One of the more common parsley complaints I hear is that of parsley leaves turning yellow.

Generally, if a parsley plant starts yellowing the plant is under some form of stress.  Usually the outer leaves start to yellow first.

Here’s a list of common reasons causing parsley leaves to turn yellow and what can be done about them.  

Summer – Hot, Dry, Windy, Strong Sun Summer Weather

Yup, could be as simple as too many hot and dry summer days ☀️

During hot spells, the parsley roots struggle to keep up with the needs of the plant’s leaves.  The parsley plant is losing water faster than the roots can replenish.

Likewise, wind will pull moisture from the leaves quicker than the parsley’s root system can replenish.

The parsley plant reacts by shedding some of its outer leaves – hence they start to turn yellow and eventually die off.

Parsley plants in containers are more susceptible to yellowing from the heat of the summer as potted plants tend to dry out much faster than those planted in the ground, as the area the plant can draw water and nutrients from is limited to the container they’re growing in.

What To Do: 

Give your parsley herb plants some shade:
⛅Move parsley containers where they are shaded during the hottest part of the day.
⛅Cover parsley with shade cloth during hot and dry spells.
⛅Use a temporary barrier to block sun or wind – sometimes it’s easier to move other objects to block wind and cast a shadow, than to move a heavy planter

Make sure your parsley herb plants get enough water.  On really hot and/or windy days, parsley herbs grown in containers may need to be watered twice a day.

Once the hottest part of the summer passes, parsley plants tend to recover quite nicely 🙂

Too Much Or Too Little Water

Both overwatering and underwatering can cause parsley herb plants to yellow.

Overwatering:  Some people will see a parsley plant’s leaves turning yellow and will automatically water the plant.  And will do it again and again, even right after a rainfall!

And the parsley leaves keep turning yellow and eventually the plant roots rot and the plant dies.

I have seen my share of plants suffer this fate (not just parsley).  I kid you not – I am married to one of these people 😞  Chronic over-waterer syndrome I call it.

If the soil is wet, no water please!

Underwatering:  Sometimes life gets busy and the herb plants get somewhat neglected and dry out – that’s me on many an occasion.

Also, there are the folks that water enough to moisten the top of the soil, but not enough to penetrate through the soil to the root system.

Either way, the parsley herb plant reacts by yellowing outer leaves to feed the newer central leaves.

What to do:

☔Check the level of moisture in the soil by poking your finger about 1 inch (2.5 com) into the soil.  If the soil is dry, give your parsley plant a good watering such that the entire root system gets water – there should be some water draining out of the bottom of the container.

☔Don’t want to stick your finger in the soil?  Poke a sturdy stick or trowel into the soil then move the soil over a bit so you can see if the soil is dry or moist (touch is a better indicator though).

☔Not sure?  You can purchase a soil moisture meter to quickly and easily test soil moisture.

 

Transplant Shock

Parsley herb plants have a long tap root that should be disturbed as little as possible when transplanting.  Any stress on parsley’s root from transplanting can cause yellowing leaves.

Even with careful transplanting, my parsley herbs get some yellowing leaves initially.  With proper care of the parsley plant, this yellowing resolves itself after a couple of weeks or so, and the parsley plants go on to produce healthy vibrant green leaves all summer and into the winter.

What to do:

🌿When buying parsley herb plants in spring, choose healthy plants.  If the parsley leaves are already yellowing at the garden center, move on.

🌿Also check the bottom of the pot.  If the parsley roots are already coming out the bottom, the plant will have a much harder time adjusting to being transplanted.  Leave that parsley at the garden center too.

🌿Have your transplant location ready so you can pop your parsley herb plants out of their container and directly into their new location quickly.

🌿Remove parsley herb plants carefully from their current location or container to disturb the root system as little as possible.

🌿Once the parsley plant has been transplanted, water deeply.

Some yellowing of leaves is common after transplanting parsley.  If yellowing continues or worsens, check for other causes also.

