GROWING AND HARVESTING CELERY 
% Celery requires an abundance of moisture at all stages of growth but 
will not endure flooding for any length of time. Seed is sown from February 
to May in beds either drilled or broadcast. This seed must be planted very 
shallow, is slow to germinate and the bed must be kept moist. The beds 
may be covered with burlap sacks until the plants begin to come to the 
surface, when the sacks must be removed at once. The seedlings will be 
ruined if the sacks are left on even one day too long. After the seedlings 
are weil started, they may be transplanted or thinned out to give them 
room to make stocky plants. If broadcast, seedlings should be two or three 
inches each way or if in drills, one inch apart in six inch rows will give 
strong plants. Usually three months will be required for seed to produce 
a plant ready to transplant into the field. Here at Rocky Ford seed is 
planted during March and transplanted during June. 1 oz. should produce 
10,000 plants. % lb. enough plants for an acre. 4 oz. plants 100 ft. of drill. 
Celery plants are usually set in 24 to 36 inch rows, plants placed about 
7 inches apart in the row. Frequent cultivation and irrigation is necessary; 
an abundance of fertilizer must be used unless the soil is exceptionally rich. 
As the plants approach maturity they may be blanched by hilling with 
earth or with boards or special blanching paper. Late celery should be 
trenched at the approach of freezing weather. The trench should be dug 
in well drained soil 12 to 15 inches wide, as deep as the plants are tall and 
as long as desired. Dig the plants with roots on and set them close together 
in the trench, watering the soil about the roots but being careful to Keep 
the tops dry. Should the plant begin to wilt, water the roots without wet- 
ting the stalks or leaves as this will cause rotting. Cover with boards to 
shade and keep temperature above freezing point when the weather gets 
cold by adding straw covered with soil as required. The stalks are gradu- 
ally blanched and may be used during the winter. From the home garden 
the whole plants may be taken up late in the fall, packed in a box with soil 
around the roots and stored in the cellar. Occasional light waterings like 
above described. 
Celery Tall Utah 10-B 
22 D. V. Burrell Seed Growers Co., Rocky Ford, Colo. 
