Three weeks old, and the parsley is already well past its seed leaf stage, where everyone pretty much looks the same, and is busy expressing its true nature. On the left, Green Pearl, a curly variety, starting to pucker and…curl. On the right, Hilmar, of the generally stronger-tasting flat-leaf type. Curly, straight, plants, people…we’re all bobbing around in the same big boat! (I’m still WAITING, holding back for a few more days before starting the next wave of seedlings… :)
I think I may try and grow some herbs this year. Those are beautiful!
how many seeds do you put per cell?
homemama: For parsley, I put 4-5 seeds per cell, thinning down to two plants. There are so many variables with seed germination, like, age of the seed/actual germination rate, the type of seeding mix, how deep, temperature, etc, I usually go for a little more than you might if you were trying to save every seed possible. There’s no hard and fast rule…just experiment. Germination rate for fresh seed for most North American garden veggies and many herbs is around 85-90%, but for me at least, it almost never works out like that under my normal conditions. So, I roughly consider it 50-75%…
Hey Mike,
They look beautiful! Of mine, only 1 has sprouted. Waiting for the rest and keeping them warm…
What do you feed your parsley? Do you feed it once it gets its first true leaves?
Katrien: I use liquid kelp extract and liquid fish fertilizer, both at 3-5ml per liter of water, which is about half the label-recommended concentration for veggies, starting sometime after the seed leaves. As with most things I do now, I don’t follow really rigid rules–dunno if that’s good or bad, lots of gardening methods, like biodynamics, seem to involve some really tight timing, but that’s how it is here for now. :) I generally underwater the seedlings by putting the plug sheets in a tray of water. I also sometimes soak the trays at seeding time in the same kelp dilution. And I often use the kelp solution in a spray bottle and mist the seedlings (along with diluted chamomile tea). It’s all very CASUAL and experimental, but it seems to work out!
ooooh I love parsley. One of my favorite salads is chopped parsley, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepp. Hello spring.