1. From a Few Stems to a Water Parsley Patch
Water parsley, known as Minari in Korean cooking, is a leafy vegetable with tender stems and a fresh, distinctive flavor. It is often used in Korean soups, salads, stir-fries, and side dishes. We enjoy growing it because we can harvest fresh stems and leaves whenever we need them in the kitchen.
Growing water parsley in Calgary, Alberta, was not easy at first. Water parsley can be grown from seeds or roots, but neither was easy for us to find locally. Korean grocery stores sometimes sold fresh water parsley, but the bunches usually had plenty of leaves and very few usable stems.
Even finding fresh water parsley was difficult at times. When we did find it, the stems were often too short to provide enough material for growing new plants.
A few years ago, we began thinking about another way to grow this vegetable. We remembered that roots could develop from the nodes along water parsley stems. Instead of waiting for seeds or searching for established roots, we decided to try rooting fresh stems in water.
Finding suitable stems was another challenge. Eventually, we managed to bring water parsley stems with several nodes from Vancouver to Calgary. This gave us the planting material we needed to test our idea.
The experiment worked. After the stems developed roots, we planted them in our backyard garden. Only three plants survived their first Calgary winter, but they grew well the following year.
Those three surviving plants gradually multiplied and developed into the water parsley patch we have today.
2. Why We Decided to Observe Root Growth for One Month
Water parsley has become one of the useful vegetables in our garden. Once established, it provides enough fresh stems and leaves for regular use in our kitchen. Depending on the weather and growing conditions, we can harvest it from early spring through late fall.
One important part of growing water parsley is keeping the soil consistently moist. It grows well when the soil does not dry out, so we pay close attention to watering throughout the growing season.
We also learned that water parsley can survive Calgary's cold winters. Our first winter was difficult, and only three plants survived. However, those survivors grew well in the following season and became the foundation of our larger patch.
Because our established plants now grow well, we wanted to find out how easily fresh stems could develop roots and begin growing again.
We selected three stems from our garden, placed them in a cup of water, and recorded their progress from September 5 to October 7.
During this one-month observation, we watched for four main changes:
When the first roots appeared.
How quickly the roots grew.
When the original leaves turned yellow and dried.
When new leaves and shoots appeared.
This simple experiment allowed us to follow the process from a freshly cut stem to a growing plant.
3. Our Water Parsley Rooting Diary: September 5 to October 7
September 5: Three Stems in Water
We cut three water parsley stems from our garden and placed them in a cup of water.
When preparing the cuttings, we kept only a small amount of foliage because our main goal was to encourage root development. We also made sure each stem had at least two nodes.
Nodes are the points along a stem where leaves or branches grow. They are important when selecting water parsley cuttings because roots can develop from these areas under suitable conditions.
At this stage, the cuttings did not have established roots for growing in soil. We wanted to see how quickly roots would develop before moving the stems into the garden.
September 8: The First Roots Appeared
Only three days after placing the stems in water, we noticed the first roots beginning to appear.
This was an encouraging result. Finding suitable water parsley stems in Calgary had been difficult, so seeing roots develop from our own garden cuttings was especially satisfying.
The stems had begun producing roots that would help them take up water and establish themselves after planting.
September 10: Roots Grew More Than 2 Centimeters
By September 10, the roots had grown considerably. Some were more than 2 centimeters long.
At the same time, the original leaves began turning yellow. We wondered whether the cuttings were running short of nutrients. However, yellowing leaves can also occur when a cutting experiences stress after being separated from the parent plant.
We could not confirm the exact cause from this observation alone.
The roots were growing, but the original leaves were changing. We continued watching the cuttings to see how they would respond after planting.
September 11: Planting the Rooted Stems in Soil
On September 11, we moved the three rooted stems into soil in a pot.
By then, the roots had developed enough for us to begin the next stage of the experiment. We wanted the plants to establish themselves in soil rather than remain in water.
The roots were still young, so we handled the stems carefully during planting. Newly rooted cuttings need time to adjust to their new growing conditions.
We paid particular attention to watering. Water parsley grows well in consistently moist soil, and we did not want the soil around the young roots to dry out.
September 13: The Original Leaves Had Dried
Two days after planting, the leaves that had started turning yellow were completely dry.
Although this looked discouraging, we did not immediately assume the experiment had failed. The condition of the original leaves alone could not tell us whether the stems were still alive.
