Herb / Cool season
Parsley
Slow from seed, steady once it sprouts, loved by caterpillars
Plant out byMar 30zone 6
- Family
- Carrot (Apiaceae)
- Sun
- Part sun (4+ h)
- Difficulty
- Some care
- Days to harvest
- 70-90 days
- Spacing
- 8 in apart, rows 12 in
- Pot size
- 2 gal pot (great in pots)
- Frost
- Hardy
- Start
- Either
- Water
When to plant
Showing .
Averages for a typical garden in the region. Your local frost dates may differ by 2-3 weeks, check a local source.Too late this year (try fall)
In zone 6, start seeds indoors Feb 23 to Mar 9; plant out Mar 23 to Mar 30. Average last frost Apr 20, first fall frost Oct 20.
Units
Parsley tests your patience before it pays you back. The seed can take two to four weeks to sprout. Plenty of first-time growers dump the pot a few days before the seedlings would have shown up. Soaking seed overnight helps, and so does starting it indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost. Or buy one small plant and skip the wait. Nobody at dinner will know the difference.
Once it gets going, parsley is steady. It grows in full sun or part sun, takes cold well, and keeps putting out new stems from the center as you cut the outer ones. Flat leaf types have a stronger taste for cooking. Curly types hold up well in a salad and look tidy in a pot. A 2 gallon pot is plenty for one or two plants, as long as it is deep enough for the taproot.
Keep an eye out for a fat caterpillar striped in green, black and yellow. That is the black swallowtail, and it can clear a small plant in a few days. I move them to a spare plant at the edge of the bed rather than squash them, because the butterflies are worth having around. Parsley is a biennial. In its second spring it flowers and the leaves turn tough, so most people start fresh plants each year.
Things to consider
- Seed is slow, often two to four weeks. Mark where you sowed and keep the surface damp the whole time, or start with a nursery plant. Radish seed sown in the same row comes up first and marks the spot.
- The plant flowers in its second year and the leaves go bitter. Plan to sow or buy new plants each spring, and pull the old ones once the flower stalks rise unless you want it to reseed.
- Carrot fly and celery fly larvae, aphids and stem rot can all show up. Good drainage and room between plants cut down on rot, so do not crowd a pot with five seedlings.
Good neighbours
Pests to watch for
Black swallowtail caterpillarsAphidsCarrot rust flies
Questions about growing parsley
Flat leaf or curly parsley, which should I grow?
Flat leaf, also called Italian parsley, has a stronger flavor and is the usual choice for cooking. Curly parsley is a little milder and makes a neat, compact plant for pots. They grow the same way, so the choice comes down to how you cook. If you cannot decide, one plant of each fits in a single wide pot.
How do I harvest parsley so it keeps growing?
Cut whole stems from the outside of the plant, down near the base, and leave the inner stems alone. The center keeps making new growth all season. Avoid shearing just the leafy tops, which leaves the plant full of bare stalks that never fill back in. A plant cut regularly tends to stay bushier than one left alone.
Can parsley grow indoors over winter?
It can, on a bright sunny windowsill, though growth slows in short days. Some growers pot up a young plant before the first fall frost, and others simply sow a fresh pot inside. Expect a smaller harvest than you get outdoors in the warm months. Turn the pot every few days so the stems do not all lean toward the glass.
Save this crop
Pin it to a garden board so it is there when planting time comes round.
Similar crops
Sources
General guidance for home gardens. Frost dates are averages for a zone or region; check a local source (in the US your county extension office) for local timing.