Celery Seeds - Living Web Farms Ventura

Minimum Seeds per Packet: 170

Packet Weight: 0.1g

Planting Season: Spring or Fall

Sowing Method: Transplant

Seed Depth: Surface

Direct Seed Spacing: N/A

Soil Temperature: 60-75 ℉

Days to Sprout: 7-21

Mature Spacing: 8-14"

Sun Requirement: Full Sun

Frost Tolerance: Moderately Tolerant

Days to Harvest: 80

When to Seed Celery

Celery seeds love a long, cool season so starting them indoors ahead of time is essential. Start celery seeds indoors about ten to 12 weeks before your first or last frost date. In the spring, plant them outdoors when the temperatures will reliably not drop below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Where to Plant Celery 

Choose a nutrient rich garden bed (or mix in plenty of organic matter ahead of planting) for your celery starts. They’ll need a spot with full sun - but they actually can withstand soil that isn’t particularly well draining. They are descendants of bog-dwelling plants so use this to your advantage! 

Growing Celery

Consider soaking your seeds in water overnight ahead of planting time. This can help boost germination. Sow seeds on the surface of the soil. Do not cover them, but gently press them into the soil to ensure seed to soil contact. They require light to germinate so if they’re covered in soil they will not sprout. You’ll start to see sprouts between one and three weeks from planting. It is essential to harden off your plants ahead of transplanting them, and once transplanted - consider utilizing row cover to protect your crop from pests. You’ll want to keep your celery consistently watered and be sure not to disturb the shallow roots. Mulching can help here. 

Harvesting Celery

Once the stalks are large enough, you can begin harvesting by picking a few stalks from the outer side of each plant as needed.

Celery (Apium graveolens) is an insect-pollinated biennial. In order to save pure seed, different varieties of celery and celeriac should be isolated from one another by 800 feet to 1/2 mile, depending on what kind of physical barriers are between crops. As a biennial, celery requires a period of cold (called vernalization) followed by warmer weather to trigger flowering. Sometimes this can be accomplished by planting out a crop early in spring, when temperatures are still regularly below 50 degrees F. A celery seed crop can also be overwintered in certain climates by thickly mulching and protecting the crop with row cover. Growers in very cold regions may have to pot up and store their celery plants in a root cellar to successfully vernalize them over the winter. 

To harvest the seeds, cut whole flowering stalks once about two thirds of the seeds have turned brown, and bring them indoors to finish drying for up to two weeks. Once the seed heads are totally dry, gently brush the seeds out with your fingers. Mature seeds will detach easily. Store your seeds in a sealed container in a dark, dry, and cool location.