[whippersnapper]

I have one parsnip plant that I left in from last year - 'Tender and True' from Realseeds.

I thought I'd try saving the seeds but I'm now not sure what I'm doing...

THe plant flowered heavily, I have left the seeds on the plant to dry first before removing. However, having just removed some of the driest seeds, they don't appear to be quite right: each one seems to have split into 2 making them extremely wafer thin! Is this right???

Looking at the ones I bought from realseed this year, they also seem very papery and thin. But it just doesn't seem right that each seed head actually splits into two seeds.

Can anyone help?

Also, what's the best way to remove the seeds? I saw a video on youtube where the flower head is put inside a pillowcase and then shook. What do people recomend?

[zazen999]

I'm currently doing the same, with about 10 plants so I'm definitely going to use a pillowcase.

Yes, they do split into two.

I have the first few heads in an ice cream tub drying out [no lid] and as soon as I pick the rest of the heads - will pop the lot into an pillowcase and leave somewhere to dry out. I will take out the stalks when crispy and leave the seed in the pillowcase. I'll also pop a few silica gel packets in there for the duration.

I have an understairs cupboard which is a little warm, so it helps them to dry out. I also have a moisture trap in there which speeds up the process.

Do a germination test as soon as you can by putting a few seeds into kitchen roll, dampening it down and rolling up and cover with cling film. Just so that you know it will germinate.

Enjoy!

[whippersnapper]

Yes, they do split into two.

Thanks zazen! I was getting worried that they had been on the plant too long and started to split when they shouldn't have.

Panic over.