How to Grow Parsley Indoors: 7 Pro Tips
Parsley is a hardy biennial that loves cold climates. Though it grows well outdoors during late winter and early spring, it’s also a lovely indoor plant for your kitchen herb garden! Seasoned grower Jerad Bryant shares these seven essential tips for growing it indoors.
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Parsley is one of the most proliferous herbs. It sprouts flavorful and aromatic leaves off of fleshy, green stems. It’s a biennial plant, producing foliage the first year and flowers and seeds the second. It has the best flavor its first year, though you can use the flowers or seeds in dishes; they’re also edible!
When growing this herb inside, some essential cultivation conditions lead to a healthy crop. You need light, soil, containers, and water. You’ll also want to find parsley! Locate potted plants at your local nursery, or purchase seeds online from a reputable source.
Start Seeds at the Right Time
Though the indoors is warm year round, it’s subject to seasonal changes from the outdoors. How long the sun is up, how warm the windows get, and indoor temperatures are all factors that affect sprouting parsley. The best rule of thumb is to start seeds indoors during winter, about six to eight weeks before your last average frost date.
Starting seeds at the right time allows the seedlings to undergo natural changes according to the seasons. It’ll sprout leaves the first year, and flowers and seeds the next. You may start seeds during other seasons, though the seedlings may grow confused and sprout flowers their first year instead of the second.
For best results, aim to start seeds or source potted plants during late winter, a month or two before your last spring frost. They’ll grow well while the days lengthen and warm in spring—the longer, warmer days provide more indoor light for your specimens.
Use Containers with Drainage Holes
Parsley loves moisture, though it also appreciates drainage! Avoid containers without drainage holes, as this herb needs proper air and moisture circulation to thrive. Use plastic, ceramic, or metal pots that have one or more drainage holes.
When starting this herb from seeds, use small two-inch pots and gradually repot the seedlings as they mature. They’ll perform poorly in large containers, as the soil grows too soggy for their small root systems.
Seedlings tend to grow downward roots first before horizontal ones. In small containers, the roots reach the bottom and spread horizontally, whereas in large ones they reach deep below the surface before spreading out.
For optimal growth, start with two-inch containers and gradually repot the seedlings as they grow larger. As adults, they’ll need containers at least one foot wide and one foot deep.
Plant in Well-Drained Soil
Alongside drainage holes, the type of soil you use will set your plants up for success. Parsley appreciates well-drained, fertile soil. A loamy mix is best, with equal amounts of sand, clay, and silt. At this perfect ratio, loam provides adequate drainage and absorbency, preventing plants from rotting or drying out.
Though homemade loam is best, houseplant and herb potting mixes are excellent choices as well. They’re commonly available at plant nurseries and garden centers in pre-packaged bags. Though organic mixes are great for the outdoors, they’re often smelly indoors! Rotting organic matter may not decompose as well inside your home.
If you’re buying pre-made mixes, opt for soilless blends that have materials like coco coir, perlite, and vermiculite. Though these mixes are technically “soilless,” they still work well with organic fertilizers and are perfect for growing herbs indoors.
Provide Plenty of Light
Light is essential for growing the herb indoors. It needs full sun to thrive outdoors and benefits from plenty of direct sunlight inside your home. Give mature plants six to eight hours of bright light daily for best results.
Filtered or indirect sunlight works okay, though your specimens may grow spindly over time. Seedlings fare well with bright indirect light, and adults need more brightness. Grant them a few hours of direct sunlight daily to keep them turgid, healthy, and aromatic.
If natural light is hard to come by in your home, try using grow lights! These lighting apparatuses mimic the sun’s rays, providing seedlings and adults with as much brightness as they need. You can set them up on timers, that way they turn and off without you having to worry about them.
Grant Consistent Moisture
All plants need water to varying degrees. Parsley is a thirsty drinker that thrives with plenty of water during the growing season. Though outdoor specimens perform best with consistent moisture, indoor specimens appreciate some drying out between waterings.
The finger test is a good way to sense the moisture content before you water. Simply stick your dry finger down in the soil and lift it out. If moist dirt sticks to it, you can wait to water. If dry dirt rubs off without sticking, add plenty of water. If you’re squeamish, use a dry stick instead of your finger; it works just as well!
Light and soil also affect moisture content. The more light your plant receives, the more water it needs. The type of soil you use may soak up or leach out water depending on what it consists of. Use herb or houseplant mixes; they often have the correct materials for roots to thrive.
Harvest Properly
Though you may not think they’re related, how you harvest this plant influences how well it grows. You want to trim the outer leaf bunches by cutting them off at their base. Trim the outer leaves first, as this encourages new ones to sprout from the center.
When you harvest a part of a leaf and not the entire stalk, you force the plant to keep that leaf alive. It’ll send energy and sugars to heal the wound rather than budding new leaves at its center. Though it seems drastic, it’s better to chop off entire leaf clusters rather than portions.
When harvesting it’s important to leave some leaves behind for photosynthesis. Avoid removing more than a third of the leaves at a time. Harvest more than this and you may shock or kill your parsley. If you need lots of the herb, try growing multiple specimens in containers for a ready supply.
Store Extra Parsley
Fresh parsley tastes best, but freezing or drying the herb is a great way to preserve it. Preserved leaves are less flavorful than fresh leaves, though you can use more to compensate for the lack of flavor. Both frozen and dried foliage retain flavor for up to a year.
Hang the leaves upside down in a dark room without direct sunlight to dry. Bright light degrades the quality and flavor, rendering the leaves useless. Hang drying takes a week or two; try quick drying if you can’t wait. Place the leaves in a food dehydrator or oven on the lowest setting for a few minutes.
Freezing the herb is much easier than drying it. Simply stick it in a container in your freezer and use it as you need. You may also make olive oil herb cubes. Chop fresh foliage, infuse it in olive oil, and freeze it in ice cube trays. When you’re ready to cook, simply pop a cube into the pan!
