Twenty seedlings, spaced 15 to 20 centimetres apart, three short rows along the bed’s sunny edge. I’ve got dill going in next to them next week, once the parsley’s settled, since the two make decent neighbours and I don’t want the dill shading these guys out before they’ve established. Chervil and anise are candidates for the same bed if there’s room left in July.
Cairns is deep in its dry season right now, and the daytime temperatures have been sitting comfortably in the 15 to 25 degree range parsley actually wants. That’s the one thing tropical growers get that Brisbane and Sydney don’t this time of year, cool, dry, stable weather instead of the wet season slog. I dug the bed over, worked in some aged compost, and watered everything in well before laying a light mulch to keep the surface from crusting over in the sun.
Italian Giant is the flat leaf type, more flavour than the curly stuff, and it’s slower to bolt than most parsley I’ve grown. Seed to first pick usually runs close to ten weeks here, so I’m pencilling in early September for the first proper harvest.
What to expect over the next few months
Germination on parsley is notoriously slow. I won’t see anything above the soil for two to three weeks, and I’ll admit I’ve forgotten I’ve sown it before and gone back over the same patch with a hoe. First true leaves should show by late July, if the birds leave the row alone. From there it’s a slow build until the plant’s got enough leaf mass to handle regular cutting without stalling.
If you’re in a tropical or subtropical zone, this is your window too. Direct sowing right now, while nights are mild, beats waiting for the heat and humidity to come back in October. Cooler zone growers reading this should hold off until closer to spring, parsley in that 15 to 25 degree band won’t forgive a frost.
Companion planting carrots or cabbages along the same bed is worth doing while the soil’s already turned over. My money’s on the parsley outlasting my memory of exactly where I planted the carrots.
