Regrowing store bought celery

Wanted to give an update on the bok choy and will post pics tomorrow.
Its alive & well & sprouting wonderfully.

I wanted to share this pic though of Weezingreens from Alaska. She attached
gutters on the south side of her house. So those with limited space could try this
as well.

Looking forward to seeing the updated pic of the bok choy Cris!!!

LOL! Speedy... I'm no genius... GOOGLE is! LOL!

Cris, that is such a cool and attractive idea, but I don't think I could ever bring myself to actually drill holes into my siding!! I've been toying with the idea of having DH build me some 'stair-steps', like we use at work for displaying our plants, and using those for a container collection... once I actually get enough containers, that is! =) I'm really looking forward to seeing your bok choy now though!

Ok, here's my little salad as of this morning...
First pic is the celery, Second the carrot, and Third is of all 3 together (lettuce, carrot and celery). I took several of the lettuc alone but none of 'em came out clear! :( I'll have to try that one again when he grows up a bit more.

Cris316
so cool picture !

Soaked my celery and romaine lettuce over night. Now to get it potted up!

Speedie,

While I wouldn't consider doing that to my home either, the idea is really neat.
What I was thinking was to have a huge artist easel set up with gutters attached
to a board and propped up against the frame.
Portable & no bending, no weeding, no garden critters eating your salad!

Cris, that sounds like a wonderful and attractive idea! =)

Wow! So the carrot is sprouting????!!!!

Can someone tell me what I'm seeing in this pic? This is what I found today when I looked at my dead celery that I told ya's about earlier. What are those little pod things on the base of the stems? Assuming they are some kinda pest eggs since I also found teeny tiny (thin but kinda longish, maybe 1-2cm long?) Crawling around there too. Any ideas?

Ummm, well, the carrot already had a tiny bit of sprouting on it before I planted it (I should get to those carrots faster, huh?), but I will say, the sprouting *has* grown since being in soil.

As for your little pod problem, it looks like something laid eggs in there, though I couldn't tell ya what. Maybe it got over-watered? Eeeewwww!!! I think I'll go downstairs and take a closer look at mine! =/

It may have gotten overwatered, but I just don't know what could have got in there and laid eggs. I haven't seen any spiders, ants, ANYTHING in my house in a very long time! And, the soil that I used is gardening soil mixed with a little seed starting soil that I bought from walmart last year and put inside a plastic container to keep the possibility of pests getting in. Just don't know what more preventative maintenance I could have done to stop this... nor do I know what that is to even find out how to prevent it in the future! Its making me worry about the herbs Ive started though, since I used the same soil mix. Haven't seen anything going on with the herbs yet though, but again, it looks like that kinda stuff starts under the soil and works its way up?

fungus gnat or fruit fly eggs? Might have come from the potting soil?

Celery maggots?

The milk jug brigade was the last I did in fall/winter 2010. I had all sorts of winter veggies in them, and m spring tomatoes...

I plan on WSing some spring color in milk jugs, one' a these years when I can get my timing right....marigolds, and zinnias, and geraniums, and coleus, some tropical cannas, etc.

I just joined Dave's today and this is the first forum I visited (as I am definitely a beginner) and have loved reading this thread...going to go through my frig's crisper drawer and see what I can start. This is such a friendly group and you've all provided wonderful inspiration..thanks so much!

I just started following this thread, and it brings me back to when I was a kid--what fun! I have a book called "Don't Throw It, Grow It" on how to grow plants from grocery store produce.

Welcome, 6Michaele3!

I agree this is one of my favorite threads too. It was the first thread I started following when I joined two weeks ago. Everyone is so curious and encouraging! . My celery is going in dirt tonight! Hooray!

Welcome to you, too, GrowingNVegas!
I'm curious to see if that carrot top will make a whole new carrot, so please keep us posted, speedie!

Wow! Well, welcome to DG GrowingNVegas and 6Michaele3!!!

My son's school aide and I were discussing these little white critters yesterday too, and she had mentioned that when she tries to grow celery, she has problems with fruit flies too. I just can't understand how, if that's what it is, how they can miraculously appear out of thin air! I havent seen fruit flies in my house since, oh gosh, last summer! I can't imagine how they would have gotten into the soil since I keep the soil in one of those 2-3lb. buckets that cat litter sometimes comes in, and keep it sealed with the lid. Its actually why I opted to dump the soil IN that container in the first place, instead of just keeping it in the bag in the basement... to help prevent any critters from getting into it!

And, if its celery maggots... my question still remains, how in the world did they even get there? Like I said, I haven't seen any bugs of any kind in my house in a long while, no spiders, no ants, NOTHING! Its like, whatever this is, just started growing out of thin air LOL!

