Broccoli thrives in moderate to cool climates

aspirant2011 wrote:Broccoli thrives in moderate to cool climates and propagated by seeds, either sown directly in the field or in plant beds designed for producing transplants.

(A) propagated by seeds, either sown directly in the field or in plant beds designed for producing

(B) propagated by seeds, sown either directly in the field or sown in plant beds designed so as to produce

(C) is propagated by seeds either sown directly in the field or in plant beds designed so that they produce

(D) is propagated by seeds sown either directly in the field or in plant beds designed to produce

(E) is propagated by seeds, sown either directly in the field or sown in plant beds designed for producing

[spoiler]OA: Please discuss between D and E. Is designed for correct or designed to correct????

Also, second doubt i.e sown either directly in the field or in plant beds modifies seeds or Brocolli. How can we find that because if I see in E then it modifies brocolli and if I see D then it modifies seeds. How to judge which modification is better and which one would be correct????[/spoiler]

Frankenstein wrote:Hi,

(D) is propagated by seeds sown either directly in the field or in plant beds designed to produce
The part after either and the part or should be parallel. in the field || in plant beds.
This means sown in the field or sown in the plant beds - fine.
sown is placed directly after seeds without comma. so, it modifies seeds only.
(E) is propagated by seeds, sown either directly in the field or sown in plant beds designed for producing
in the field is not parallel to sown in plant beds
This means sown in the field or sown sown in the plant beds - incorrect.
sown is placed after comma. It generally modifies the subject(Brocolli) of the entire clause. It can even refer to the closest noun(seeds) sometimes.
Moreover, 'to+verb' is preferred to 'for+verb+ing'.

Hence, D