How to Transplant Parsley That Has a Long, Weak Stem

Prepare to transplant the parsley in early morning or evening to avoid midday heat. Transplanting parsley during the heat of day dries plant roots and may kill parsley.

Choose and prepare a new site. Find a site with good air movement and six to eight hours of sun every day, and give parsley plants 12 inches of space all around. If you don't have an appropriate outdoor site or you want to move the parsley indoors, use a small, 2- to 3-gallon pot with a drainage hole.

Prepare the soil. Turn 3 inches of organic compost into the top 6 inches of soil in a 12-inch-wide square to give your parsley loose, nutritious and quick-draining soil in the new site. If you're potting your parsley, mix organic compost with quick-draining potting soil in equal parts, and fill the pot 3/4 full. Turn 5-10-5 granular fertilizer into your planting site, per manufacturer directions, to give the parsley good rooting nutrition.

Use a hand spade to lever the parsley out of the soil, and include a large root and soil ball for the transplant. Plant the parsley in your pot, or new site, in a hole wide and deep enough for the root ball.

Harvest parsley sprigs for use in the kitchen and to encourage fresh new growth. Pull stalks and leaves into bunches and cut them off halfway down the stalks.

Put the parsley on a consistent schedule of 2 inches of water every week to maintain soil moisture, and use 1 inch of organic compost to maintain soil quality in the outdoor garden.