I've grown both flat leaf and curly leaf parsley from seed for many years. You might try soaking the seeds overnight in lukewarm water before planting. I usually do that, but this year I just wintersowed them in milk jugs without soaking and they germinated just as good. We ate the first of this year's crop last night with noodles and garlic cooked in olive oil. Delish!

Parsley seed has to travel to the devil 7 times and back (to ask permission for it to grow) before it will germinate. It will only grow where the woman of the house 'wears the trousers' or if she is pregnant. If the seeds do not germinate, the person who planted them will probably die during the next year. Parsley grows for the wicked, but not for the just. Parsley should never be given away, for with it people give away their luck. Neither should it be accepted as a gift. It can, however, be stolen without harm. If you are in love, don't cut parsley - you'll cut your love as well. Transplanting parsley is bad luck and either the offender or his family will be severely punished within the year.....

There are lots of superstitions about parsley!

They are slow to germinate, sometimes taking several weeks, and may need to be scarified. (Pour boiling water over them and leave overnight before sowing.) Sow seeds 5mm deep. Germination may also be hastened by freezing seeds briefly to help break dormancy. When transplanting, be careful not to damage the taproot. Initial growth of plants is slow.

The honest truth is that I've never deliberately grown parsley from seed. I've only bought a plant, and let it do its own thing. So all the parsley I have is self-sown. And now I get parsley plants coming up in astonishing and unexpected places, self-sown with no intervention from me whatsoever. It does take a long time to germinate, but it's worth the wait. This applies to both curly and flat-leafed parsley, BTW. Once established, you should always have some plants 'on the go', and some just waiting to pop up when they're ready. Of course, my subtropical climate helps!

Which goes to prove (a) that I'm the dominant one in the household - the only one, in fact! (b) that I'm pregnant (at MY age??); (c) that I'm wicked; (d) that I haven't recently died; (e) I'm unlucky in love; (f) I'm a witch; and any other conclusions you might come to!! My saving grace is probably that I never try to transplant parsley! It's a virtual guarantee that it will protest by bolting.

So - sow in situ, ie where you want it to grow. And be patient! It helps to keep the soil constantly moist (which doesn't mean soggy).

I placed my seed tray (200) about 15 inches below a standard 250w heat lamp....kept them moist...and they germinated in 3 days. Hint: plant several seeds in each seed compartment. After a few more days I transferred the tray to a table with ordinary cool white florescent lamps about 8 inches over the tray. Keep moist. Don't drown them. Keep lights on during day, out at night. After a couple weeks, give morning sun only. Works for me.

novice, I have a zone similar to yours and I grow parsley each year from seed. I do not start it indoors, I start it in situ outdoors. It works well for me.

If there is a magic formula, in my opinion, it is patience. As I mentioned recently in another thread, at just about the time I think it is not going to sprout and I need to replant the row, there it is.

Thanks, daisy, for the parsley lore!

FataMorgana, trouser-wearing, wicked, witchy woman

What does all of this say about me?

I never knew it might be difficult to grow parsley from seed. In fact, it is probably the easiest thing I grow.

I just scatter the seed where I want the parsley. In just a few days, I have tiny parsley plants. I overwintered some in a pot and it has managed to invade neighboring pots. (I had scattered a few seeds in the empty pot last summer.)

daisy, you're awesome as usual with folklore!!! When I read some of it, I was admazed, as I've grown it from seed before. Let's see how it sprouts this year -and what that myth says about me.lol.
soaked them, now I need patience, something gardening is teaching me. obviously something i need to learn. Never would start it indoors, not enough room or importance to do so. Let's see. i'm almost hoping it wont sprout,lol, almost. don't want to be the wicked one- hehe.
daisy, once again you rock. I'll let you all know.

Daisy, thank you so much for the information about parsley. I love reading about the historical and mythological uses of herbs. This is one that I have not heard before. Thank you again.

The first herb I ever decided to try growing was Italian flat-leaf parsley. I grew it from seed that I bought at a hardware store, having almost no prior experience with growing plants. That was maybe about 7 or 8 years ago.

Not only did that parsley plant successfully grow from seed, but believe it or not I still have it. It is now a little over a foot tall, with most of that height being what I can only describe as a thick, woody "trunk," and a big pouf of gorgeous, delicious parsley at the top.

These are only supposed to live 2 years, right? So either I have some sort of mutant variety of parsley, or it's time for me to enroll at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. :)

xenka, yeah i think parsley is a biennial. But like you, the first parsley i planted so many years ago in my mom's backyard in a circular garden came up for years after that!
I would go to visit her and see it.