24°C).
Ideal Soil for Growing Celery
When preparing for planting celery, make sure that it has plenty of fertile nutrients and by enriching it with compost and well-rotted manure. The soil for your celery should also be loose and not overly packed. This way your celery can easily grow to its maximum height. Your soil should also be moist but free-draining. Celery does not like particularly dry soil.
Sunlight Requirements for Growing Celery
Celery plants will need at least six hours of sunlight each day. You can allow it to have a little more sunlight, but you don’t want to put your celery in overly warm conditions. Otherwise, it might wilt or even bolt – which is to flower and seed too early.
Water Requirements For Celery
Depending on the climate and natural rainfall, mature celery will benefit from watering 2-3 times a week. Younger celery seedlings will need a closer watch with watering every second day or so.
Soil should be moist at 1-2 inches below the soil surface. You can check this with a water gauge or gently scratch the surface of the soil and check with a finger. If you notice your celery is dry or floppy looking, you can provide additional water.
Fertilizer Requirements For Celery
When fertilizing your celery, I recommend using natural products that won’t contaminate your plants and your body. Chemicals and other types of unnatural fertilizers can be unhealthy for you and your plant. So consider getting something that is organic and all-natural. In particular, fertilizers with a high concentration of potassium are particularly beneficial for celery plants. This fertilizer is organic and perfect for celery. Coffee grounds are also a good fertilizer.
How to Grow Celery From Seed
To grow celery from seeds, you can start them in small containers indoors for a few weeks first and then transplant your celery seedling into the soil or you can sow them directly into the ground.
Ensure the soil is loose and free-draining to make it easier for the seeds to germinate and push through the soil. And make sure your celery plants will get plenty of light in their location.
Sow celery seeds 1/2 inch (12mm) deep around 2 inches (5cm) apart. You can over-sow them (sow more than you think you need) and thin them out later to 10 inches (25cm) apart, by transplanting them to other areas of the garden or they can be eaten in salads.
Water the seeds in gently and be sure to keep the soil moist but not soggy.
Celery seeds will germinate in 14-21 days.
One celery plant will grow around 9-12 stalks of celery. And one bunch of celery will give you around16-ounce of juice or the equivalent of 2 cups. So, consider how much juice you want when planting your celery.
For fun, you can also regrow celery from kitchen scraps.
How Long Does Celery Take To Grow?
It takes celery four months to grow to maturity. You can start harvesting the stalks when they look like a suitable size for eating, or in this case juicing. So, if you want to harvest a lot of celery, plan ahead, and make sure you have enough seeds and space to grow all the celery you want.
How to Harvest Celery
To harvest your celery, the great news is you don’t have to harvest the whole celery plant at once. This indeed was a revelation to me when I started growing my own celery. After all, celery is generally sold as a large whole or half bunch. By growing your own celery, you can instead harvest individual celery stalks as they are ready. That way you can keep the plant in the ground and it will continue to grow for the season.
Alternatively, you can of course harvest the whole celery plant at once. To do this, make sure it has reached a mature size. Consider how long the celery plant has been growing. For instance, if you plant your celery in early summer then you want to harvest your crop in late August or September. At a minimum, your celery should be at least six inches (15cm) tall. Ideally, though, it will be much taller. Most common varieties of celery should grow to 23 inches (60cm) tall.
When your celery is a mature size, just cut your plant at the base of the stalk. This will be a little bit above your soil line. And by carefully cutting the celery at the base of the plant, you can leave the roots and some of the base intact which will then continue to regrow new shoots for an additional harvest. Celery really is a rewarding and productive plant to grow.
How to Juice Celery
Juicing your celery is the easiest part of this process. All you have to do is cut off the stems (the leaves are edible so you can juice them too!). Then, make sure to wash your celery well and feed it through your juicer. I love this juicer here.
To make one cup of celery juice requires about 1/2 a bunch of celery. Or 5-6 stalks of celery.
Using a blender also works though I would recommend straining it through a sieve, strainer, or cheesecloth to remove the celery fiber which is not pleasant to drink.
What Can I Add to My Celery Juice
Celery juice on its own is not to everyone’s taste, so you can also add additional ingredients to change the taste of your celery juice.
- Try using cut-up apples to provide sweetness for celery juice.
- You can also put in ginger and honey to add some extra flavor.
Conclusion
Celery is known for its beneficial properties but unless you’re buying organic vegetables, store-bought celery can be grown with chemicals and other contaminants. So if you want to get the best possible celery to put in your juice, why not grow it organically and have it on hand whenever you want to juice your own celery?
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Further reading:
- How To Grow Ginger: Guide To Growing Ginger At Home
- How to Grow Turmeric and Make Your Own Turmeric Powder
- What To Do With Celery Leaves (Preserving and Recipe Ideas)
- Why is Celery Bitter (And How to Fix It)
- Why Are My Leeks So Thin? (And how to fix them!)
This is awesome, I love celery and especially in juice. I am happy to learn how to grow celery, I like the fact that it doesn’t need watering every other day.
Thank you so much.