Today I kicked off the 2017 seed starting season by sowing seeds for several herbs, including seeds for parsley, fennel and garlic chives. While I was at it, I also sowed seeds for a micro greens mix, sunflower shoots, and cilantro sprouts. I’ll be starting more seeds for early greens in the days to come. And I’ll be starting seeds for petunias once the seeds arrive.
starting parsley seeds
Since parsley and the other herbs take a fairly long time to germinate, sometimes up to three weeks for the parsley, I sowed those seeds separately in 3.5 inch plastic pots. Then I covered them with plastic film secured with a rubber band to help keep the soil moist until germination. I will remove the plastic once the seeds are up and growing, and eventually transplant the seedlings into individual pots. I know parsley has a reputation for not liking to be transplanted, but I’ve been starting it like this for quite a long time with good results.
portable potting tray
Even though I have a greenhouse, it’s usually cold this time of year and I wind up starting many of my seeds indoors in the kitchen. To keep down the mess, I’ve been using a portable potting tray I got from the Greenhouse Megastore. I like this so much I got another one to use on my greenhouse potting bench. There’s plenty of room to hold a 1020 standard flat, as well as the plug trays I often use for seed starting. That’s an 18 inch long planter in the above photo, which is where I sowed the micro greens mix. I’ll start all these seeds indoors using my fluorescent light setup in the basement.
starting seeds under fluorescent lightsseed starting
Back in 2013 I covered the basics of seed starting in my Seed Starting 101. And back in 2015 I shared a look at my indoor Seed Starting Setup. I’m still doing things pretty much the same way, so you can check out those earlier posts for more detailed info and pics. For the general timetable I follow every year check out my Seed Starting and Planting Schedule. I’ll be back with more updates on my seed starting activities as they happen.
We don’t really start sowing’til March. We also have success transplanting parsley.
Spring is on the way! I may have to try your method for parsley, I always seem to have dismal results with direct sowing them. Like you say, they take forever to germinate and then they seem to disappear because of birds, bugs, or whatever. I went without parsley for most of 2016 because I just couldn’t get it going.