Too Few / Too Many Nutrients In The Soil

Like water, if soil nutrients are the cause of parsley leaf yellowing, it could be a case of too much or too little.

It’s really easy to apply too much fertilizer to parsley herb plants, or to most plants for that matter.

Fertilizers, organic fertilizers included, are a source of concentrated nutrients and need to be applied carefully according to directions.

 

Because parsley has a long taproot, it can generally find all the nutrients it needs in the garden.

Parsley grown in containers will occasionally require supplemental feeding.  Especially if the containers are prone to over-watering, which tends to leach nutrients from the soil.

What to do:

🏡Apply compost to the garden bed before planting parsley – that should be enough.

🏡I also mix in a couple of handfuls of compost to commercial potting mix when planting parsley in containers.  Especially since I tend to re-use potting mix from one season to the next.

🏡During the season, plants grown in containers benefit from occasional supplemental fertilizing.  I use Maxicrop Seaweed Powder that I get from Richters Herbs .
 Maxicrop Seaweed products are also sold on Amazon.

🏡Apply fertilizer according to the package directions – or less.  Or as advised by the results of a soil test.  Never more!

🏡If you have recently fertilized your parsley herb plants and the leaves are turning yellow now, water your plants heavily to distribute and leach out some of the excess fertilizer.

Potting Mix or Soil is Too Dense

If you garden in clay soil, or the soil in your container is really dense, the parsley’s taproot may have difficulty growing into the soil and pulling up nutrients needed for the leaves.

This may cause the parsley plant to shed leaves that can’t be supported by the restricted root growth.

What to do:

🍁Heavy clay soil is many a gardener’s ongoing challenge.  Add sand, shredded dried leaves, or fluffy well-aged compost to the garden soil.  Then mix everything together to a depth of at least 8 inches (20 cm) before planting your parsley herb plants.

🍁It’s not often that I’ve seen containers with dense soil as potting mixes tend to be light and airy.  However, if the planter contains soil straight from the garden or bagged garden soil rather than potting mix, then mix in some sand with the container soil.

On the bright side, growing plants with long taproots like parsley and carrots helps break up dense and compacted soil for future crops  🙂

Not Enough Light

I find this more to be a problem when growing parsley indoors.  Parsley plants growing in shadier areas outdoors will grow slower than those planted in spaces with more sun, but probably will not experience yellowing leaves.

However, once you bring a parsley herb plant indoors – especially for the winter as the days get shorter and our houses get darker too – a parsley herb plant will shed some of its leaves.

What to do:

☀️Move your parsley herb plant to a sunnier location.

☀️Use grow lights to grow healthier greener parsley plants indoors.

Planter Too Small

This is a common problem with parsley in containers.  It is so easy to forget that this mound of green leaves has a long taproot that grows deep into the ground (can be about 2 to 3 feet down in a garden bed)

What to do:

🍃Plant your parsley in a tall container from the get-go.  At least 10 inches (25 cm) tall, but taller is better.

🍃If you only have shallow planters available, or if you have one of those mixed herb containers that look so pretty in the spring, accept that you will get yellowing of the outer leaves at some point as the root system becomes constricted.  And do your best to keep the plants healthy.

🍃Make sure the parsley plants get enough water as smaller planters will be more likely to dry out.

🍃As you see parsley leaves starting to yellow, snip them off so the roots don’t waste any more energy on those leaves.

In My Garden

I find that my parsley plants’ leaves will tend to yellow a bit for brief periods of time off and on throughout the growing season.

And the parsley plants I grow in pots are more prone to leaf yellowing than the parsley plants I grow directly in my garden.

And the parsley plants grown from seeds I sow directly into the garden have this problem least of all and some years not at all — albeit I have to wait much longer for the plants to be large enough to harvest from.

As you keep an eye out for when your parsley herb plants tend to get yellow leaves, you may discover a pattern that will help you minimize or eliminate this common complaint.

Happy Gardening 🙂
Barb