Crops › Celery
How to grow Celery
in the UK
Sow March to April, plant out May to July, harvest August to November. About 140 days from seed to plate.
Celery. Ah, celery. It's a proper challenge this one, to be honest, but there's nothing quite like the crunch of your own home-grown stalks. It asks a lot from you, mind, needs looking after, but it's well worth the effort for that fresh taste from the plot.
Sowing
Celery seeds are tiny, you know, and they need a bit of warmth to get going. Sow them indoors in March or April, just sprinkle them on top of some moist seed compost and lightly cover with a dusting of vermiculite or a fine layer of compost. Pop them in a propagator or on a warm windowsill, somewhere around 15-20°C is grand. They can take a while to germinate, so be patient, like I say, it's not the easiest. You'll want to aim for individual seedlings, ready for pricking out when they're big enough to handle.
Growing on
Once your seedlings have their first proper leaves, carefully prick them out into individual small pots. Keep them sheltered and warm for a bit, then start hardening them off gradually in late April or May, getting them used to the outside. Don't rush it, especially up here in the North East, wait until all danger of frost is well past, usually mid to late May. Plant them out in May or June, giving them about 25-30 cm between each plant, and 30-45 cm between rows. If you're buying plug plants, same rules apply for planting out.
Looking after it
Celery is a thirsty devil, so keep it very well watered, especially in dry spells. It's no good letting it dry out, you'll end up with stringy, bitter stalks. A good mulch can help keep the moisture in, too. When the plants are growing well, you'll want to blanch the stems for that lovely pale, tender crunch. You can do this by earthing up with soil, or wrapping the stems with cardboard or newspaper, starting when they're about 30 cm tall.
What goes wrong
Slugs love young celery, so you'll need to be on the watch for them from the start. Celery leaf miner can be a pain too; you'll see tunnels in the leaves, just squish 'em or remove the affected leaves. Aphids can also cause bother, but a good blast of water can often sort them out. Healthy, well-watered plants are less prone to trouble, you know what I mean.
Harvest
You'll be harvesting your celery from August right through to November, depending on when you sowed it. You can either take the whole plant, cutting it at ground level, or just snip off individual outer stalks as you need them. For storing, pop the stalks in the fridge wrapped in foil; they'll keep for a couple of weeks like that. Nothing beats fresh celery in a proper stew, mind.
Don't forget to give celery a good soak with some liquid feed every couple of weeks once it's established; it's a hungry plant and that extra boost makes all the difference to the stalks.
Dates for your plot
Type the first half of your postcode and the plant-out advice shifts to your area's typical frost dates.
Varieties, and whether the club would grow them again
| Variety | Club verdict |
|---|---|
| Golden Self Blanching This is a good one if you're after an earlier crop, with its lovely yellow stems that blanch themselves. It's a cracking choice for a quicker turnaround on the plot. | No club votes yet |
| Celebrity A reliable maincrop that does the blanching work for you, giving you crisp green stalks without the faff. Great if you want good yields without too much extra effort. | No club votes yet |
| Giant Pink A proper heritage variety with striking pink stems that look grand on the plate. It's a hardy sort, so it can cope with a bit more of what the weather throws at it. | No club votes yet |
| Tall Utah This is your classic, traditional green celery, known for its strong, upright growth. It needs proper blanching, but you'll get some cracking large stalks from it. | No club votes yet |
| Victoria F1 If you've had trouble with celery bolting in the past, Victoria F1 is one to try. It's been bred to be resistant to bolting, giving you a more reliable crop. | No club votes yet |
| Tango For harvests stretching later into the autumn and early winter, Tango is your friend. It's a late maturer, so it keeps coming when other varieties might be finishing up. | No club votes yet |
| Loretta Loretta gives you lovely tall, crisp green stalks that are just perfect for eating fresh. It's a good all-rounder for a maincrop harvest. | No club votes yet |
