How to Grow Parsley from Cuttings

Cutting Parsley Stems

Clean your sharp scissors with soap, water, and rubbing alcohol. Clean off any surface dirt from your garden scissors with soapy water, then rinse them with plain water. After that, soak a cotton ball or soft cloth in rubbing alcohol and wipe down the blades of the scissors. Allow them to air dry for about 1 minute. Cleaning your garden scissors regularly greatly reduces your chances of spreading any plant diseases. Always clean the scissors right before making any cuttings. Always use sharp garden scissors so you can make clean, accurate cuts with minimal tearing.

Identify several leafy stems about 5 in (13 cm) long. Pick out 3-4 healthy-looking stems that are a vibrant green color and have at least 3 segments of leaves at the top of each stem. Avoid stems with flowers, stems or leaves with brown areas, or stems with exceptionally large leaves. The success rate for parsley cuttings is low, so make 3-4 cuttings even if you only really want 1. Likewise, if you want 2-3, make at least 6-8 cuttings.

Cut the stems at an angle and trim any lower leaves. Instead of cutting off the stems straight across, snip them at about a 45 degree angle. Cut each stem at any point above the soil line so that it’s around 4–6 in (10–15 cm) long. If there are any leaves on the bottom half of the cutting, snip them off. Snipping at an angle increases the surface area and allows the cutting to soak up water more quickly. When making cuttings of other herbs like basil or mint, snip the stem off just below a node—the point where a leaf shoots off from the stem. Parsley’s leaf nodes are typically near the top of the stem, so this is less important.

Nurturing the Cuttings

Place the cuttings in a jar of filtered or spring water for 2 hours. A small glass jar filled with 8 fl oz (240 ml) of water is good for 3-4 cuttings. If possible, avoid using tap water, which contains chlorine, or distilled water, which lacks nutrients. Using an activated carbon or reverse osmosis filter will remove chlorine from tap water, as will boiling it for 20 minutes. Leaving the water in a lid-free pot for 24 hours also removes most or all of the chlorine.

Make your own rooting solution, if desired, instead of using just water. To give your parsley cuttings a slightly better chance of sprouting roots, dissolve 1 uncoated aspirin tablet in the jar of water before adding the cuttings. Aspirin contains a derivative of salicylic acid, which was originally discovered in willow bark and potentially acts as a growth hormone for plants. The effectiveness of this hormonal rooting solution is based more on anecdotal observation than scientific evidence. However, it is still unlikely to harm your cuttings.

Fill a plant pot with 5 in (13 cm) of a good growing medium. You might, for example, fill the pot with equal parts of sand, perlite, and peat moss. Whatever growing medium you choose, make sure it’s good at retaining moisture evenly. Parsley typically isn’t picky about its growing medium, but you’ll want every advantage you can get when trying to grow from cuttings.

Plant the bottom 1 in (2.5 cm) of the cuttings into the growing medium. For each cutting, make a small indentation into the growing medium with your fingertip or a pencil, insert the cut tip of the stem, and lightly pack the growing medium around it. Space out the cuttings at least 1 in (2.5 cm) apart. If a cutting won’t stand upright on its own, plant it slightly deeper than 1 in (2.5 cm).

Provide the pot with indirect sunlight and even moisture. Water the pot just enough to evenly dampen the growing medium, then place the pot on a windowsill or other spot where it will receive primarily indirect sunlight. Check the pot's moisture level every 1-2 days. Test the moisture level by sticking the tip of your finger into the growing medium. If it's damp to a depth of at least 1 in (2.5 cm), it doesn't need extra water. You may only need to add water once per week, especially indoors. If there’s no risk of frost, you can instead place the pot outdoors in a mostly-shady location. It’s more challenging to control the moisture level outdoors, though.

Check daily after 2 weeks for signs of root growth. Focus only on keeping the moisture level even for about 14 days. After that, check for roots by gently scraping away some of the growing medium around each cutting. Look for white roots emerging from the submerged part of the cutting. If the roots reach 1–2 in (2.5–5.1 cm) long, consider your effort a success. You can start the process of transplanting your rooted cuttings into pots or the soil. If there’s no sign of root growth after 3 weeks and the cutting is wilted and brown, it’s not going to take root. Hopefully, at least one of your several cuttings will make it!

Growing Rooted Cuttings

Move the rooted cuttings into pots with adequate spacing. Each new parsley plant should have at least 9 in (23 cm) of spacing all around, so you may want to transplant each rooted cutting into its own pot. Prepare the growing medium in a similar fashion as before—for example, by mixing equal parts sand, perlite, and peat moss. Then, carefully scoop out each plant with the soil attached to its root ball and nestle it into its new home. While indirect sunlight was the best option for the new cuttings, aim for partial sunshine—about 4-6 hours per day—for the transplanted cuttings. You can keep the pots indoors or move them outdoors after the risk of frost has passed.

Transplant the parsley into the ground, if desired, instead of using pots. Choose a spot outdoors that gets partial sunshine and has moist, loamy soil. After the risk of frost has passed, work in some compost and loosen up the soil, then carefully transplant the cuttings and their root balls. Give each plant at least 9 in (23 cm) of spacing all around. Some gardeners find that their parsley grows especially well when planted near tomatoes. Alternatively, some gardeners claim that growing parsley near roses causes the rose blossoms to be more fragrant.

Maintain evenly moist conditions for the best results. Once it has taken root, parsley is pretty resilient and can handle both dry and wet conditions. However, it does best in an evenly moist growing medium. Plan your watering strategy accordingly. The growing medium should feel moist when you stick your finger 1 in (2.5 cm) into it.

Harvest the outermost leafy stems of your parsley plants first. Multiple stems will soon emerge from each parsley plant, and each stem will develop a clump of leaves at the end. Focus on harvesting the outermost stems first, once the leaves are vibrant and well-developed. New stems should continue to emerge near the center of the plant. If you want to make new cuttings, choose these healthy outermost stems as well. Parsley is a biennial plant in most climates. This means that it produces abundant leaves during its first growing season, then primarily “goes to seed” and dies off during its second growing season. You’ll still get some leaves to harvest during the second season, and can collect the seeds for planting.