Regardless of what it is, I know I need to figure out a way to "fix" this problem. Any ideas? I'd REALLY not like to have to use any pesticides (like my son's aide said today when I said this to her... you grow your own stuff to try to get AWAY from all the pesticides LOL!)

If you all have any ideas on how to prevent/stop this problem I'm having, please let me know. I'll even pretreat the soil prior to planting the next celery if need be.

I must admit though, it has me a bit worried about the herb sprouts I have growing. I used the same soil mixture for the herbs as I used for the celery. (on a side note... I didn't see ANY problems like this with the potato I threw out. No pest problem what-so-ever... which makes me wonder if gymgirl is onto something.. maybe celery maggots?) I don't see any "early signs" of anything bad going on with the herbs yet either, but then again, I didn't notice anything wrong with the celery until week 3 after planting either.

Could these things have been attracted to moisture? When I dumped out the soil from the pot outside along our one tree line, I did notice that the very bottom of the pot it looked like it was VERY moist still. Even though the pot had good drainage holes and I only watered it about every 2-4 days. Discovering that, and noticing that even though I haven't watered my herbs for atleast 3 days or more now, I've slacked off on the watering for the herbs. The soil for the herbs is still looking/feeling moist. Maybe I should pull out my tester that tests soil moisture/pH and see just how moist it still is. Hm.

Hehe! I'm glad to see so many people are enjoying this thread!

I too am looking forward to seeing how well the carrot does! I would have never thought you could regrow carrots... but then again, I never thought you could regrow celery or lettuce either LOL! Learn something new every day!!

I am curious about the fungus gnats/fruit flies in potting soil. I potted up Amaryllis bulbs along with some cuttings in Nov from a bag of potting soil (not kept as pristine as yours, MrsLidwell) and noticed a swarm of whatever after a week or so of watering the pots - in my house, in my little greenhouse and even at DD's house in MI. I put out yellow sticky traps and caught most of them and the numbers are down but still have a few flying around. I water only once a week now that plants are established but perhaps that initial drenching of the potting soil started the whole thing.
I have organic celery and carrots to try this weekend so I'm looking forward to your experiments!

I used to have an amaryllis around last Xmas. I don't recall having pest issues with it though... hut I also bought it as a kit that included a pot and soil for it (dunno if that's the difference or not). I also didn't keep it in the mini greenhouse. Instead, I put it on the kitchen table (that side of my house gets about 6hrs or more sunlight). At night I'd turn my stove on warm (lowest setting) and place the pot on the stove top to get some bottom heat (this worked out well for me since I'm literally up all night checking my sons blood sugars) for a few hrs.I gotta get another bulb tho cuz mine died over this winter (hubby kept watering it while I was trying to give it a dormant period... which kept sending it into growth period then die back period lol)

My best suggestion would be when ya get the flies thing under control and gone, try taking them out of the greenhouse. Maybe that'll help some?

Let's not discount there might have been insect eggs already in the soil...

Gym - that's what I'm thinking.

That's true, that could very well be!!

Well Howdy and Welcome 6Michaele and GrowingNV! This really has been a fun thread to follow, I've learned some new things (and it's ALL MRSL'S FAULT! =D ), and been really enjoying chatting with folks.

KYWoods, Okey dokey, I'll keep updating here. So far its sprouts are still green on top, nothing's died yet, but no new-looking growth yet... which surprises me. I put all 3 of the babies outside on the deck yesterday because it was so warm and sunny. We had a nice rain last night, and today is around 70* or so and sunny, perfect conditions for encouraging growth. Well, though the carrot might not be in the mood so much, the lettuce and celery sure are! =)

1: Celery, looking "much muchier".
2: Lettuce hasn't lost its muchness either.

Excellent!

Very Nice speedie!!! (and no, its Not my fault... its GOOGLE's LOL!)

Went out and bought some celery yesterday, so once I use up most of it, I'll re-try this again lol. This time, maybe I'll water it every 5-7 days or so instead of 2-4 like I was. Lettuce wasn't on sale, and I wasn't willing to buy a head unless it was on sale (cuz I knew the main reason I'd be getting it right now would have been just to try this idea out with it LOL! We do salads more during the warmer months than colder. Didn't want the majority of it going to waste either! LOL!)

Keep us posted on how the carrot is doing too! Super curious about that as well, though, personally, I probably wont do it myself, just because we get the baby carrots at the store more than the "regular" ones. Everyone here thinks they just taste better LOL. That's why I'm wanting to grow the little ones this year lol.

