Parsnips

[dillydallydaisy]

Daft person alert!

I am growing parsnips for the first time, and am not sure which are parsnips and which are weeds.

I have a couple of seedlings coming through which have slim elongated oval seed leaves, with a whitish stalk, different to the standard oval leaved short weed seedling that appear in compost. I sowed in pots not in rows so since it has taken a few weeks the weeds are also growing and I'm not sure if these are parsnips or weeds (lesson learned - will sow rows next time!).

Does this sound like parsnip seed leaves or should I pull them out?

[FionaH]

Wait a bit, when they get bigger with second leaves you should be able to tell whats what

[Lottieval]

I think you'll find that these are your parsnip leaves, they seem to be a slightly different shade of green and as you say rather elongated oval leaves, be patient and they will soon send up identifiable parsnip leaves.

[lynda66]

i spent weeks last year lovingly cultivating a nice neat row of fat hen, that must have had seeds in the compost i lovingly sprinkled on top of the seeds ... in a nice neat row ...... not a parsnip in sight lol

[rogesse]

I sowed parsnip with coriander in alternate rows to try and tell the difference - DO NOT DO THIS - a) they look similar for quite some time and b) if a garden pest (fox in my case) decides to redistribute them for you, good luck!

Thankfully one of the 'old boys' came along and pinpointed the parsnips (lighter less serrated leaf) so hopefully, fingers crossed

[Snadger]

Parsnip is similar to parsley and corriander leaves! Leaves are lighter in colour than most weeds!

[Two_Sheds]

Don't pull your weeds until they are quite big ... but before they flower.

That way, you'll have fewer weeds overall to pull out, because the big ones shade out the little ones, and you'll have lots of compost material too.

[scarey55]

I don't know if it helps but there are a couple of pictures of parsnip seedlings <<HERE>> that I took last year. I did the same a couple of years ago and pulled them all up thinking they were weeds that's why I sow them in loo roll middles now.

[dillydallydaisy]

Thanks everyone for your replies, from all your descriptions and the photo (thanks scarey55), I think I have some parsnips! They do look very much like parsley seedlings.

I will wait until the true leaves come through before I pull anything out.

I was going to sow them into loo rolls but had a blond moment in the supermarket and inadvertantly came home with a massive pack (on offer) of scented loo rolls, what on earth it that about?! I never even knew they existed before I came home with them!

[scarey55]

Glad the photo's helped. Just a quick point - I didn't explain myself in the original post to you (I have changed it now) I use the MIDDLES of the toilet rolls not the rolls themselves. There is loads of stuff about it on here (how to use them etc) if you are interested. Sorry again for the confusion.

[dillydallydaisy]

Glad the photo's helped. Just a quick point - I didn't explain myself in the original post to you (I have changed it now) I use the MIDDLES of the toilet rolls not the rolls themselves. There is loads of stuff about it on here (how to use them etc) if you are interested. Sorry again for the confusion.

No need for the apology, I understood you but thanks for pointing it out as I may have misled people who read this. It's the middle (cardboard) bit that is impregnated with perfume, watch out for them folks!

I'm not sure if this perfume would damage the seedlings but it is a strong scent and is stinking my bathroom out, so I personally don't want it near my seedlings. Honestly, I don't know why these companies feel compelled to perfume everything bathroom related, it's not even a nice smell and I've got loads of the stuff to put up with