How to grow parsley: planting and care

Parsley in Greece were used for the preparation of medicinal potions, and from there she migrated to us in the form of garden culture. In Russia grow parsley everywhere, as this plant, in addition to its beneficial properties, quite hardy and resistant to frost (safely tolerate temperatures up to -9 degrees). Collect herbs from the beds is possible from early spring until snow.

You can grow two types of parsley – leaf and root. In the sheet in a food is just greens, and the root has a strong root, which is used for pickles and sauces. Greens, root parsley can also be used, but pluck it only when the root is fully ripe, otherwise it will be small.

How to plant parsley

Parsley is unassuming to the lighting, it can grow in semidarkness, but in the sun the harvest will be much higher.

You can't grow parsley after relatives-celery: dill, cilantro, cumin and carrots. For planting parsley after them must be at least four years, however, after all the celery and parsley planted after this time. Best predecessors are potatoes, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, cucumbers.

Plant parsley need in the second half of April, in the loose soil with normal or slightly high acidity. It would be better if the beds to prepare in the autumn, making them with the digging of soil humus (1 m 3-4 kg). In the spring you need to add fertilizers.

To grow parsley is best in the beds with aisles 15 – 20 cm Seeds pre-soaked for days in water or within half an hour, keep in hot water in a gauze bag, and then dried to a friable state. Some gardeners for quick germination soak the parsley seeds for 4 hours in milk. Dry seeds will sprout long and raggedly, for a week later than soaked.

Dried seeds are sown in furrows no deeper than two inches, better 0.5 – 1. After planting they should be watered, and the land lightly compacted or sealed boards. Crops, for moisture retention, should preferably be covered with polyethylene. After 10 – 14 days appear shoots.

To grow parsley from the dry seeds is better for the winter, sowing them directly into the frozen soil. Sow parsley through every week or two until the end of July, almost all summer.

How to care for parsley

To grow parsley – not troublesome, care mostly consists of watering, weeding, loosening of soil and weed control. Leaf parsley you cut on the greens, so the thinning will occur in a natural way. But it is not a root of parsley, if insufficient thinning root crops will be fine. In the heat the plants will stop growing, the leaves begin to grumeti, but at the same time will increase the concentration of essential oils, but because of the roots and leaves will be more flavorful.

When you leave the vase life of parsley 4 - 5 cm petioles. Can a couple of times per season to make nitrogen fertilizer. Complex fertilizers, it is desirable to make at the beginning of the vegetation period under root parsley.

Enemies parsley: stem nematode, bocheva aphid, white mold, rust, white spot, carrot fly, carrot listobloshek. Monitor your plant's leaves to prevent crop loss.

Harvesting, storing

The time for harvesting root parsley – September. The leaves are cut off, and root crops like carrots stored in the cellar or in the refrigerator. You can leave some roots in the ground in early spring then get the fresh herbs. If small roots to plant in pots, you can grow parsley on the windowsill even in winter.