It’s Day 05, and I woke to another of dismal morning sun. However, I made a joyful discovery – the tomato seeds have germinated too! W00t! :D

Aren’t they beautiful, these little babies? They look kinda proud to have made it out of the ground, ahead of all the others.

For the past couple of days, I gave only cursory glances at the tomato pot, as my attention was on the growing kangkong seedlings. Their greens are starting to show, and the soil bed is beginning to look busy with life:

I like the sight of the little brown caps (the seed jackets) that are clinging on the tips of the leaves. It’s symbolic of the plants, shedding their former selves into something completely different.

Having spotted a new plant in the tomato pot, I turned to the parsley box, where there was still nothing but a bare soil bed. Is this normal, I thought? Granted, I was told that they’ll take 2 – 3 months… but the tomatoes supposedly take the same time, and yet they’re out already.

They couldn’t have ‘drowned’ from the watering, ‘coz I have enlarged some of the drainage holes on both the boxes, and I’ve seen water draining out well. I started to suspect the lack of direct sunlight. I know that parsley can do with indirect sunlight and part-shade, but as I’ve been sharing, the days have all been largely rainy or very shady ever since they were planted. Before going to the office each morning, I have been shifting the crops around the corridor in order to catch what direct sunlight I can.

And that got me thinking: was it the seeds or the seedlings that really needed sunlight? I know that plants, ‘catch’ sunlight with their leaves in order to make food for themselves. But what about seeds?

image from blog.usa.gov

Seeds don’t have leaves. At least not yet. So, does this mean that they don’t need the sun yet? Does this mean that I can stop worrying about chasing the sun for awhile, at least,  for the parsley? What I recalled from my primary school science textbooks was that the seeds required sunlight to grow up into plants, but they’ve never specifically stated if it was the seed or seedling that really required it. You see, I worry ‘coz though I scattered the parsley seeds on the soil when I first planted them, I did till them around gently until they were lightly covered by soil (‘coz I didn’t want birds or insects carrying them off). However, after a few days of watering, the soil had compounded, and most of the seeds have disappeared from the surface.

In other words, there may have been good reason why Uncle Chen told me that the parsley seeds need not be buried, only scattered on. In fact, I’m wondering if he meant that they must not be buried… because they needed direct contact with sunlight.

That was a dreadful thought. Now I’m really worried.

Not being smarter than a fifth-grader, I went online to do some research. I needed some assurance so that I’ll know what I can do for my parsley seeds.

The first site I hit was a curricular study site. It had a flow chart that said seeds (beans) needed the right amount of water and sun to grow. It goes on to state why the seed needed nutrients, and why it needed water, but doesn’t state why the seeds needed sunlight. Only at the bottom of the chart does it state that when it begins to shoot, it’ll need sunlight to make food (link here).

The second site I went to was more intriguing. To the question “Why Do Seeds Need Sunlight”, a few answers were contributed. The answer voted ‘Best’ (I noted that it was one single vote) says that it depends on the type of seeds. Some seeds, like bean seeds, have enough stored energy within, so they simply need water in order to grow out of the soil. Some seeds may be so tiny that they don’t have as much stored energy, and therefore need to lie on the soil surface where they can get energy directly from the sun. The next answer listed further down (contributed by a supposed biology instructor of 40 years) says that while some seeds require sunlight to activate enzymes, most seeds do not require sunlight to germinate.  The next contributor after this has a supportive answer (or opinion), flatly stating that seeds do not require sunlight; it’s plant that do (link here).

That was enough to get me to Google “do parsley seeds need sunlight”. What I got to this specific question was stuff like, “Six or more hours of sun are needed to do well”, which I already knew; this refers to the seedling / plant stage.

I also got “Parsley seeds can be planted in direct sunlight or in light shade.” Can? Okay, I assume this means “not a must”? (link here)

Finally, a gardening site writes, “Like most herbs, both varieties of parsley grow best in areas receiving full sunlight anywhere from 6 to 8 hours although light shade is also tolerated. The more important consideration is soil conditions, which ideally should have pH levels of 6.0 to 7.0 and should be well drained… But take note that the stems may be on the spindly side due to lower levels of sunlight.” (link here)

Alas, that last part may jolly well refer to my parsley. I also took note to look into this pH levels issue, which I’ve heard about before. Then, in the next paragraph, I spotted something else:

“It is best to start parsley cultivation through seeds although it is more difficult because of the uncertain germination period. Just place the seeds directly into the ground, cover with 1/8-inch soil and lightly water… Again, germination time is difficult to determine although 3-4 weeks is the average period.”

Though this was certainly comforting information to me, and was what I wanted to find, I was also rationally satisfied; the answers and information I found corroborated to the notion that I can stop worrying about my parsley seeds, for now. I guess we’ll find out if I’m right in a few more days’ time.

It’s wonderful to have learnt something new about the relationship between seeds and sunlight – something that I’ve previously taken for granted. To be honest, I’m already beginning to feel a little out of my league by this episode. I’ve dived head-first into this without a hint of knowledge for vegetable gardening. To get somewhere with this, I need to learn.

“To learn is to grow. What is alive, keeps growing. What is not growing, is dead. Keep learning.” - paraphrased from a wise person.

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