Celery

[Gianna]

Hi, does anyone have a recommendation for a good celery. I'm looking for one with disgustingly thick, crispy, juicy petioles. I know a lot of that is good culture, but you also have to have the genes.  I've grown leaf celery, Utah 72 something 'improved' and currently have seedlings of Tango growing. But I'd like to try other varieties in the future and would welcome suggestions.

Thanks.

[richardw]

What about Karaka www.sentinelsgroup.co.nz/vegetable_seed/celery_karaka_medbury_gardens Its a celery ive breed a few years back, could send you some if you like.

[Gianna]

Nov 4, 2017 2:44:28 GMT -5 richardw said:

What about Karaka www.sentinelsgroup.co.nz/vegetable_seed/celery_karaka_medbury_gardens Its a celery ive breed a few years back, could send you some if you like.

I'd love that. I'll send you my address shortly. There seem to be so few varieties available these days for home gardeners to try. They grow celery commercially about 50 miles from here, but they probably grow a proprietary variety.

I live in a very mild Mediterranean climate that, in my yard, has only had one light frost in 25 years, and rarely gets hot in summer (a week ago with 100F is rare - though who knows what the future will bring) I think I probably could grow celery year round here.

Here is an old thread about celery that I found interesting: alanbishop.proboards.com/thread/6159/nutty-celery

[richardw]

This one will do well for you Gianna. When i first grew this celery it was called Nutty www.koanga.org.nz/gardens/product/nutty-celery/ It didn't do well in my inland winter climate 17 years ago, the first two generations i remember i would cover them with woolen blankets on frost nights and even then i lost 90%, as the years went by they started to handle it better, ended up crossing it with Utah Giant. The last ten or so years i dont even bother cover them and i'm only losing 10%, the frosts make them uneatable during winter but at least they are staying alive now.

I find it interesting how varieties can change even without added new genetics, before i added Utah to the selecting process a farmers market grower i know used to get my seed and he said my Nutty was different to what Koanga was growing at that time even though the seed came from there originally.

[Gianna]

Hi, I just sent you a pm.

I had also just looked up Nutty (mentioned in the older thread) and thought that might be interesting to try too.

Interesting about the genetic drift. I've been growing Romano bush beans for at least 20 years and saving seed. No selection process - if it set seed, I saved it. I suspect it's not like the original anymore either.


This morning I up-potted some Utah celery. I'm growing them in 5 gallon pots with a mix of solarized potting soil, and coir. I grew some bunching celery this way over the summer, and it grew better than expected. It both drains well and stays moist. Because I'm growing off season, having them in pots allows me to move plants into the shade when it's too hot/sunny, as it was last week. They are looking good heading into some nice weather.