| Ivory Tower This one gives you beautiful self-blanching white stems, making it a bit easier to get those tender stalks. It's a nice choice if you want that classic pale celery look without the extra work. | No club votes yet |
| Giant Red Another stunning heritage variety, Giant Red produces eye-catching red stems that stand out on the plot and in the kitchen. It brings a bit of colour and a robust flavour to your plate. | No club votes yet |
| Pascal Pascal is a heritage variety known for its really large, chunky green stalks. If you're after a proper substantial celery, this one won't let you down. | No club votes yet |
| D'Elne This French heritage variety is a gem, offering self-blanching stems for less fuss. It's a reliable performer that gives you tender stalks with a good flavour. | No club votes yet |
| Hopkins Fenlander A cracking UK heritage type, traditionally grown in trenches for blanching. It's a bit more work, but you'll get some proper tender, blanched celery from it. | No club votes yet |
| Monarch If you've struggled with diseases on your celery before, Monarch is a good bet. It's bred for disease resistance, giving you a healthier, more vigorous crop. | No club votes yet |
| Greensleeves Greensleeves is a self-blanching variety that's quite compact, making it a decent choice for smaller plots or even larger containers. You get lovely green stalks without needing loads of space. | No club votes yet |
| Amsterdam This is another good early green variety, letting you get a head start on your celery harvest. It's known for its crisp texture and good flavour, coming through nice and early. | No club votes yet |
Votes are members rating varieties in their Seed Tin, one vote per gardener. Tap a variety for the full page and where to buy.
Buy Celery seeds
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Cook the harvest
Braising transforms celery completely — the sharp, raw bite disappears and it becomes tender, sweet, and almost silky. Pancetta and thyme give the dish a savoury backbone, and a little white wine and stock reduce down into a glossy, clinging sauce. This is the kind of simple side dish that quietly becomes everyone's favourite thing on the table.
50 min · easyCelery takes centre stage here, braised into the risotto base so it becomes silky and intensely flavoured, then the reserved leaves are fried until crisp for a brilliant textural contrast. A generous amount of blue cheese stirred through at the end gives the whole thing a savoury, tangy depth. This is proper cold-weather cooking — substantial, warming, and genuinely impressive.
45 min · mediumA Middle Eastern-inspired salad that takes celery completely seriously — sliced thinly on the diagonal so every bite is crisp and full of flavour, then matched with sweet Medjool dates and bitter walnuts. The tahini dressing, sharpened with lemon and a little garlic, pulls everything together into something that feels both light and deeply satisfying. Ready in under 25 minutes and entirely the right thing to eat alongside lamb or roast chicken.
25 min · easyCelery is a genuine workhorse in Chinese cooking and this dish proves it — stir-fried at high heat so it stays crisp and fragrant, then tossed with crispy golden tofu and a glossy black bean sauce spiked with Sichuan pepper. The numbing heat of the pepper and the deep umami of the black beans are exactly what celery can hold its own against. Serve with steamed jasmine rice for a genuinely fast weeknight meal.
27 min · easyWatch for, and grow alongside
Companions: beans, tomatoes, cabbage
Questions people ask
When do you sow Celery in the UK?
Sow Celery from March to April. Plant out May to July, after the last frost.
How long does Celery take from sowing to harvest?
Roughly 140 days, with the harvest August to November.
Which Celery varieties do gardeners grow again?
Club members rate every variety they grow. This page shows the grow-again votes for Golden Self Blanching, Celebrity, Giant Pink, Tall Utah and more.
Track your Celery from packet to plate
Sowing reminders and harvest forecasts for your own frost dates, the Seed Tin, Scan Centre for any label or packet, and the Potty Mouth Garden Club. Free to start.
Allotment keeper in the North East of England, the voice behind the Tony C Smith YouTube channel, and the gardener who built GrowMore CookMore. Club numbers on this page update as members log their plots. Last updated 3 September 2026.