Too many Parsnip Gurus

[mazel-bee]

I have not grown Parsnips before and I am very aware that they like a long growing season.
My gardening Bible tells me to plant them 'early spring', another useful book tells me to sow as early as I can get on the earth. My Dad who has loads of great experience told me to do it now and the packets vary between late Feb-march, I am impatiently keen to plant something especially with the mild weather we have been having,but should it be the parsnip?

[Hazel at the Hill]

I know exactly what you mean, MB - I have loads of books and they all vary what they say both from each other, and from the seed packets!

I'm trying to take a bit of an average (although I'm new to this) but probrably erring on the early side as I am so impatient! For what it's worth, I'll be sowing mine the weekend after next.

[Lesley Jay]

If you are sowing direct into the ground wait for the ground to dry a bit and warm up. Parsnips are supposed to taste better after a frost and if you sow parsnips in March they should be ready to lift in November. Hopefully after a frost.

[mazel-bee]

March!? Thank you.
Are there any great secrets or tips on growing them?

[mazel-bee]

Oh......... And what are the best ways to heat the ground up? I have heard between black bags and manure. Which is the more efficient?

[rustylady]

Oh......... And what are the best ways to heat the ground up? I have heard between black bags and manure. Which is the more efficient?

For drying/warming the ground I would always use cloches if available. Fresh manure is not a good idea for root crops such as parsnips or carrots. Parsnip seed can take a long time to germinate if conditions aren't right. You could try soaking the seed overnight before sowing, and I've heard some people recommend sowing them on moistened kitchen towel (like cress) on a kitchen windowsill. Once they have little shoots coming out of the seeds you can place them (very carefully) into prepared drills on the lottie

[pigletwillie]

As parsnips take an age to germinate and even longer in cold weather, I always now pregerminate them and pot on into toilet rolls which are then planted out when a leaf or two has appeared. Otherwise the weeds crowd out any that do germinate and make life difficult for them.

Unless you want parsnips like traffic cones, March or even April sowings generally do best direct into the ground. There is a Q&A on page 77 of this months magazine regarding this subject.

[roitelet]

Hi Mazel-bee, I have grown parsnips very sucessfully for the last three years, here's how.

Sow in March and station sow them 6 ins apart in un-manured soil. Take a long iron bar and plunge it into the soil and work it round until you have a funnel shaped hole and then fill this with fine soil, sow 4 or 5 seeds on the top. When they have germinated thin to 1 per station. You should get some good long straight Parsnips.

I grow them on very stoney soil and have produced Parsnips up to 2ft long I will have to ask for a mini digger for my next birthday

Hope this helps

[Snadger]

I usually sow mine in 'stations' about 4" apart with a pinch of seed at each station. Put a few radish seeds in as well to mark the row cos they take an age to germinate (rumoured to go three times to the Devil before emerging, for some reason! ) The radish will help you remember where you planted them as they germinate quickly!
For small parsnips you can thin each station to one plant or for larger parsnips take out every other plant leaving 8" between them.

This is the way I will be doing it, probably sowing end of March or beginning of April. I don't normally pre-heat the soil with cloches but I would imagine this would allow you to sow a fortnight earlier if you did!

[Snadger]

Hi Mazel-bee, I have grown parsnips very sucessfully for the last three years, here's how.

Sow in March and station sow them 6 ins apart in un-manured soil. Take a long iron bar and plunge it into the soil and work it round until you have a funnel shaped hole and then fill this with fine soil, sow 4 or 5 seeds on the top. When they have germinated thin to 1 per station. You should get some good long straight Parsnips.

I grow them on very stoney soil and have produced Parsnips up to 2ft long I will have to ask for a mini digger for my next birthday

Hope this helps

You must type faster than me roitelet, but your way of planting is quite similar to mine! My soil isn't stony so no nead for the crow bar treatment though, unless I'm after show winning carrots or parsnips!

[roitelet]

No Snadger, not show winners, just some thing that I can peel!!

It's impossible to buy them out here, they are considered animal fodder

[Earthbabe]

Peeling



Why peel them Roitelet? If you have good seed and have not put anything on the soil just give them a good scrub and roast them with the skins on. Much tastier. If they have appendages just lop those off and do likewise.

Why waste taste and good nutrition?

[roitelet]

I like the skins but CK hates them in fact skins on anything. He doesn't know what he is missing!

[wellie]

Pre-Germinating Parsnip Seeds

Please forgive me if someone else has already been here done this?
There's NOTHING more embarassing than being 'pre-empted', and these days, with the kind of people I know now, they'll steal ANY kind of idea off you when your back is turned !
But this one, I learned by my own mistake, and I'm the kind of person that will never pretend that the idea is my own, unless it really is.....


Instead of sowing your Parsnips 3 to a station in the open ground and wondering when/if they are going to germinate..... instead:

dampen some kitchen towel/paper/'Bounty' have you tried it wet yet?!
and put your Parsnip seed onto the dampened Bounty (and KEEP IT DAMP) in a warm environment, (like a warm windowsill) and when they begin to germinate, fill a toilet-roll cardboard inner with compost, tamp it down, and gently plant the germinated seedling 'gently' into the top, with a little covering of compost to settle it in.
And I'm here to tell you that THAT particular piece of advice in my very first year got me some pretty damn handsome parsnips.......!
Now just how difficult was that?!

[Amanda1]

I sowed mine a lot later last year, probably about May time (that was when the ground was clear from a previous crop), I have been digging them up this side of Christmas with great success