From a sprig of parsley bought at the shop, you can grow a plant: find out how

Flavoring the dishes we prepare with some fresh, aromatic herbs is a great pleasure in the kitchen, and which gives that extra special touch to our dishes. There are times of the year when it is easy to find spice seedlings to buy, even in supermarkets and markets. And if we remember, we can still buy "flavorings" in the fruit and vegetable departments or from greengrocers. But what if we don't cook constantly, and maybe we don't habitually stock up on some of the more common herbs - such as parsley and basil - and suddenly we need one of them to flavor a dish?

In this case, it would be convenient to have a parsley plant in the home or in the garden to pick a sprig from, and it is easy to achieve this from cultivating a seedling or cutting.

Creativo

The starting condition of the seedling or cutting that you get at the market or supermarket must be very fresh and intact: it must still be healthy, with leaves that are not wilted and with no signs indicating that it has been crushed, nor has any discolored areas on the stem or leaves. So, green and healthy bunches are good!

Parsley purchased as an ingredient should also be treated just like any other cutting, since basically it is a question of propagating a plant starting from a sprig.

The sprig will have to be cut to a length of about 7 cm, and if you cut it into two or more pieces, use them all to make cuttings. Once the cuttings are prepared, the goal is to get them to produce roots, and you can do this in two ways:

• In water: take any glass or glass jar and insert the sprig inside, filling the container to the three quarter mark with water. If the sprig has many small leaves along its stem, cut them away so they don't rot under the water. Some people add a teaspoon of sugar to help the stem stay vigorous longer and while the roots grow, but this may not be needed. Keep the sprig in the water for a few weeks, changing the water every time it gets cloudy: in this time it will have produced a root system and you can move everything into a pot.
• In a pot with soil: choose a small jar (about 15 cm in diameter) and prepare a layer of one or two fingers of expanded clay on the bottom. Then fill the rest of the pot with rich soil, lightened up with a little sand or perlite / vermiculite. To increase the chances that the cutting will root, dip the tip of the sprig that you will insert into the ground first in a little water and then into powdered rooting hormone (you can buy this product in garden centers or online), and then stick the sprig into the soil. Remember that you don't necessarily need to use the hormone. You will need to keep the soil moist but not wet, so remember to check it with your finger to see if it has dried out every two or three days, and water accordingly.

The seedlings / cuttings that you grow in this way should be kept in bright spots but not where they are in direct sunlight, especially during the hottest hours of the day. Near a window is fine, or even on the windowsill if it is not facing south-southwest. In hot weather, you can put a saucer under the pot and put water into it, but avoid it stagnating. If you want, when the plant has taken room and starts to develop properly, you can administer a bit of liquid fertilizer every two weeks to make it more luxuriant - and it can also be combined with other herbs.

Happy gardening and buon appetite!