Can someone tell me what is going on with one of my parsley plants? It's the flat-leaf Italian type, and some of the stems started growing skinny leaves, no wider than about 1/3 inch. Also, one of
the stems has gotten really thick, and it looks like it's getting flower buds on it. Should I cut that stem down, so the plant concentrates more on the leaves? But what about the skinny leaves? The plant seems very healthy - just weird.
Weird parsley
I'd nip it back, especially the flowerbuds. I'm not big on parsely myself, but I understand that it tends to bolt (bloom & go to seed) in hot weather, so it might be done for the season. Cutting it back may give you a little more harvest from it, though. I don't have a clue about the skinny leaves, unless that just goes along with the buds.
Ahhhh.........I'll bet that's it - we've had temps in the mid to high 90's for the past two weeks. I'm going to hack that sucker off! Parsley is
great in potato and chicken noodle soups - scrambled eggs too :o).
I guess parsley (see, I can spell it!) is a taste I just never quite acquired, although the flat leaf Italian variety is not too bad.... but I'll stick to basil! :-)
Critter, I've grown flat leaf parsley for several years and its the BEST parsley around, especially with Italian cuisine. Mine just bolted after ten months of production. (I'm currently growing and cooking with basil, tarragon, marjoram, thyme, garlic chives and oregano and they're all great. Nothing like fresh herbs!)
Flip
Well, my Italian flat leaf is looking poorly, also. Don't think it will be around much longer. Plan to have Chicken Marsala ONE more time if I can get enough out of it. I grow it every year, and we just love it. To me it's good on everything. So far I haven't had any catapillas, though.
IO1...the reason you have no catapillas is that they're all up here in NJ. I have 9 pots of Italian Parsley and am picking them off almost daily. If I grew nothing else my wife would be happy just with Italian Parsley and Basil. It's good on most everything and in my wife's kitchen goes on most everything.
Rich
Quoting:
Parsley is another herb that goes against the mainstream. This biennial needs a little shade in the summer. You can tell if your parsley is getting too much sun when it bleaches out a bit and doesn't grow prolifically. This herb also likes a rich soil to keep producing along with an adequate supply of water. Cut parts of it near the base instead of giving it a haircut, the same as chives. As a biennial it will go to seed the second year but usually enough will have gone to seed the first year that you think it is a perennial.
Rich are you sure you aren't picking butterfly larvea? I left the larva alone and it developed into a wonderful butterfly this spring.
The first picture is when the larva was getting ready to form the chrysalis and this is what happened three weeks later. The larva only ate the parsley for two weeks, it was as thick as my little finger by the time it was done growing. They feed only on parsley.
