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deborahb_gardener

Parsley trouble: many tangled plants

deborahb_gardener
15 years ago

I read through many posts, but was not able to find anything related.

I bought a pot with curly parsley from Home Depot--the company is Urban Gardener.

The plants have very weak stems, it looks more like watercress, and are unbelievably tangled. The leaves are growing tangled up and there is a huge number of stems that are growing too close together.

It does not look like the parsley I know, which even when young has multiple, but discernibly separate stems. But maybe that is just the flat leafed parsley. The leaf, however, is more like parsley.


I transplanted it to a bigger pot, but I am not sure if this is going to survive or if I am wasting my time.

Any thoughts? Many thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: Parsley

Comments (8)

  • ksrogers
    15 years ago

    The seeds may have been planted very close together as a 'clumping' plant. It does look a little like cilantro. If they smell like cilantro, which is also called 'Chinese parsley', then its not parsley at all. Because your usually only harvesting leaves and short parts of the tender stems, tangling should not be an issue. Just use sharp knife to cut some stems, or a small swatch of it when you need some. Cilantro has very weak stems. You can tell the difference by plucking a single leae and smelling, then testing it.

  • Daisyduckworth
    15 years ago

    Somebody's just grabbed a spoonful of seeds and plonked them into the pot, so you've got multiple plants that have germinated. You absolutely HAVE to separate them out - flat-leafed parsley can grow into quite a large plant, but when overcrowded to this extent, all your plants are doomed to die from self-suffocation.

    Remove the root ball from the pot, and tear it in half. Extract as many plants as you can, one at a time, being very careful not to damage those tender baby roots, and transplant them each individually. Yes, you'll lose quite a few, and it will be impossible not to do some damage, but they're young enough for some of them to survive. Even you get only one survivor, it will be a bonus.

    Don't be surprised if any survivors bolt to seed. Parsley, being biennial, normally goes to seed in its second year, but it doesn't approve of being transplanted and will often seed in its first year as a protest. Well, that's OK. Let it go to seed, and next year you'll have lots of new plants. Meantime, try and buy a more advanced single plant next time!

    With parsley, buying cheaply-produced mass plantings like this isn't really much of a bargain at all - they're meant to be used up fairly quickly, not to grow to mature size.

  • deborahb_gardener
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks so much!

    No, I am pretty sure it is not cilantro--I grow that too. It's a bit too curly.

    Irony is, this was not cheap: it sold at a higher price. The smaller individual ones they had just looked a bit yellow and limp, so I reluctantly took this one.

    I'll try to separate them more, but from now on, I'll just use my seeds and plant early!

    Thanks again. This is a great site, only it's quite a problem they don't allow you to edit your post (or respond soon enough when you email them).

  • ksrogers
    15 years ago

    When you send a reply and need to post another, or correction soon after, change the RE: title text, that will allow you to repost right after a post was done. Be sure to do a page refresh/reload to see the latest info. Editing afterwards is probably a major effort for a basically 'free' group of forums. The search engins here ins't the best, but if you can imagine an edited message happening almost every minute of the day, and a search trying to keep up with just the current posts, its a lot of extra computer resource time.

  • deborahb_gardener
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Since predictably the parsley is not doing well, despite my efforts to separate them, I am thinking of planting my own seed indoors.

    Will it work at this stage, given how hot it is getting? My pots are by the windowsill, 4th floor south, tons of light.

    And an elementary question: I have soaked the seeds 24 hours, as per instructions, but I am not sure how many to plant. They are tiny, so I dont see how you can avoid having them close together if you just sprinkle them on the soil. Or are you supposed to place each one separately? I did say the question was elementary--but I suspect such sprinkling is what caused the congestion in my existing disaster purchase.

    And how many seeds are you supposed to put in a pot, when you only want one plant to grow? Presumably they don't all germinate, right?

    many thanks

  • Daisyduckworth
    15 years ago

    Got a glass jar or an old salt shaker with large holes? Put some cleaned river sand into either (in the case of the jar, make a hole in the lid so that the sand can pour freely). Put tiny seeds in, shake the jar to distribute the seeds, and pour. It helps to spread seeds easily, and there's no need to cover the seeds further.

    However you sow your seeds, you may need to do some thinning out. Just pick out crowded seedlings as they appear - like weeding!

  • rarest
    13 years ago

    Hello, This is the closest post I can find to my italian flat-leaf parsley problem...

    I planted an entire packet of seeds in a medium-sized container, thinking I'd transplant the few that might sprout later. So of course, (beginner's luck), every last one sprouted within a couple of days. Fast-forward several weeks later, the pot of course is very, very over-crowded with sprouts. I've read here that Parsley doesn't like being transplanted and that they may bolt to seed this year, but I plan to enjoy them for as long as I can.

    Just wondering how deeply i should transplant the seedlings. They are somewhat leggy I think, long and flimsy. Is it okay to bury the cotyledons when transplanting parsley (as with tomatoes, etc.) or should I plant them at exactly the same level? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

  • flora_uk
    13 years ago

    You can separate them out into smaller clumps e.g. about 6 plants and plant out like that if it's too much trouble doing individual plants. Transplant the same depth as they were in the pot before. Do NOT bury the cotleydons or the stems. They won't root from the stems. Keep them well watered, but not soggy, and cool. I'd put them in the garden rather than pots of this is possible. Give each clump about a foot between it and the next clump if you want maximum sized results but you could put them closer if necessary..

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