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Post by spike on Nov 6, 2021 7:08:35 GMT -5
What the heck even? I have never had trouble growing parsley before but so far I have went through a whole pack of seeds and not one has started >,< Quite vexing as it isn't like I can nip out to the local store and buy a packet of seeds right now.
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Post by brownrexx on Nov 6, 2021 7:24:13 GMT -5
I have never had good luck germinating parsley seeds so I always buy a seedling to grow indoors over the winter.
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Post by octave1 on Nov 6, 2021 9:42:18 GMT -5
Parsley seed has a very short shelf life, one year at most. This is why I stopped buying it and I let my parsley self seed.
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Parsley
Nov 6, 2021 10:31:10 GMT -5
Post by september on Nov 6, 2021 10:31:10 GMT -5
Even with new seed, it is still very slow and irregular in sprouting for me most years, but I get enough to plant out. I don't recall if parsley is one of them, but some seeds like a cold period in the fridge before they sprout. For those, I try to remember to put the planted cells/pots in a plastic bag and put it in the fridge for about a week before bringing it out.
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Parsley
Nov 6, 2021 10:55:59 GMT -5
Post by pepperhead212 on Nov 6, 2021 10:55:59 GMT -5
I never have problems with old parsley seeds; in fact, I just germinated some for my hydroponics, and the method I use to germinate them - using a seed sprouter - sprouts them faster than the usual method, and every single seed sprouted from about a dozen 3 year old seeds. They start on about the 6th day, and by the 8th or 9th day, they are pretty much all sprouted, though by then, usually I am not even rinsing them as much as in the beginning. I also had some leaf celery seeds in with them this time - another very slow germinating seed - and just about every one of them sprouted. I just soak the seeds overnight, and start them the next morning in a sprouter, setting it on the counter, next to my sink, and every few hours, when I do something at the sink, I rinse the seeds. These seeds don't really need warmer water, like with many seeds, as they sprout in very cool soil in the spring. I sometimes use a sprouter when I have some seeds that won't sprout, to see if I can "force sprout" them, so to speak - if that doesn't work, I figure they are dead. I have to figure out something to do with all that parsley I have! I have a patch of it, that I plant for those swallowtail butterflies, but there weren't as many as usual, and some of the parsley stalks are close to 2', and like small celery at the base! And this was supposed to be a smaller flat leaf variety.
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Parsley
Nov 7, 2021 12:01:26 GMT -5
Post by Laura_in_FL on Nov 7, 2021 12:01:26 GMT -5
I don't usually have trouble germinating parsley, either, but since I don't use a sprouter, it's slow. It can take four weeks, just like celery does.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Nov 7, 2021 13:40:59 GMT -5
Here are parsley and celery seedlings, just 11 days after starting the sprouting: 3 yr old parsley seeds, 11-8, 11 days after starting in the sprouter. by pepperhead212, on Flickr Leaf celery, 11-8, also 11 days old, started in the sprouter. by pepperhead212, on Flickr Here are the outside plants (including the yellowed cilantro, which doesn't seem to like cold!) - that curly one I grow on the deck, in a Jr EB, for when I needed a small amount in a salad, and the like, but the flatleaf I use when I want a really strong parsley flavor. And I plant more flatleaf than I need, as the swallowtails like it; if I find them on the curly, I just move them to the flatleaf patch. Curly parsley, in Jr EB, with cilantro, showing the results of the cold. by pepperhead212, on Flickr Flatleaf parsley, 11-8, longest stalks 22 in. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 4, 2022 14:42:38 GMT -5
And here's that same plant, that grew through the entire winter, and finally starting flowering last month. Here's that first swallowtail I saw on it: First swallowtail I've seen on the parsley, which has just opening flowers. by pepperhead212, on Flickr And here's a pollinator I have hundreds of on that parsley plant, now that the tiny blossoms are starting to open. Anyone know what these are? These are magnified some - you can figure out by the size of the parsley blossoms. I took over a dozen photos, but only 2 were ok - it was windy, and every time I'd take one, it would move! None of the photos with many on a cluster came out. Miniature pollinators on parsley blossoms. 6-4 by pepperhead212, on Flickr Another parsley pollinator, 6-4 by pepperhead212, on Flickr Update: Someone near me in another forum told me what this is - the Varied Carpet Beetle. I was surprised, as I have never seen these indoors, in my house or others. I have seen them hidden in larger squash blossoms in the summer, when cleaning them. Fortunately, they aren't garden pests, unless you have carpet in the paths of your garden! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varied_carpet_beetle
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Post by september on Jun 4, 2022 15:09:17 GMT -5
Nice, pepperhead212 !!! I rarely get parsley to overwinter because I grow it in the woods garden, and when I take down the electric deer fence in the late fall, the deer often munch and paw it up by the roots. Once in a while, I remember to put a bucket over a patch, and if the deer don't knock it over, I get regrowth. I sowed new seeds of two kinds of parsley in cell packs this spring, it took a long time, 3+ weeks for any to sprout, but when it finally did, it looks like almost every seed came up. I gave it no special treatment, hot or cold.
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