To grow parsley well in the garden or on the balcony, it needs a lot of nutrients Therefore, you need to fertilize your parsley the right way. It is also advisable to provide nutritious soil right at the time of sowing.
Under no circumstances should you fertilize the herbs with fresh compost or manure.
Parsley Grows Slowly
Parsley belongs to the slow-growing plants. Impatient gardeners who find the growth too slow, tend to fertilize their parsley to encourage them to grow.
However, this is not appropriate for parsley. Too much and the wrong fertilizer is more likely to cause the plants to die or lose flavor.
Just give parsley the time it needs to grow and be sparing with fertilizer.
How to Fertilize Parsley Outdoors
With good soil preparation, you won’t need to fertilize parsley outdoors at all, at least for the first year.
This is how to prepare the soil for parsley:
- Loosen the soil deeply
- Work in mature compost or mature manure
- Spread a layer of soil over the fertilizer
- If the soil is very acidic, add a little lime
When planting parsley, plant the seedlings so that the roots do not touch the compost layer.
Perennial parsley will tolerate a light application of fertilizer in the form of mature compost, horn meal, or horn shavings in the fall.
How to Fertilize Parsley in a Pot
Potting soil leaches out much faster than soil in the open. If you cultivate parsley in a pot on the balcony or kitchen window, you should give some liquid fertilizer once a month.
Special organic-based plant fertilizers that you can get at your local garden supply store work very well for parsley.
What to Do if the Parsley Does Not Want to Grow at All
In the rarest cases, lack of growth is due to a lack of nutrients. Most often, the wrong site conditions are the cause.
If the parsley turns yellow, it may be that the soil is too acidic. This often happens when there are a lot of conifers growing in the garden. The needles spread on the soil and cause over-acidity.
In this case, it is useful to lime the soil around the parsley. Lime neutralizes the acidity and creates better soil conditions for the seasoning plant.
Should I Fertilize Parsley Before Harvesting?
Shortly before harvesting, you should no longer give fertilizer to your parsley. The taste of the aromatic herb changes due to fertilizers.
You will notice the difference when you eat it, as the flavor is greatly diminished by fertilization.