Planting containers
Parsley can be grown both in specialized containers (plastic boxes, specially put together wooden boxes, pots, flowerpots and flowerpots), and in any available containers, the depth of which is more than 12 cm, for example, in plastic trays for herring and portioned pieces of chicken, leaky pots and bowls or in children's buckets.
If there are no drainage holes in them, the bottom of the containers or bowls is lined with a centimeter layer of brick chips or eggshells crushed in the hands.The presence of drainage prevents stagnation of moisture, the excess of which can lead to rotting of the roots of the seedlings.
Soil
According to reviews from experienced vegetable growers, for a mini garden you can use a mixture of fertile soil from your own garden (before using it, it must be heated in the oven for at least half an hour or spilled with a medium pink solution of potassium permanganate) and a peat substrate intended for growing vegetable seedlings. The components for the soil are taken in approximately equal proportions. But the easiest way is to buy a universal soil for indoor plants with neutral acidity (pH 5.5 - 6.5).
Planting material
All varieties of crops are suitable for forcing garden parsley into greens at home.
However, the best results are obtained by gardeners who grow early-ripening and high-yielding types of umbrella vegetables on the windowsill, for example, “Aromatic leaf parsley” or “Mospop curly parsley”.
Dry parsley seeds are evenly laid out on slightly compacted and necessarily moist soil (not very thick), moistened again with a spray bottle and covered with a layer of loose substrate from 3 to 5 mm.
Until seedlings emerge, the plants are kept under a glass or cellophane cover in a dark and warm place, for example, near a radiator. Depending on the variety and freshness of the grains, the first sprouts appear on days 4-14. The plantings are ventilated daily, removing the cover for an hour, and if necessary, moisten the soil with a sprayer.
Temperature
In the middle zone, cold-resistant parsley, which can withstand short-term drops in temperature down to –4-5°C, can be grown on a glassed-in balcony, as in a cold greenhouse, from the end of March, when the temperature reaches above zero, without fear that the crops will die due to slight night frosts. They begin to bring planting containers into the house from the end of November, after the onset of a long cold spell.
The optimal temperature for seed germination after sowing is from +20 to 24°C. To create a greenhouse effect, planting containers with parsley are covered with glass, plastic wrap, or wrapped in bags. Moisture settling on the inner surface of the cover creates optimal conditions before the seeds awaken.
After the sprouts appear, the cellophane is removed and the planting containers are placed on the windowsill. In a warm room, seedlings develop quickly. The optimal temperature for green growth is from +16 to 20°C. In the cold, the growth of both underground and aboveground parts of plants stops.
Crop care
The top layer of soil under the parsley should not be allowed to dry out. At the beginning of the growing season, it is recommended to moisten the seedlings every day or every other day with exclusively soft water without chlorine through a fine spray nozzle. Subsequently, the crops are watered from a mini watering can or homemade sprinkler once every 1-4 days, depending on the humidity and air temperature in the room or on the balcony.
Lighting
Parsley, like other leafy vegetables, requires lighting. From the end of autumn to mid-spring, it is necessary to supplement the light even for crops living on the windowsills of southern windows, when daylight hours are short and the sun does not appear from behind the clouds every day, or even only a few times a month.
Greenery requires at least 10 hours of daylight. Seedlings that receive additional lighting for up to 15 hours grow best. Sources of additional lighting, for example, fluorescent lamps, phytolamps or LED strips, are installed at a height of 15 to 20 cm above the tops of the bushes.
In the summer, parsley crops need not be illuminated if they are on the windowsills of windows facing southeast, south and southwest. The maximum yield of lush greenery is obtained by owners who, in the warm season, take containers with plants to an open balcony or veranda in places with access to open sunlight.
Parsley for microgreens
In the absence of additional lighting from October to mid-March, as well as in the lack of light conditions that are observed on the window sills of windows facing north, northeast and northwest all year round, it will not be possible to obtain full sprigs of parsley. Parsley sprouts that appear en masse stretch out in 4-10 days. Their stems become thinner, lengthen and eventually die.
However, don't be upset. If you do not have the opportunity to provide additional light to the crops, then parsley seedlings are cut off at the stage of development of cotyledon leaves. Such microgreens contain increased doses of vitamins and valuable nutrients, so they are considered much healthier than fully developed parsley sprigs. When your sprouts reach a height of 4 cm, start harvesting. And immediately sow a new portion of leafy vegetables in the vacant space.
All parts of the seedlings can be eaten, after thoroughly washing the white roots under running water. Microgreens are an excellent addition to any vitamin-rich salads and other cold snacks.To preserve all the vitamins in the sprouts, it is recommended to add them to chilled food, that is, it is not advisable to put grass in hot borscht or soup.
We wish you stable harvests of greenery in your mini garden!
