parsley problems

[erikabos]

i have no problems with any other herbs but have been unable to ge

parsley to grow for several years now. i've tried growing it from see and did really well at the beginning but as with bought plants they di after producing a handful of leaves. i grow them in pots in multipurpos compost and keep them moist at all times. they are out in the garden i full sun (when we get some) but we have had a lot of rain so far thi year. Could they be suffering from too much water? Advice would be muc appreciated

-- erikabos

[Henriette Kress]

Don't keep'em moist ALL the time (they'll likely rot). Also note, parsley is an umbellifer, with a tap root: you'll need rather deep pots for it. It's very hardy - I'd not grow it in pots at all.

Luck! Henriette

[FarmI]

I think you are probably giving them too much care and attention. I grow all my parsley from seed (never in pots) and the way I grow it is to simply harvest the seed heads from a patch go that has gone to seed and then drop the seed heads in various places round the garden. And I do mean 'drop' the seed heads - no covering with soil or even soil preparation and as I live in Australia with a very big, untidy, weedy and drought ridden garden, they have to work to survive. I always have piles of parsley (both curly and Italian) through all seasons. Do some eperimenting. Try dropping some seed under dry south facing eaves of your house and see if you do any better.

[Jo Green]

It is possible that your parsley is suffering from too much water if the weather has been especially wet and if the soil is not draining properly. Parsley likes a well drained, moisture retaining soil. In light of the fact that you are growing parsley in containers make sure that the pots have adequate drainage holes and that they aren't blocked. Parsley tends to be more particular about soil requirements than other herbs. You want to make sure that the fertilizer is high in nitrogen. Applying the fertilizer every four weeks will also help to give the plants a boost. I have also found that growing parsley next to tomatoes and roses helps with the reduction of pests on your herb plants.

Jo Green

[FarmI]

That hasn't been my experience. I find it is much less fussy than many herbs. For example; Rosemary croaks it if the soil is more moist than it likes. Coriander likes far more cossetting than parsley. Dill likes it more fertile than parsley. Chives ditto or they dont' florish. And I tend to kill mint for some reason. I find parsley is a most amenable herb and it will come up anywhere I drop the seeds, even on poor soil.

[montana wildhack]

That's interesting. The biggest problem we have with herbs has to do with sunlight and drainage. Our basil likes a little shade. Purple basil seems particularly prone to sunburn.

The rest of the herbs never seem to care where they are as long as the soil isn't too wet and there's lots of sun.

Matter of fact, we generally plant herbs in spots where nothing else will grow and we don't fertilize or amend soil. Herbs have been great right next to the driveway, but we have to pay attention that we don't step on them or drive over them. Mint is excepted from the above. We drive over that regularly. Helps keep it trimmed back, I guess...

[FarmI]

I think sunlight and drainage would just about sum up most herbs :-)) I grow my rosemary under the eaves (dry and sunny). I grow my coriander in a bed in spring and out of the western sun when summer comes, ditto my basil.

I tend to do the same by popping something into a spot I've just cleared a crop from. The only exception is my parsley whihc I have rogue patches of where I have wandered by a seeding plant, grabbed the heads and then just dropped. My best patch at the moment (it's mid winter here so not a lot of growth happening) is right next to a fencepost (dry and impoverished). all the other patches are looking like thye are suffering from too much moisture or frost.

Herbs have been great

:-)) I do grow good mint on our other farm. It's on the south side of the house and it's raging along. Here I keep it in a pot so it gets enough moisture.