When should I sow celery?

In a typical UK garden, sow indoors early February to early March, plant out early May to early June, and harvest mid-July to mid-November. Later in Scotland, the north and frost pockets; earlier in the south-west and near the coast.

How far apart should I plant celery?

23 cm apart in the row, with rows 23 cm apart. In a square foot garden, that's 4 per square.

Celery

Apium graveolens var. dulce

In a typical UK garden, sow indoors early February to early March, plant out early May to early June, and harvest mid-July to mid-November.

When to sow, plant and harvest

Frost dates

Last frost around 20 April, first frost around 31 October.

Sow indoors: early February to early March
Plant out: early May to early June
Harvest: mid-July to mid-November

Spacing: 23 cm apart, rows 23 cm apart
Square foot: 4 per square (30 cm squares)
Sowing depth: 0 cm
Ready in: 80 to 100 days from planting out
Grows to: 50 cm
Hardiness: Half hardy: survives light frost, to about −2 °C
Sun: Full sun
Crops for: About 6 weeks

Growing tip

Never let the soil dry out, and plant in a block rather than a row so the plants shade and blanch each other.

Neighbours

Grows well with

Roots are one crop rotation group. Try not to grow them where any of the family grew in the last two or three years. How crop rotation works

More roots

Where these figures come from

Every crop in VegLog was checked against published growing advice. Dates are worked out from average frost dates, so they shift with your garden. For celery, we used:

Grow celery with VegLog

Add celery to a bed and VegLog reminds you when to sow, plant out and pick, timed to your own town's frost dates.