Why is my celery going to seed?

Celery flowers will lead to celery seed, which is a good thing if you wish to harvest and store the seed for flavoring. It is a bad thing for the stalks themselves, however, as they tend to go bitter and woody with thick strings. Flowering in vegetables is called bolting and is a response to environmental and cultural cues. Bolting in celery means the plant is trying to set seed and ensure its genetic material will be carried on into more favorable growing conditions. Is celery still good after bolting? Well, it&#;s not going to kill you, but my guess is you would prefer chewable, crispy stalks with a sweet flavor and not the tough ones that develop after flowering occurs.

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Bolting in Celery

The celery we use today is a relative of wild celery and a cultivated crop. It is a tender perennial plant that prefers partial sun, cool conditions and consistently moist but not boggy soil. Once summer temperatures heat up and the daylight hours get longer, a typical response in celery is to produce flowers. These are lovely, lacy white umbels of tiny flowers that get the pollinators going but they also signal a change in the plant itself. You can try a few tricks to extend the celery stalk season and prevent bolting celery for a few more weeks or simply enjoy the flowers and seeds and start a new batch of celery for the next year.

Why My Celery is Blooming

It can take 4 to 5 months from seeding to start harvesting your first tender, juicy celery stalks. The plant requires a long cool growing season, which means many gardeners must start seed indoors 10 weeks before planting it outside or resort to &#;cheats&#; or purchased seedlings. Soil must also be fertile, well draining but moist and slightly shady. An area with no more than 6 hours of light is preferable. Plants that bloom are doing so in response to some environmental cue. You can nip celery flowers in the bud by providing shade during the heat of the day with row covers and pinching off flowers. Harvest stalks regularly so new ones form. New, young stem growth tends to ward off flowering for a while. When a celery plant has flowers in spite of preventions, it means the plant is not experiencing correct cultural care. It is stressed, or the summer heat is simply too much for the plant and it is going to procreate.

What to Do if Your Celery Plant Has Flowers

There are some celery plants that are low to bolt, which means they flower later in the season than some other cultivars. In areas with early, hot summers, these are the best bet for a longer celery stalk season. Make sure the celery is happy in its home. This means organic rich soil that has been cultivated to a depth of at least 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 cm.), good drainage and a consistent water supply. I find that plants grown in a dappled light area perform better than those in full sun. Cold snaps are also a potential cause of celery bolting as the plant responds to the threat of extinction by frost and wants to set seed to secure its DNA. Watch out for late season plantings when frost threatens and use cold frames or soil warming blankets to keep the plants warm.

Is Celery Still Good After Bolting?

Celery that has flowered will produce woody stems that are difficult to cut and chew. These still have flavor that can be passed onto stocks and stews, but fish out the stems before serving. Their greatest contribution may be to the compost bin unless you enjoy the flower or want the seed. My celery is blooming currently and is a 6-foot (1.8 m.) tall plant with marvelous huge umbels of fairy-like white flowers. It is attracting bees, wasps and other pollinators to help the other plants in my garden and I consider it a boon. Time enough later to compost the plant, I have decided to enjoy its architectural elegance for the time being. If you are impatient with simple visual beauty, consider that in six weeks you can harvest pungent celery seeds, which are a great addition to many recipes and once toasted have completely different complex flavor from fresh seed.

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By Ralph E. Mitchell

I sometimes like to grow a plant just to see if I can succeed in the effort. While I tried growing celery several years ago with average success, I did manage to grow some better-than-average stalks this year. You can grow your own celery!

Celery is related to carrots, fennel and parsley. If you allowed celery to go to seed and develop the umbrella-like flower cluster &#; typical of these biennials &#; you will see the carrot-like characteristics. Celery grows best in our cool season weather.

Accordingly, it is really getting late to try to grow celery now, and for best production you should put this vegetable in as early as October. Technically you can continue to plant this crop on through March, but it is starting to warm up. Success with celery includes sufficient growing time in relatively cool weather. Celery can take three months or more before it can be harvested. Commercially, most of Florida&#;s celery is grown in the southern part of the state as a winter crop.

As it can take some celery varieties one-hundred and twenty days from seed to harvestable plant, you need to get your hands on some started transplants as I did. In season, many garden centers are now offering well-developed transplants right along with the cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli seedlings. If possible, try to use &#;Utah&#; cultivars which are recommended by our UF/IFAS Florida Vegetable Guide. I grew my celery in a plastic half whiskey barrel style pot filled with sterile potting medium. The five transplants in this large container were spaced about eight inches between plants. If you do plant your celery plants in the ground, space them six to twelve inches apart, in rows eighteen-inches apart. Celery appreciates moisture, so water as needed to keep the plants crisp and sweet.

I like my celery green and full-flavored, but you can &#;blanch&#; the plant if desired by slipping an empty milk carton over the whole young plant, or carefully tying the stalks together with string. The inner blanched stalks will become pale yellow and tend to be sweeter. You can harvest each stalk as needed, or take the whole plant carefully washing off any clinging soil.

My five celery plants were more than enough for my needs. I really like celery best as a soup seasoning, a stewed vegetable, and as salad garnish.

One other celery relative to try is celeriac. Celeriac is really grown for its knobby, turnip-like root which is celery-flavored. Grown just like celery, this cool-season crop is used in stews and soups.

Again, if you like to try something different, perhaps celery will be on your gardening menu this coming fall! For more information on all types of interesting vegetables that can be grown in your backyard, please call our Master Gardener volunteers on the Plant Lifeline on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 to 4 pm at 764- for gardening help and insight into their role as an Extension volunteer. Just as a reminder, our new office is located at the North Charlotte Regional Park at O&#;Donnell Blvd, Port Charlotte FL . Please take the Jenks Drive detour while construction is underway on O&#;Donnell. The Plant Lifeline is also now open at our new site! Our numbers and addresses continue to remain the same. Don&#;t forget to visit our other County Plant Clinics in the area. Please check this link for a complete list of site locations, dates and times &#; https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/media/sfylifasufledu/charlotte/docs/pdf/Plant-Clinics-Schedule1.pdf. Our Eastport Environmental Demonstration Garden is always open to the public outside the gate at Harbor View Road and will continue to be in operation and open to the public. Master Gardener volunteers tend this garden on Tuesday mornings from 8 to 10 am and are available for questions. Ralph E. Mitchell is the Director/Horticulture Agent for the UF/IFAS Charlotte County Extension Service. He can be reached at 941-764- or .

Resources:
Brown, S. P., Treadwell, D., Stephens, J. M. & Webb, S. ( ) The Florida Vegetable Guide. The University of Florida Extension Service, IFAS.
Marantos, J. () Growing your own celery is easier than you think. The Los Angeles Times.
Manning, J. & Brainard, D. () Celery. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.
Growing Celery. () Utah State University Extension.
Stephens, J. () Celeriac. The University of Florida Extension Service, IFAS.
Celery https://www.fdacs.gov/Consumer-Resources/Health-and-Safety/Living-Healthy-in-Florida/Healthy-Learning/All-About-Florida-Products/Celery
Salisbury, S. () Duda Farms rules the celery world. The Palm Beach Post.

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