An Italian parsley with large leaves and intense flavour, indispensable in the kitchen.
About the variety. Gigante d'Italia produces broad, green leaves on a plant of 25–50 cm; fast-growing with a bold aroma, it prefers moderate sunlight.
Itinerário técnico
Como cultivar parsley gigante d´italia?
Um guia de cultivo passo a passo, da sementeira à colheita.
pH ideal 6.0 to 7.0Temperatura ideal 15 to 22 °CCompasso 15 to 20 cm in the row, 25 to 30 cm between rows
Sementeira
Sow direct one to one and a half centimetres deep and be ready to wait: germination takes two to four weeks and is the slowest in the ordinary vegetable garden. Soaking the seed in warm water for twenty four hours before sowing halves the wait. Keep the soil surface moist throughout that period or the sowing fails. Thin to fifteen or twenty centimetres. At about 50 centimetres tall, this variety grows well in a pot twenty centimetres deep with drainage holes. Use a pot at least twenty five centimetres deep with drainage holes, and expect to water more often, because a pot dries out far faster than open ground.
Solo
It wants deep, cool, fertile and free draining soil at a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. It has a taproot and dislikes transplanting, so direct sowing or a deep pot is always preferable. In compacted or stony soil the root forks and the plant stays small: dig deep before sowing.
Clima
It grows well between 15 °C and 22 °C, tolerates part shade and takes light frost, staying green through winter in a mild climate. It is biennial: in the second year it flowers and the leaf loses quality, which surprises many people. Sow again every year. It adapts to most of western Europe. On the Portuguese coast and in southern Spain use spring and autumn and avoid the peak of summer. Inland in Iberia water more through the dry months. In France and Germany the natural season is spring and summer, sowing once the soil has warmed steadily. In Italy the same rule applies as in the rest of the Mediterranean: spring and autumn in the centre and south, spring and summer in the north.
Fertilização
Its needs are moderate. One to two kilos of mature compost per square metre worked in before sowing covers most of the cycle. If the leaves pale, one watering with a balanced liquid organic feed halfway through is enough. Never use fresh manure, which burns roots and encourages disease.
Rega
Water regularly to keep the soil cool. Water shortage toughens the leaf and brings flowering forward. Part shade in an Iberian summer greatly reduces watering needs and keeps the leaf tender.
Controlo de Infestantes
The crop germinates slowly and is completely overrun by weeds in the first weeks, which is the number one cause of failure. Prepare the bed in advance, clear the first flush of weeds before sowing and mark the row with radish, which comes up within days and shows you where to hoe. Hoe shallowly between the rows and never pile soil over the crown.
Controlo de Pragas
Carrot fly attacks parsley too, with tunnels in the root and reddening foliage: cover with fine mesh. Aphids and leaf miner attack the leaves. Swallowtail caterpillars eat the foliage, but in small numbers and do not warrant action. Carrot fly has two generations, in May and from August to September: those are the times the mesh is needed. Aphids are dealt with using potassium soap; leaves with leaf miner tunnels are cut off and destroyed.
Doenças
Septoria makes brown black speckled leaf spots and powdery mildew a white bloom, both in humid conditions without ventilation. Space well, water at the base and remove affected leaves. Use a three year rotation away from carrot, celery and fennel. A dense, poorly ventilated sowing is behind almost every problem: thin out and do not water in the afternoon.
Colheita
Harvest the outer stems by cutting close to the base, never the leaf tips: cutting across the top leaves stubs that rot and the plant stalls. Always leave the central bud and a third of the plant. Harvested this way, one plant produces for many months. Allow about 45 to 50 days from sowing to the first harvest of this variety. The reference colour is green, and that is what tells you it is ready.
