In the life-time of a nurseryman , few things are sadder than nurturing a industrial plant , harvest the tasty fruit or veggie , eating it … and discovering that it tastes terrible .
This happen to me a duet years ago with the carrot I grew and forgot to fertilize on a regular basis .
It can find with all form of plants , including other Umbellifers – like celery .
Photo by Laura Melchor.
And since it is already a strong - tasting veggie , the last affair you desire is for those stalks to taste so acrid you’re able to barely stand to eat them . What a distressing mop up of your grow efforts !
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If you ’ve ever harvested disappointingly unappealingApium graveolensor require to verify your current crop zips with tasty but not overbear flavor , this article is for you .
Photo by Laura Melchor.
you could learn celery in your garden in our guidebook .
Here ’s what I ’ll plow in this article :
5 Reasons Why Your Celery Tastes Bitter
1 . Not Enough Nutrients
2 , Too Much rut
3 . deficiency of Water
4 . to a fault Mature Plant
5 . Stalks Have n’t Been blanch
As I discovered withmy bitter carrot , a lack of nutrient can result in a poorly fed , bitter - tasting plant .
When I wasnew to horticulture , I did n’t remember too hard about the soil where I engraft my seeds .
I normally just dumped some potting mix from the store into a littleraised bed , and that would adequately feed my herbaceous plant , flowers , and pocket-sized assemblage of veggies for the summertime .
My mum had a compost heap where I dumpedeggshellsand carrot peel to become smelly mush , but as a stripling I did n’t really make the connection between thecompost pileand the plant in the garden .
After a few turn of harvesting acrid vegetables , I realise that getting the soil composition right and feed the plant regularly is essential if you want to eat homegrown produce that smack undecomposed .
To put it simply , if you are n’t giving the plants what they need in guild to boom , they stomach . And an undernourished plant wo n’t taste decent .
Celery is a grueling self-feeder , but it ’s an easy plant to nourish . All it needs is an coating of balanced fertilizer every three to four weeks for delay glad .
Vigoro Tomato and Vegetable Plant Food
I care to use this 12 - 10 - 5 ( NPK ) product from Vigoro , available at the Home Depot .
It ’s also a good idea to repair your soil with compost or well - rot manure before implant your Apium graveolens dulce , giving it a nutritious - rich place to grow .
2. Too Much Heat
Celery thrives in places where dark are a cool 50 ° F and days do n’t pass 70 to 80 ° F . If temperature rebel into the XC – especially as the stalks reach maturity – the heat can induce the stalk to turn acerb .
To protect your plants during heatwaves , irrigate them early in the morn to keep the grunge moist and cool throughout the sidereal day , andmulch with strawor another light - colored material .
This help to keep the land and ascendent from overheat .
you’re able to also rear a shade textile that block 30 to 50 percentage of the light , like this one from Amazon , leave it up during the hottest portion of the day .
3. A Lack of Water
If it does n’t get enough piss , Apium graveolens dulce can produce stringy , bitter stalks . Each plant life require at least one to one and a half inch of water every week , and if it does n’t get that wet , it ’ll get stressed .
So make certain you ’re systematically watering your plants . If you ’re prostrate to forgetting , as I sometimes am , set a day-after-day reminder on your earpiece to check the moisture level of the soil .
If you poke your finger three inch down and feel dryness , it ’s time to irrigate the thirsty plant .
4. An Overly Mature Plant
Cheese and wine may become gross with age , but celery does not .
It can be rugged to be intimate when to harvest the verdant stalks , but if you wait too long , you risk harvesting ruffianly , bitter , stringy cultivated celery .
Yuck !
gratefully , there are two well-situated way to know when your works is quick for harvest :
1 . It ’s been about 130 - 140 day since the seedlings germinated .
2 . Stalks are six inches long from the base of operations to the first leaf .
So get out your ruler and do some mensuration . Andcheck your gardening diary , in which you hopefully marked the engagement of germination if you grew the flora from come .
If you postulate extra help reckon out when to harvest , check out our guide to harvesting celeryfor more top .
5. Stalks That Haven’t Been Blanched
perhaps you cave in your plant the right amount of water and fertilizer , kept them cool in hot weather , and harvest the stalks at the right time , but they ’re still bitter .
Why ?
Take a face at the colouring . Are the stalks a bright , mystifying unripe ?
For sugared still hunt , you ’ll need to blanch the celery in the garden by covering them with newspaper publisher or milk cartons about two calendar week before harvesting .
This blocks the Sunday from reach the stalks , preventing photosynthesis and chlorophyl yield , and resulting in a sweet , lighter - colour plant .
In the photo above , the stalks on the leftover - hand side have been blanched , while the stalk on the ripe - hired man side have not .
For more details on how and when to do this , check out ourguide to blanch Apium graveolens dulce in the garden .
you may alsogrow self - blanching varieties , like ‘ Golden Self - Blanching . ’
If it ’s too late to blench – possibly you ’ve already harvested all your plant – tease the pass aside to find the lighter , by nature blanch inner stem .
These will taste sweet than the outer stalks , so they ’re idealistic for when you want to enjoy a bare-assed stick or two for an good afternoon snack .
utilize the green stalks for cooking . As you ’ll see in a moment , cooking the bitter shuck can help to better their flavour .
What to Do with Bitter Celery
Now that you eff how to foreclose bitter nip from developing in your celery , you may keep your next craw hefty and unfermented .
But what if you already harvested cultivated celery that ’s ruffianly , unchewable , and sulphurous ? What can you do with it ?
taste slue it into modest pieces and sauteing it in dairy farm - liberal margarine until it begins to turn crank , and then add it to this vegan Thanksgiving stuffingfrom our sis site , Foodal .
Sauteing it will mince the harsh flavor but help it to retain its frizzly texture in your stuffing .
Or , simmer it into Foodal ’s luscious , fall - appropriate veg petite marmite .
Like sauteing , the act of simmer or boiling the celery in a soup like this one brings out its milder side .
To transmute it into a tasty side dish , try caramelizing and roasting it along with onions , mushrooms , Daucus carota sativa , zucchini , and other luscious veggies in this recipe for a roast vegetable and herb salad , also from Foodal .
See ? Even if you harvest a bunch of sulphurous stalk , it does n’t mean your unvoiced work was for aught . There ’s still tidy sum you may do to make acrid stalks shine .
A Sweet Cel(ery)bration
I hope this clause has lifted your spirit if you recently take on a immense bite of garden - farm celery and virtually droop at the overwhelming flavor .
Or maybe it caught you in fourth dimension to blanch the stalks , or add a second of fertilizer , water , or protective shadiness cloth to your emphasize - out plant .
Now , go forth and grow yourself some sweet - tasting stalk .
And remember to see out these articles ongrowing flavorful Umbellifersin your garden next :
Photos by Fanny Slater , Meghan Yager , and Laura Melchor © enquire the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . Originally published September 19th , 2020 . Last update January 30th , 2025 . intersection photos via Home Depot . Uncredited photos : Shutterstock .
About
Laura Ojeda Melchor
