Medwyn Williams’ foolproof guide to growing parsley
So why not follow my foolproof guide and grow it from seed this year?
This week I’m sowing parsley, which germinates notoriously slowly and irregularly, but forms a very important part of my displays. Potatoes and carrots really benefit from a finishing touch of lush green parsley leaves carefully pushed between them.
Faulds parsley is an old heirloom variety with tight, curly foliage that’s popular in Scotland. I’ve found it grows better when good-quality soil is added to the peat-based growing medium, giving plants a buffer that they seem to love.
The seed size is between celery and carrot, and these three all belong to the Umbelliferae family. When producing Faulds parsley seed, I have to ensure there’s no cross pollination between my carrot and parsley seed heads.
I sow my Faulds parsley on top of F2S seed compost and gently press it into the surface using a flat board that fits snugly inside a half-sized seed tray. Like celery, parsley seed germinates better with some diffused light, so I barely cover it with superfine grade Vermiculite.
I then float the tray on another tray of water until the compost is fully charged, indicated by the Vermiculite turning darker. To ensure the surface of the growing medium never dries out, I pull clingfilm tightly over the tray and tuck it firmly underneath. I place the seed tray on a heated mat on the propagating bench until enough plants have germinated to warrant removing the clingfilm. When the film mists over, I tap it and the moisture droplets fall so I can see germinating seedlings – I find I get a very high rate of germination with this method.
Then they’re transplanted into 40-cell trays that fit inside a full-sized seed tray of Humax Original Multi-purpose Compost with some soil, and from there go into 9cm (3½in) pots. l Follow me on Twitter – @medwynsofangles.