Growing & harvesting parsley: Tips for a rich harvest

Growing parsley: how to sow & plant

You can sow parsley directly outdoors from the beginning of April and then harvest it in the summer to fall. You can even sow them indoors from January. However, early sowings tend to flower in summer. Late sowings, on the other hand, can even overwinter in the bed, as parsley is hardy down to - 8 ° C/17.6 ° F. You can find out how to overwinter and propagate parsley in this article.

The seeds are sown 1 to 2 cm/0.4 to 0.8 in deep and approx. 25 cm/9.8 in apart in rows. However, sowing parsley requires a little patience, as it germinates very irregularly and takes a long time to germinate. It can take up to three weeks for the small seeds to germinate. Until the seeds emerge, the area must be well watered and regularly cleared of weeds.

However, you can also buy parsley in pots in many markets. At home, you should then repot or plant them as quickly as possible, as the plants are usually already well rooted. To do this, carefully divide them once or twice and then plant them in a larger pot or in a suitable place in the garden. Plant the seedlings a little deeper into the soil than before in the pot.

The right location for parsley

The location should be sunny to semi-shady, with parsley preferring a sunny location. The soil should be loose and humus-rich. Parsley is not fussy about its location, it just needs to be free of waterlogging and have enough nutrients. For a good start, you can add some compost to the parsley planting hole.

Companion planting with parsley

The right companion plants in a mixed crop as well as crop rotation play a role in successful cultivation. Parsley should not be sown in the same area after other umbellifers.

Parsley in mixed cultivation: examples for your planting plan

For inspiration, you can find bed plans for mixed cultivation with parsley here. You will find ideas for the balcony, a herb spiral or your greenhouse.

Curly or flat-leaf parsley?

A distinction is made between smooth and curly leaf parsley. The smooth-leaved varieties usually have larger leaves and are more intense in flavor than their curly counterparts. They are therefore very suitable as a spice, finely chopped in food. The curly-leafed varieties, on the other hand, are somewhat milder. On the other hand, they keep fresh for longer and are great as a decoration on the plate. Curly parsley can also cope a little better with dryness in the bed than flat-leaf parsley.

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To exchange ideas with other gardeners and benefit from their experiences, you can visit our Fryd community. Perhaps someone has already had experience with growing parsley varieties and can give you some tips.

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The right care for parsley

The herb is actually quite undemanding when it comes to care. It needs plenty of moisture to grow, but you should avoid waterlogging. The best way to test how much you need to water is to do the finger test. To do this, press your thumb into the soil, which should feel neither boggy nor very dry. At the beginning after sowing, it also needs a little more care. The seeds like warm and moist soil for germination. To be able to harvest throughout the summer, always loosen the soil a little and keep it weed-free. The herb no longer needs fertilizer.

Harvesting parsley correctly: A guide

When your parsley plants are strong enough, you can start harvesting. You should only cut off the outer leaves, as parsley grows as a rosette. New leaves continue to sprout from the heart in the middle. As it is a biennial, you can leave it standing over the winter and continue harvesting it until it flowers the following year.

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Cover picture by AllNikArt on Pixabay.