Many will tell you that celery is the gardener’s challenge, but really you don’t have to be a professional gardener to grow this crunchy snack. Here are some simple tips to help you grow celery from seed.
1) Plan to plant your celery in early spring. Because celery seeds are small and hard to manage and need for a long growing season, will probably want to start them indoors. Using potting soil, fill some shallow trays with dirt. I use cardboard egg cartons because then I can just pop the sprout out when I am ready to transplant.
2) Sprinkle the celery seeds on the surface of the potting soil. Remember, the more space you can put between the seeds, the easier it will be to transplant them. Don’t worry about covering them with dirt.
3) Water the seeds with a gentle, indirect flow of water. Do this daily and make sure the soil stays moist. You should begin to see sprouts within a week.
4) In two to three weeks, the sprouts will be bigger, but will probably still have only 2 leaves. This is the time to very gently transplant them if they are clumped together. Despite my best efforts, the celery always manages to sprout in close clumps. In order to transplant them, I make sure the soil is slightly moist, but not damp, and carefully pop the clump out of the egg carton. The soil normally falls away and I am left with little naked sprouts which I then replant in newspaper planters, disposable plastic cups, or another trusty egg carton, this time one per hole.
If the danger of frost is over, you can plant them directly outside and space them 8-10 inches apart. They will continue to need lots of water, so it would help the celery if the soil is more spongy than clay-like and if you plant them in the valley of a shallow trench. The trench not only helps retain water, but it will also help the celery grow straight and tall while allowing you to “blanch” it as it grows. At this point, the sprouts are still very fragile and so indirect watering should be continued.
5) Around week four, your sprouts should have grown a third leaf that looks more like celery. Most people will choose to plant them outside once they have added a few more leaves and are about 3 inches tall.
6) After you have planted your celery outside, make sure you water it daily, but don’t over water.
7) Throughout the summer, you can cut stalks off of the outside of the plant and use them. If they haven’t been blanched, they will have a stronger flavor and you will not require as much in recipes.
As the celery grows, you may want to push dirt up around the stalk. This will help the celery grow straight and will also transform the stalk from a bright green, to the more traditional celery color. This process is called blanching and it can also be accomplished by wrapping newspaper or packing paper around the stalk, leaving the top portion with the leaves uncovered.
9) Harvest takes place at the end of the summer. To harvest, cut the stalks off as one unit, taking the top of the root bulb with them. Wash the celery in cold water. If you decided not to blanch your celery, store it in the fridge for a few weeks and it will blanch itself.
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Everyone knows intuitively what a “normal” sunflower looks like. Tall and bright, they take on an almost majestic appearance by the time they’ve grown to full height. Mexican sunflowers are striking in the way they look, but many passersby would be surprised to discover that the plants are actually part of the sunflower line. They look different, they’re shorter, but they look no less regal than their taller brethren.
In this article, we’ll explore growing Mexican sunflowers (it’s scientific name is Tithonia rotundifolia). I’ll describe some of the traits that are exclusive to the breed as well as how to plant and care for them to encourage the best crop.
Their Appearance
They typically grow to a full height of only 5 feet. Some varieties have been known to reach 8 feet while others only reach 2 or 3. In most cases, the plant is relatively short when compared to a regular sunflower at twice the height. One of the reasons why people don’t realize that they’re part of the same breed is because they look completely different. Tithonia have heads that are only a few inches in diameter and they boast a deep orange-red color. Through cross-breeding, some varieties have been grown with yellow heads, though most growers prefer the distinctly sharp orange or vibrant red.
The leaves of the Mexican sunflower are usually coarse and reach a length between 6 and 8 inches. They’re green, shaped like a spade, and have a noticeable fuzz across their surface.
Traits Of The Breed
Tithonia love the sun and grow quickly under full exposure. They have 2 flowering seasons: one in the summer (from July to the middle of September) and one during the fall (from October through the end of November). When grown to harvest, they’ll only yield approximately 50 seeds, a tiny amount compared to the several hundred seeds produced by a regular sunflower. Most gardeners who grow them do so for their appearance rather than their seed yield.
How To Plant Them
Most varieties of Tithonia are extremely easy to grow as long as they have direct, plentiful access to sunlight. They’ll develop well in fertile soil that has been drained properly, but can also thrive in sites that haven’t been drained or offer less fertility. Like regular sunflowers, they’re resilient. That said, they should be planted after the last trace of frost has disappeared; while the plant can withstand arid or dry climates well, it can’t tolerate frost.
Also, it’s important to note that Tithonia are soil scavengers. Because they tend to scavenge the nutrients within the soil and grow outward, they should be planted approximately 3 feet apart. That will prevent them from cannibalizing the site.
How To Care For Them
Mexican sunflowers need plenty of water when they’re grown in extremely dry climates. However, take care not to drown them. They absorb water well and don’t need a constant supply. When you first plant them, you should water them daily. After a week, watering them every other day is sufficient. Also, consider using a compost or fertilizer mix, especially if the site in which they’re planted isn’t particularly fertile.
You may also want to mulch the soil around each plant and stake them once they’ve reached nearly a foot in height.
A Dazzling Display
Because this variety has such a vibrant color, it makes an ideal ornamental plant. When used within an outside garden, only a few are necessary to have a noticeable impact. When used in a bouquet of flowers, 1 or 2 heads in the middle can have an unparalleled intensity. Inside or out, in gardens or bouquets, Tithonia captures attention and makes an unforgettable impression.
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When a gardener sits down to think about what vegetables would be easy to grow, the determination is somewhat relative. The most important consideration is how much experience the gardener has. A garden also requires upkeep and maintenance. It needs to be kept free of weeds because weeds will prevent vegetables from producing fruits, or stunt their growth.
When I think of easy to grow vegetables, I think of things that can be sowed directly into the ground. I think of things that do not have to be started indoors well in advance of outdoor planting, or things that don’t have to be hardened off in order to acclimate them to the outdoor conditions.
For an inexperienced gardener, using plants for some of their vegetables is a wise idea. It will allow the gardener to learn about the needs of that vegetable without having to worry about all the preparations involved in seed starting.
Some very easy to grow vegetables are:
Lettuce – a cool weather crop that can be sowed directly into the soil as soon as the danger of frost has elapsed. Lettuce doesn’t mind being crowded when it grows, so there is no harm in sprinkling the seeds and over planting. Plant the seeds just below the surface of the soil and cover them. Then water well.
The time it takes for lettuce to mature varies according to type. Mesclun mix will mature the fastest because it’s baby lettuce. Romaine will take the longest time to mature. It is possible to extend the length of your harvest by picking the outer leaves and using those. Lettuce won’t tolerate hot temperatures, so it’s a good idea to plant a spring crop and another crop in the fall.
Spinach is a very easy to grow vegetable. It’s growing habit is very similar to that of lettuce. It is also a cool weather crop. Neither lettuce or spinach grow very tall, so it’s best to place them towards the front of the garden.
Radishes are also a cool weather crop, but they are very easy to grow and will mature in about 25 days. Because radishes grow under the ground (since they are a root vegetable,) it will be necessary to thin them after they grow to about 2 inches tall. Radishes need to be planted in loose and well tilled soil.
Onions are very easy to grow. Green onions or bunching onions and leeks all grow from seed, where as traditional onions grow from what is known as onion sets. Onion sets are planted about an inch into well loosened and tilled soil about 3 – 4 inches apart.
Peas and beans are fairly easy to grow. The seeds or peas or beans
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