Wonder how Cris's bok choy is looking :)

Planted my Romaine and Celery yesterday before going to work. I swear I did. Came home last night and in a bowl of water was sitting another Romaine. I'm thinking what? Then realized when DH made our salads he very nicely put the end of the new Romaine in too soak! LOL

HAHAHA sweet! Knowing my hubby, he prolly woulda tossed it LOL!

http://www.organicgardeningweb.com/Recipe%20book/Pesticide%20Recipes/Insecticidal%20Soap.htm

Found this link for homemade insecticidal soapy spray... at the bottom it says you can add garlic and pepper to this to make it more powerful. My question is... has anyone ever tried that, and does adding the garlic/pepper to the spray change the taste of the plant you spray it on?

Hmm - I'd be careful about the soap/oil mix possibly affecting edible leaves, especially if the pots are sitting in the sun. With this experiment, it wouldn't hurt to try it on one plant.

OK noobie question lol....why would the soap/oil hurt the edible leaves?

Ves, Aaawww, what a wonderful Hubby you have!! =)

MrsL, my guess would be, if there's any sort of soap on edible leaves, then you'd end up eating the soap unless they're washed really really really well beforehand. Also, for the oil, if the leaves get a lot of sun exposure, especially when it's hot, the leaves might burn. Think along the lines of "hot skillet/oil/leaves=burn". The soap wouldn't really be necessary anyhow, as far as bug-killing goes, it just helps the stuff to stick to the leaves better.

And transpiration through the leaves can be affected as well if the oil is very heavy. Horticultural oils come in basically two densities - one for smothering pests when plants are dormant and one that's lighter for using during the growing season.

Gotcha. So, any suggestions for homemade insecticide then? I'd just rather not go buy chemical stuff, and if the organic stuff prices are anything like organic food prices... don't wanna break the bank lol

Ya know, MrsL, I have no idea! Haaahaahaaa!! =D This will be *my* first year also, so I guess we'll both have fun together learning, woohoo! =)

Hehe yup!!

My hubby just told my tonight (after I had to PRY the "secret" outta him lol!) About a place that had seeds on sale 4/$1. Might go pick up some extra packets of stuff in case I screw up a couple attempts at some seeds LOL.

4/$1!?!?!? Ooooh boy, GO SHOPPING NOWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!! < =D (then come back and tell me what you got!) =) heeheeheeheee shopping vicariously through you!

I had read a month ago about making a soil drench from mosquito dunks that contain Bti - a beneficial bacteria that attacks the larva of insects in the fly/mosquito family (yep - they're both in the same family). The fungus gnats/fruit flies are included in that family and the larva live in the soil. While I don't have the exact directions handy (basically dissolving part of a mosquito dunk in water with some stirring or aeration from a cheap aquarium filter/air stone), there might be some info over in the garden pests forum or definitely online. As for flying critters, I try not to minimize use of spray insecticides as much as possible (especially for edibles), resorting to the yellow sticky traps. I know there are instructions out there on how to make your own as well (if budgets are lean). I know nothing about celery maggots though as I've never grown it before.

LOL! Speedy... thats why my hubby was trying to keep it "hush hush" when my MIL was telling him about it LOL! He didn't want me to go shopping! Can you believe it?! HAHA!

I'm HOPING to be able to get down there and pick up a whole bunch of stuff... but... not sure if I'll be able to before the sale runs out. First off, dunno when the sale is over... second... My hubby works from today (saturday) through wednesday, then Thursday we will be in the other direction of where this store is, all day, for my daughter's speech and OT therapy appointments as well as grocery shopping. Then Friday, I've gotta make a trip to Huntingdon, PA (a good 1-1 1/2 hrs away, one way), and will be there all day for my daughter to see this special audiologist to get her hearing checked and get evaluated for something called Central Auditory Processing Syndrome. And the following week is just as crazy. Saturday thru thursday will be the same "schedule" as above, but Friday I've gotta take my daughter out to Wexford, PA to see a Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrician associated with the Childrens Hosp of pittsburgh.

I'm also wanting to see if they have any bulbs and things out yet. Haven't seen anyone have those out yet, or for that matter, no one I've seen so far even has garlic bulbs, lima bean seeds, and strawberries. Those are the last three things I need to check off for my list this spring. But, I probably wont find the strawberries for another couple months, I'd imagine lol.

Here's a question for you all...

You know how Topsy Turvey has those hanging planter things that you can put strawberry plants in and will grow the plant hanging? Anyone ever tried putting some of the "vining" veggie plants, like squash, pumpkin, or gourds? My son wants to grow blueberries and pumpkins this year, and I wouldn't mind growing some gourds, but I don't have the room in my garden this year to do the vining or bushy plants lol, so been trying to figure out a way to be able to do these things without taking up a ton of gardening space lol.