Parsley, an annual herb native to Europe, is a household staple across the globe. A mature plant can grow up to 12 inches tall (unharvested) and has delicate, dark green leaves that are often confused with cilantro. There are different varieties of parsley, the main two being curly-leaf parsley and Italian parsley. They aren’t often used for the same purpose — the former is treated more as a garnish while Italian parsley is more commonly used in pastas, pizzas, and the like. Parsley has a lovely aroma, making it an excellent choice in any herb garden.
Contents
What parsley tastes like and why you should grow it
Growing parsley outdoors versus indoors
How to care for your parsley
Harvesting fresh parsley
What to do if your parsley has pests or diseases
What parsley tastes like and why you should grow it
In addition to its pleasant, grassy smell, parsley has a pepper-like flavor that can easily enhance a dish. The flavor of Italian parsley is much stronger than that of curly-leaf varieties, which is why that’s the kind you’ll see in herb jars, sauces, soups, and more. Italian parsley is used most commonly as a seasoning and enhancer, pairing well with other herbs like basil and oregano.
Curly-leaf parsley, although having a similar smell and taste, is much weaker and thought to be almost bland. Typically in restaurants (and at home), curly parsley is used to garnish and add color to a dish, beautifying the appearance and making the food seem a bit more elegant. It is edible but never intended to be consumed.
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Growing your own parsley at home can bring a lot of freshness to your dish. You can harvest it as-needed, and you’ll find that the taste is brighter than that of dried, store-bought versions of the herb.
Growing parsley outdoors versus indoors
Parsley has similar care requirements and needs whether you’re growing it indoors or outdoors. The most important thing to keep in mind is that this herb doesn’t overwinter well in a garden bed. If you choose to grow parsley in a plot with other herbs, vegetables, and crops, you’ll only be able to harvest and enjoy its freshness during the active growing season.
Growing it outdoors in containers, however, is a different story. You still get all the benefits of what nature has to offer plus the ability to bring the containers indoors when temperatures start to cool. You can overwinter your plant indoors and have fresh parsley at your disposal for soups, stews, and sauces. And it’s quite similar to indoor growing.
Parsley is one of the easiest herbs to grow in containers, especially indoors! It doesn’t have a huge root system and doesn’t need a lot of space to grow, which means you can grow it in anything from terracotta pots on a plant stand to mason jars in a windowsill. As long as the container you use has some form of good drainage (a drainage hole or pebbles in the bottom, for example), you won’t have many issues.
The biggest hiccup may be the available lighting. Some spaces are better lit than others, so you may end up needing to purchase a grow light or two depending on what kind of room you have for your herbs. Grow lights are especially beneficial because, in addition to providing supplemental lighting, they also allow you to put your herbs in a more convenient place.
How to care for your parsley
As far as plants go, parsley isn’t very temperamental. It isn’t dramatic, so long as you keep it within (or not far outside) its preferred temperature range. Parsley loves weather between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and when outdoors should be planted in an area that gets afternoon shade during those hot summer days.
Parsley will benefit from being fertilized once or twice at the beginning of the growing season when planted in a garden bed. If you’re growing container parsley, you may need to fertilize more regularly, as the nutrients in potting mix can get used up faster. As with anything else, fertilizing should be done in moderation. If you aren’t careful, adding too much fertilizer can have adverse effects.
Light needs: Full sun to partial shade (outdoors), bright indirect light (indoors) Water needs: Should be kept consistently moist, but not soggy; water when top inch of soil is dry Soil needs: Rich, well-draining soil; never let it dry out completely
Harvesting fresh parsley
Parsley is ready to be harvested when it’s roughly six inches tall. When planting, many gardeners will buy established parsley plants from a local nursery so that they can start reaping the rewards sooner than if they were growing from seed. If you’re growing indoors, you can harvest year-round as-needed; however, if you’re growing in a garden bed, you’ll reach a point in the growing season where you have to harvest what you can and let the rest die off.
If you have more parsley than you know what to do with, you can always give it away or dry it out and store it in a mason jar. This will help preserve the parsley, allowing you to reach for it and use it when you need it without having to waste all your hard work.
To harvest parsley, all you have to do is cut the stems at a growth node with a sterilized pair of scissors or shears. Take care not to remove more than a third of a plant at a time to avoid stressing the plant.
What to do if your parsley has pests or diseases
If you spot any problems with your parsley, the first thing you should do is identify the issue: pest or disease? Parsley is prone to a few fungal diseases, like leaf spot or powdery mildew, and when outside attracts black swallowtail caterpillars. Once you know the problems, the steps will look a bit different.
If your parsley is diseased, remove any damaged, dead, or dying foliage. These are weak parts of the plant that will only continue to take energy away from the healthy foliage and strong growth. If the disease is too widespread, you may have to get rid of the infected plant to keep it from spreading to others.
