Fast germination of parsley seeds

The time from sowing to 50% radicle protrusion of parsley seeds (Petroselinum crispum L.) was about 1 month at 5°C and about 1 week at 15°C. Osmotic pre-treatment (“priming”) with a polyethylene glycol “6000” solution of ?12 bars water potential (302 g PEG “6000” per 1 kg distilled water) at 15°C for 3 weeks under aerobic conditions reduced this median radicle protrusion time at 15°C to 1 or 2 days for seeds which had been surface-dried after treatment, 2 or 3 days when they had been air-dried and stored for 1 week, and 3 or 4 days after 10 weeks' dry storage. The uniformity in germination time of an untreated seed population was usually good, and care was needed not to make this worse by “over-priming”. An appropriate pre-treatment could, however, slightly improve the uniformity. Germination percentage remained unaffected but the pre-treatment could appreciably improve the emergence percentage of seeds sown in wet soil. In a small-scale experiment out of doors, the weight of plants from certain seed treatments was significantly greater after 14 weeks' growth than that from untreated seeds.