My Italian parsley needs some HELP, I think

[blurose]

I planted some Italian parsley from seed in my herb garden. It has sprouted up not in the neat rows into which it was planted but in one big clump and 2 smaller clumps. Whether I moved the seeds accidentally when watering (probably did) or they were just "gathered" by my ever helpful ground squirrels I'm not sure. Anyway, they are really tiny but showing the proper leaf shape. They just aren't growing nearly as fast or big as my previous plantings of it have done. Should I try to break up the bunches or would that kill the plants? HELP! Although they sprouted well over a month ago, they are still less than 1 inch tall. Nothing is eating them down either. The soil is container potting soil with fertilizer included. The sage start that I planted in the same container is at least 4 times the size it was when planted initially.

 

[patandchickens]

First, IME parsley does start rather slow. But if you think what you've got is a big lump of seeds all sprouted in each others' laps, indeed some thinning might be smart. I do not think I'd personally try to separate them (I'll do that with very heartily-growing things tho) -- I would probably just get the finest scissors I could locate and snip snip to reduce it to one or at most two plants.

Or since you have a coupla clumps you could try separating one and just snipsnipping the other(s).

Good luck,

Pat

 

[blurose]

The largest clump was growing together just as close and tightly as sod does so I went ahead and did some separating and replanting. I figured it wasn't going to be growing very well as it was so the risk of killing it off by separating it at the roots and replanting it elsewhere seemed doable. We'll see. :happy_flower

 

[Reinbeau]

bluerose, it is always better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission, even with plants. As you said, if they weren't separated they would die, you gambled well, I'm sure. Just be sure to give them plenty of water until they get established.

 

[blurose]

My parsley is doing better, I think, since I spread it around a little here, a little there, instead of all clumped together like sod. I also took the opportunity to switch my sage and basil plants around. Both seem to have taken the move rather well.