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Parsley
Guernsey Donkey2
Posts: 6,713
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How long do parsley seeds take to germinate and are they an easy plant to grow from seed? I am thinking of sowing some seeds tomorrow, and then successively over the next few months.
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Hi GD.
Parsley seeds are indeed not the easiest to get to germinate but they'll do so eventually, like most of the umbellifers (parsnip, carrot etc.). The best time to sow is said to be when they'd normally fall from the plant - i.e. autumn - but failing that, make sure the soil is moist but not sodden, and not too cold. It would probably help to start them off indoors in small pots and then transplant. Two weeks is not too long to wait, and it might be longer.
Successional sowing is a good idea, but actually once they get going you can harvest a few leaves at a time and they'll keep growing. In the right conditions they can be rampant!
If you don't succeed, buy a potful from the supermarket in spring, separate out the dozens of plants therein and plant them. That's what I do!
Cross posted with Verdun - an interesting idea
Can't say I've ever had a problem germinating parsley seed. I sow like sweet peas, 3 to a pot in a cold GH in MPC. I always end up with too many! They're one of those herbs you can cut and they keep coming back.
Thanks for your comments - I have planted my first batch of parsley in cold GH under glass, and will hope for the best. The weather is about to take a nose dive - hopefully just a blip before warmer, sunnier weather returns!
Not sure about this question. Parsley isn't normally grown in succession as it lasts throughout the season.....successional sowing of lettuce, yes.
As parsley is notoriously difficult to germinate, I presume you intend to sow in a heated greenhouse, as temps required will need to be around 10c......sow outdoors in early June, that's assuming you are in the UK.
Am just planting my parsley now, a little late but hey ho.
I find the boiling water method works for me, then I leave the covered trays in the warm airing cupboard until germination. It was the first thing I grew last year (am fairly new to vegetable gardening) and I got loads.
When planting out make sure your pots/ground are deep enough, parsley has a long taproot and struggles in shallow beds.
My Grandma always used to say that parsley should be sown on Good Friday. I would love to know if anyone else has heard that and the origins - if any - of that advice. Of course it could just have been my Granny pulling my leg when I was little!
Apparently there are/were all kinds of superstitions around parsley being an evil herb and you would be safe by planting the seeds on Good Friday.
Here is an interesting link: http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/parsley_moor.htm
Thank you Fif2