On the other hand, if the problem is black swallowtail caterpillars, you may want to think twice before removing them. Caterpillars and butterflies play an important part in the ecosystem and in pollination, and although you may lose a bit of parsley, they’ll grow and move on soon enough. If you live in an area with black swallowtail butterflies, you can try creating a separate butterfly garden just for them! Fill it with flowers the butterflies like and food the caterpillars like, and you’ll create a little oasis that they won’t want to stray from (hopefully leaving your personal parsley plants alone).
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Parsley prefers soil enriched with plenty of organic material, such as compost and well-rotted manure. And a pH of 6.0-7.0 provides the best range for nutrient absorption and vitality. Sow seeds 1 inch apart at a depth of ¼ inch, and keep the soil moist for the entire growing season.
Space parsley plants 6 to 8 inches apart in an area with full sun and nutrient-rich, well-drained soil with a pH of 5.5 to 6.7. Offer partial shade if growing in warm climates. Before planting, ensure your native soil is packed with nutrients by mixing in several inches of aged compost or other rich organic matter.
Parsley is easy to grow, demanding little more than sunshine and ample water. You can buy an established plant from a nursery, but you'll get more plants for less money if you start with seeds. Sow seeds outdoors in the spring or early fall when temperatures are mild.
To sow parsley seeds, simply sprinkle the seeds onto soil and cover with a very thin layer of soil over the top and then mist with water. Now just wait for them to sprout. Once sprouted, thin to a couple of plants per pot.
Just as with other herbs, parsley likes to be snipped, which encourages additional growth. Bunch the stems and leaves together and snip them off at ground level with kitchen shears. You can also just take a sprig or two starting with the outside stalks first. Be sure to cut at ground level though.
Growing herbs in water is an easy way to create an indoor herb garden on a windowsill or under a grow light. Herbs like basil, thyme, mint, and parsley add incredible flavor to food and most are easy to grow in water. Plus, it's a mess-free and pest-free method to enjoy fresh herbs all year long.
Parsley is slow to start but easy to grow when given enough light, nutrients, and moisture. How long does it take to grow parsley? In general, parsley varieties are ready to harvest between 70 and 90 days after planting.
Parsley tea can be consumed as is or flavored with a bit of honey, lemon juice, or sugar. Summary Parsley tea is a soothing beverage that can easily be made using just boiling water and parsley, in either fresh or dried form.
Parsley has a long taproot and does best in containers at least 8 inches deep. Parsley grown in containers benefits from a liquid organic fertilizer application each month during the growing season.
If you have ever bought a live pot of herbs from the supermarket, you will have found that you must use all the herbs in a short period, as they often do not last very long sitting on the shelf in your kitchen. There are several reasons for this: Such herbs are not intended to last more than 1-2 weeks.
How long does a parsley plant last? Parsley plants will only last for two years before they reach the end of their natural growing cycle. They are a biennial, which means they put on leafy foliage the first year, and then bolt (go to flower and set seed) in the second.
Parsley root is ready about 90 days after it germinates. That's three to four months of waiting! However, you can leave them in the ground to harvest until a killing frost. (They can actually taste sweeter after a frost.)
Well, there's no need to rue(!) the arrival of cold weather, because a few of our favorite kitchen seasonings, like parsley, are cold hardy and continue to grow year-round. Easy to overwinter in many regions, parsley produces crisp, fresh leaves at a slow but steady pace in cool temperatures.
Grow curled and flat-leaf parsley in moist but well-drained soil in sun to partial shade. Harvest the leaves as and when you need to. Sow seed every few weeks for a successional harvest. Parsley is biennial and treated as an annual, so you'll need to sow fresh seed every year.
Watercress and arugula bolt, quickly making the leaves bitter. Well, in the case of arugula making the leaves even more bitter. Parsley also bolts, but it doesn't affect the flavor of the leaves so you can let it go to seed and then overwinter. You'll be rewarded with more parsley the following spring.
If you need to keep your parsley longer than 3–5 days, freezing it is your best option. The herbs won't be sprightly enough to work as a garnish, but they'll definitely work when stirred into an herb sauce, a pan of scrambled eggs, or a pot of beans.
If the parsley has any flowers, pinch them back (deadhead) or remove them with scissors. First, check and see of your parsley plants have grown any blooms. If these blooms have begun to fade, it's important that you deadhead them. To deadhead means to remove the dying flowers before they form seeds.
First you preheat your oven to 350F. Then once you are ready to dry the parsley, you drop it down to 170F and dry for 20 minutes. You know the leaves are completely dry when they crumble easily between your fingers.
When harvesting stems, cut at the base of the stem instead of snipping the top. Cutting parsley stems near the base of the plant encourages growth, allowing your plants to grow bushier. Make sure you use a sharp pair of sterilized scissors or garden shears to cut the stems neatly.
