this parsnip chitting 'scam'

[queen of the cobs]

There's just no sign of life!

And the seeds have been tucked into a bed of damp tissue paper in a plastic tub in the airing cupboard for ages.

Sigh, I've never managed to get parsnips to germinate.

[Snadger]

You need fresh seed which when sown into the ground goes 'Three times to the Devil' before you see any greenery above ground!

[brooklynodog]

I`ve got mine on wet tissue in the G/house for 2 weeks, no sign of life either!

[zazen999]

Hi
Mine was on the windowsill in the kitchen and came up in a couple of weeks; I only need about 5 to grow for winter roasties. Have you tried some in the sun rather than in the airing cupboard?

[roitelet]

Put 2 lots on damp paper, both last years seed. White gem grew legs in about a week and the others never did

[Wren]

I just popped about 10 seeds in a pot of compost, put them on the kitchen window sill an about 10 days later they all come through. My seeds are dated to be used by 1/2008.

I cant think why yours are not

My seeds are Suttons parsnip F1 gladiator if that is any help.

Wren

[veg4681]

Golly! I need to test mine just to find out how long they'll take to germinate. I gathered from last parsnips thread that a heated propagator could take as short as 1 week, similar to a warm airing cupboard, if not then it's probably due to outdated parsnips seeds. Peeps here seem to buy/use fresh seeds every year. Err....mine were bought last year but I didn't get the chance to grow them.

BTW my parsnip (White Gem) sown on 5 Feb have not germinated yet but they weren't started off in the heated propagator. Have now put them in HP but still no sign so I'm treating these sowings as duff, history.

[SueA]

I thought 'three times to the devil' was parsley Snadger or is it just that he gets everything!
I've read a tip in a couple of magazines recently from someone who wraps 3 seeds in a cigarette paper & twists it up & plants it. No idea if it works though.

[ConstantGardener]

ah... the words "last year's seed" give it away.

Parsnip seed goes off unbelievably quickly. I know they put a date on the seed packet for two years hence, but what they don't say is that while they will germinate, it'll only be about 10% of them by that time.

You should always buy parsnip seed fresh, every year, and don't leave it hanging around.

And I sowed mine in modules, in John Innes seed compost, about 2 weeks ago - I bring mine inside - ordinary room, not airing cupboard, I'd have said that would be too warm - but put them in an unheated greenhouse/coldframe the minute they poke their heads above soil level. They're up and romping away now, got about a 90% germination from seeds bought around a month ago.

[Snadger]

I thought 'three times to the devil' was parsley Snadger or is it just that he gets everything!
I've read a tip in a couple of magazines recently from someone who wraps 3 seeds in a cigarette paper & twists it up & plants it. No idea if it works though.

Same family.............and yep he llikes a bit of parsley sauce over his roast parsnips!

[Rocketron]

ah... the words "last year's seed" give it away.

Parsnip seed goes off unbelievably quickly. I know they put a date on the seed packet for two years hence, but what they don't say is that while they will germinate, it'll only be about 10% of them by that time.

You should always buy parsnip seed fresh, every year, and don't leave it hanging around.

And I sowed mine in modules, in John Innes seed compost, about 2 weeks ago - I bring mine inside - ordinary room, not airing cupboard, I'd have said that would be too warm - but put them in an unheated greenhouse/coldframe the minute they poke their heads above soil level. They're up and romping away now, got about a 90% germination from seeds bought around a month ago.

I'm,certainly , no expert, but that has the ring of "common sense" to me. We all get so carried away with providing enough warmth for our more exotic plants that we tend to forget those that don't need it.

[veg4681]

Reviving the thread to enter my parsnips report. Parsnips seeds pre-germinated in damp k-roll 12 days ago and left mostly in pantry have sprouted. They look like tadpole, tail sticking out of the pointy end of the seed. My seeds were bought last year but the packet says 'packed for year end Sep 2008' so they weren't that outdated. Germination rate is easily over 60%, too much to count. Also the seeds could have germinated earlier as some of these legs or tails are very long and I hadn't bothered to check them sooner. I think you can expect germination from 10 days onwards from the day of pre-germinating. Now I got to figure out what's the best way to sow the sprouted seeds, there was a thread about which way round they go.

[spud57]

Oh dear! which way round DO they go?!

[Flummery]

Any road up - they'll find their way ok.

[Cutecumber]

It's a bit of a surprise that parsnips continue to exist if some of our stories are anything to go by!! If natural selection had its way...

I don't suppose we're doing a bit too much molly-coddling here? Perhaps we need to be rougher and tougher on them.