Instead, we continued watching for new growth. Fresh leaves would provide a clearer sign that the plants were continuing to develop.
September 16: The First New Leaves Appeared
On September 16, we finally saw new leaves beginning to emerge.
The original leaves had dried, but fresh green growth was appearing from the cuttings. This was an encouraging sign that the stems were continuing to grow after planting.
We did not dig up the plants to inspect their roots, so we could not measure how much the roots had developed inside the soil. However, the appearance of new leaves showed that the cuttings were making progress.
It was exciting to see this change only five days after planting. The stems had moved from rooting in water to growing in soil, and new leaves were beginning to replace the old foliage.
September 19: All Three Stems Had New Leaves
By September 19, all three stems had produced new leaves.
This was a satisfying result because every cutting in our small experiment showed fresh growth. We had started with three pieces of stem, and all three were continuing to develop.
The experiment was no longer just about producing roots in a cup of water. We could now see three growing plants in the pot.
September 21: The New Leaves Grew Larger
On September 21, the new leaves on all three stems had grown larger.
The plants looked more established than they had a few days earlier. Their fresh foliage showed that growth was continuing after the initial rooting period.
We continued to pay attention to soil moisture and avoided disturbing the plants unnecessarily. At this stage, we wanted to give the young roots time to settle into the soil.
October 1: A Second Set of Leaves Appeared
By October 1, a second set of leaves had begun to appear.
The plants had continued growing for several weeks after being moved into soil. This was another encouraging sign that the cuttings were establishing themselves.
The first new leaves had been an important milestone, but the appearance of additional leaves showed that growth was continuing.
October 7: A New Shoot Appeared
On October 7, we noticed a new shoot growing from the water parsley.
This was the final observation in our one-month record. What had started as three cut stems in a cup of water had developed into three growing plants, with new leaves and an additional shoot appearing during the observation period.
Our experiment showed that fresh water parsley stems with suitable nodes could develop roots in water and continue growing after being planted in soil.
4. What We Learned About Rooting Water Parsley in Calgary
The most useful result was how quickly we saw the first changes. Roots began appearing within three days, and by September 10, some were more than 2 centimeters long. After planting on September 11, new leaves appeared on September 16.
The original leaves yellowed and dried during the transition, but all three cuttings later produced fresh leaves. By October 7, we had also observed a new shoot.
This gave us a practical starting point for growing water parsley from stems rather than relying only on seeds or established roots.
Here is the method we followed:
Select fresh water parsley stems with at least two nodes.
Keep a small amount of foliage and place the cut stems in a cup of water.
Watch for roots to develop over the following days.
Once the roots have developed, plant the stems in soil.
Keep the soil consistently moist while the cuttings establish themselves.
Watch for new leaves and shoots instead of judging success only by the condition of the original leaves.
Our experiment involved only three stems, so it does not establish a guaranteed rooting time for every cutting. Results may vary depending on the freshness of the stems, growing conditions, and the condition of the planting material.
We also learned that producing roots is only the first step. The cuttings still need to adjust to soil and continue growing. In our experiment, all three stems produced new leaves, and a new shoot appeared by October 7.
5. Growing Water Parsley from a Small Start
Today, our backyard water parsley patch is much larger than it was when we first started. The three plants that survived their first Calgary winter became the foundation of the patch we now harvest regularly.
Looking back, the hardest part was finding suitable planting material. Water parsley was not always easy to buy in Calgary, and the bunches available in stores often had too few usable stems.
Rooting fresh stems gave us another way to grow a vegetable we enjoy cooking with. It also showed us that a small amount of suitable planting material can be enough to begin a new patch.
The one-month observation was worthwhile because we could follow each stage instead of relying on guesswork. We saw the first roots, the drying of the original leaves, the emergence of fresh foliage, and finally a new shoot.
We will continue caring for our water parsley by keeping the soil moist and harvesting as needed during the growing season. Calgary's winter remains an important consideration, especially for young plants, but our established patch has shown us that water parsley can become a useful crop in a cold-climate backyard garden.
Sometimes, growing a hard-to-find vegetable begins with just three stems, a cup of water, and a little patience.
That is how our water parsley experiment began. One month later, all three cuttings had produced new leaves, and we had observed the next stage of growth: a new shoot developing in the pot.