About
This biennial plant is typically cultivated as an annual. It features large, glossy, deep green, divided leaves and pale green to white petioles commonly consumed as celery. 'Loretta' is a robust variety known for yielding substantial harvests of smooth, thick, and succulent stems that offer a sweet and crunchy texture.
About the genus
Apium includes herbaceous plants that can be classified as annual, biennial, or perennial. The foliage typically consists of leaves that are either divided into three leaflets or pinnately arranged. During the summer months, small white flowers appear, grouped in umbels.
Growing conditions
- Sunlight
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil type
- Clay, Loam
- Soil pH
- Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
- Soil moisture
- Moist but well-drained, Poorly-drained
- Aspect
- East-facing, South-facing, West-facing
- Exposure
- Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H2
Plant details
- Plant type
- Annual Biennial
- Habit
- Clump forming
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Height
- 0.1-0.5 metres
- Spread
- 0.1-0.5 metres
- Time to full height
- 1 year
- Toxicity
- Harmful to skin with sunlight. Wear gloves and other protective equipment when handling
Care notes
- Cultivation
- Sow seed in spring in containers, pot on when large enough to handle then plant out in late spring or early summer. Self-blanching varieties are best planted in a block so they shade each other to aid blanching. Keep plants moist at all times and harvest from late summer to mid-autumn. See celery cultivation for further advice
- Pruning
- No pruning required
- Propagation
- Propagate by seed. See sowing vegetable seeds
- Pest resistance
- May be susceptible to slugs and snails
- Disease resistance
- May be susceptible to celery leaf spot