Most herbs can be grown in containers indoors and many of the non-woody, tender varieties such as cilantro, parsley, basil and marjoram can thrive in smaller pots, even in mason jars. Making a garden out of canning jars is perfect for a windowsill, is tidy and looks great.
As with most herbs, parsley does best in a sunny area that receives direct light for six to eight hours a day. It can tolerate some light shade. Sow seeds directly in the ground where you will grow the plants, after danger of spring frosts has passed.
Parsley's a natural in any container and is just as easily grown in a small pot, large patio planter, or mixed into a window box. But, due to their deep taproots, they need some depth to their container – choose vessels that are at least 12 inches deep for the most vigorous performance.
If you are aiming for weight loss, apart from monitoring your diet and exercise routine, you should also try a combination of lemon juice and parsley. While lemon juice is a good detoxifier, when combined with parsley, it can work wonders for your weight loss regime and help in losing belly fat.
The anti-inflammatory properties of parsley, along with its ability to regulate urinary pH and reduce blood pressure, may help keep your kidneys healthy and lower your risk of kidney stones ( 25 ).
Recommended. Parsley contains a large amount of the flavone apigenin. While cooking and/or drying may reduce some of parsley's other health benefits, it increases the apigenin available in parsley. In fact, dried parsley is the best natural source of apigenin.
Alliums: Garlic, onions, shallots, and other alliums can stunt the growth of parsley. 2. Lettuce: When planted too close to lettuce, parsley can cause lettuce to bolt (go to seed) too early in the growing season.
Parsley that is grown outdoors requires a thorough watering once or twice each week. The soil should be damp to a depth of around two inches. Allow the soil to mostly dry before you water in abundance again. Keep the water around the base of the plants and try to keep the leaves as dry as possible.
So how do you care for parsley in the winter? Cut the plants back in the early fall and apply about 2 to 3 inches (5-8 cm.) of mulch around them. The mulch keeps the ground from freezing and thawing in the winter.
Some plants grow through the colder months regardless. Mint, parsley and rosemary are all hardy plants that will survive even in the snow. However, cold weather will reduce their growth, so you should limit the harvest. If you take too much, the plant may die.
Absolutely! Supermarket herbs that are sold as sprigs or cuttings (in flat clamshells) can be propagated easily at home if you want to start a few new plants.
Parsley is actually a biennial. This less common classification means that the plant only comes back after two gardening seasons — just enough time to produce leaves, go to seed, and develop a substantial taproot. As a biennial, the parsley plant offers delicious leaves its first year, and goes to seed its second year.
Refrigerate: Trim the parsley stems, place them in a glass jar or container of water, and store in the refrigerator. Rinse and dry the parsley before use.
Dry: Pick the leaves off the herbs and arrange them on a paper towel-covered plate. ...
Freeze: Cut up the herbs and place them in ice cube trays.
Although closely related, it should not be confused with the more popular varieties of leafy green parsley that you might grow in your garden or use as an herb. Parsley root comes from a subspecies of garden parsley known scientifically as Petroselinum crispum Tuberosum.
Parsley grows best where the air temperature is about 60° to 65°F. In hot summer regions, start parsley outdoors in the fall and let it grow on through the winter. Soil preparation: Parsley grows best in compost-rich, moist soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.7.
Parsley seeds can either be planted directly into the garden, winter sown, or they can be started indoors. The method you choose will depend on where you live. What is this? If you're in a cold climate like me, starting parsley seeds indoors will give them more time to mature, which means you'll get a better harvest.
Parsley herbs (Petroselinum crispum) grow best in a sunny, preferably south-facing window where they will receive six to eight hours of direct sunlight every day. If your window doesn't provide that much light, you'll have to supplement it with fluorescent lighting.
Parsley. Both the flat-leaved and curly types of parsley benefit from being grown in partial shade. Sow seeds in spring or autumn, and take care to protect young plants from frost.
No matter the variety you choose, parsley grows the same way. You can grow all three types in containers indoors, any time of the year. But, you'll have to control and maintain the temperature because these herbs don't like extreme cold or hot environments.
Parsley that is grown outdoors requires a thorough watering once or twice each week. The soil should be damp to a depth of around two inches. Allow the soil to mostly dry before you water in abundance again. Keep the water around the base of the plants and try to keep the leaves as dry as possible.
So how do you care for parsley in the winter? Cut the plants back in the early fall and apply about 2 to 3 inches (5-8 cm.) of mulch around them. The mulch keeps the ground from freezing and thawing in the winter.
Not only does parsley (Petroselinum crispum) encourage hoverflies and parasitic wasps, but it's also a caterpillar food for swallowtail butterflies. We plant it in full to part sun on the edge of the vegetable garden or under fruit trees.
How long does a parsley plant last? Parsley plants will only last for two years before they reach the end of their natural growing cycle. They are a biennial, which means they put on leafy foliage the first year, and then bolt (go to flower and set seed) in the second.
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