Planting parsley in spring in open ground: tips

Terms of planting

In spring, parsley and dill seeds begin to be sown. The best time to start planting is April, when severe frosts pass and the earth begins to warm up. Some prefer to sow it all April, October-November, June-July. The time of sowing with seeds depends only on the goals and the desired result, for example, in the summer it is sown for good greenery for the next year.

If there is a desire to get it in early spring, then it needs to be planted before winter, but here you need to guess with the weather conditions and not let the seeds freeze in the ground. Ideal when all the hard frosts have passed. Parsley, like dill, is not afraid of frosts down to -5 degrees. The most correct of all options when planted in the spring from seeds.

 How to plant

A bed for parsley and dill is prepared in the autumn, but it is necessary to plant the prepared seeds in it in the spring. At the same time, leaf spice can be planted with seeds in the summer in July. Proper soil preparation in autumn for greens (dill, parsley) is as follows: 

• the bed is dug up;
• fertilizers (organic) 6-7 kg per 1 square meter are applied to the soil. m.;
• add mineral fertilizers like superphosphate and potassium salt 20-30g per 1 sq. m.;
• in the spring, the addition of mineral fertilizers of superphosphate and potassium salt should be repeated with the addition of 50 g of urea per 1 sq. m.;
• when the frosts have already passed, you should start sowing seeds in early April;
• the distance between the bushes should not exceed 6 cm; with dense germination, the bed needs to be thinned out;
• for greater productivity, parsley should be planted in the place where cucumbers, potatoes, beets, cabbage grew last year.

Root crops are planted in open ground or greenhouses. In this case, preparation should begin a month before planting, in February.

How to plant seeds

There are many methods for preparing parsley or dill seeds for planting. Soaking seeds is carried out 3-4 days before planting in the ground. Wet gauze or cotton cloth, pour seeds into it, spill them with a weak solution of potassium permanganate and leave for a couple of days to germinate. With the advent of sprouts, the seeds are removed in the refrigerator for hardening. Without hardening, parsley, like dill, can sprout up to two weeks. After sowing seeds into the ground, special care and frequent watering is necessary so that the seeds do not disappear into the ground, but it is not necessary to fill the garden bed, otherwise the seeds will rot.

For rapid germination, the forced method is used. Quicklime is added to the grooves for future plants, sprinkled with quite a bit, and in the meantime the seeds are soaked in milk for 2-5 hours. After soaking the seeds, they need to be sown in the grooves and watered, the groove is covered with earth. In a day, the first shoots will already appear. This method can also be applied to dill to get early greens.

There is also a widely used method when growing parsley in the open field is done by dry sowing in the ground. In this way, the seeds simply need to be sown in the garden without additional actions with them. This type of planting does not require much effort, but they will germinate later than soaked seeds.

Care and growing

In the greenhouse, parsley is grown by forcing green leaves and root crops. Root crops should be kept until planting in wet sand at a low temperature. Several grooves are prepared in the garden and planted in such a way that the upper part of the root remains above the ground. The approximate distance between the rows of such plantings is 15 cm, and between the parsley bushes is 7 cm.

It can also be grown at home, if there is no summer cottage. To do this, we prepare a drainage box, with earth treated with warm water and rammed. Prepared seeds are planted in a box half a centimeter deep. Watering such a home garden is done with a spray gun and the soil is constantly monitored, which should not dry out.

Recommendations for caring for home-grown parsley are slightly different from caring for parsley in garden beds:

• the soil should be kept slightly moist, but not wet or dry;
• be sure to monitor the temperature regime, which should not be less than 15-20C;
• if the daylight hours are short, we take a light lamp and additionally illuminate the plant at a distance of 60 cm from the box;
• after germination, the plants need to be thinned out;

With this type of planting and care, the first greens can be harvested after 1.5 months. Care for grown parsley in the beds is as follows:

1. Parsley can be cut throughout the season if, as the bushes grow, new rows are sown every two weeks and care is taken properly.
2. You need to feed parsley several times during the period of active growth. Saltpeter is well suited for growing large parsley leaves, it will give a large increase in greenery. Phosphorus-potassium fertilizers introduced in August contribute to the beneficial development of root crops in parsley.
3. Regular thinning of the bushes and quality care for them will give a good and large harvest.
4. Weeding and loosening the soil are essential for a good metabolism and the entry of oxygen into the ground.
5. It is necessary to monitor the healthy appearance of parsley leaves in order to take timely measures for their treatment.
6. Parsley is watered in the evening, and starting from August, it is abundantly watered for good quality root crops.

Root crops are dug up in September and stored in a cold place without leaves. Parsley is harvested in autumn, before the first frost. By not digging up the parsley roots next spring, you can get an early parsley harvest. Its leaves are cut at any time, and frozen or dried.

Video “How to sow parsley in the garden”

Demonstrative video on how to sow parsley in the garden.