this parsnip chitting 'scam'

[veg4681]

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.

I know, the dreaded Parsnips! I'm thinking of dropping them next year as they're getting very affordable at supermarket with their value range.

What we need is a Boltardy Beetroot version (that doesn't easily bolt) of parsnips that doesn't easily get deformed with root disturbance. Can anyone think of a nice catchy name that we can suggest to T&M for them to breed a new parsnips variety .

[yorkshire sam]

have paitence - it does work! Parsnips are just slow to germinate and are also slow growing but it is worth it, Just wait till they are grown and they have had a little frost they are the food of gods! They knock supermarket parsips into the rubbish heap -- you will never go back. Honest gov!

[sez]

very true yorkshire sam - on my very first day on my new lottie i got given a load of homegrown parsnips by my new neighbour, got em home and roasted them with maple syrup... DIVINE. I hadnt considered growing them before but now i definitely am!

[Tigerella]

Hi

I heard it on the radio that you can put the seeds in the fridge/freezer for a couple of weeks before sowing, didnt catch all of the radio prog.

T

[stv]

I have plenty of pre-germinated parsnip seeds in propagator, and have in the past grown on in cardboard tubes.
This year I was hoping to plant these seeds straight out into my prepared raised bed, currently with fleece over. Does anyone recommend against this or should I get on with it?

[Jenny22Cumbria]

I've been told to put the packet in the fridge to fool the seeds into thinking winter has ended when you take them out. I quite like the logic so my parsnips are in the fridge as we speak!

I'm also going to try a method I read about in a magazine this year for my carrots and parsnips. I'll grow them in modules as per usual, then when I go to plant them out I'll dib a deep hole with an old broom handle, fill it with good compost and plant the seedling directly on top. My soil's not great and the idea is that the line of good soil underneath each carrot/parsnip will encourage them to grow straight down without forking. I'll let you know if it works! Has anyone else tried this before?

[pukka.tukka]

Hi

I planted my parsnip seeds in compost weeks ago, about five probably, and they are not up. The seed tray is on a sunny window sill.

I am sure I read/heard somewhere, maybe here, that Parsnips take at least seven weeks to germinate.

[HeyWayne]

I planted mine in loo rolls and them plonked them in the heated propagator in the shed (about a week or so ago - maybe 2). Was pottering around yesterday and had a look in the propagator and pretty much every loo roll - there's about 20-30, has got a little green shoot in it. Heated propagator is the way forward for me.

[muckdiva]

I have loads of home saved parsnip seeds from the lottie last year. It has sprouted on damp kitchen paper better than the control batch of Tender and True from the seed merchant. If anyone wants some, happy to send out on receipt of SAE. Just pm me if interested. Sorry, don't know the variety as the plants were in when I took over the lottie, but the roots looked ok to me - not huge, but attractive enough to look at! (tasted ok too!)

[spiderpig]

i tried damp tissue paper on kitchen window cill,which is warm and also gets plenty of light.trialed 20 seeds of white gem and got 17 germinated.like others,i thought for a while that nothing was happening but then they all got a shift on and came out within 2-3 weeks tops.went into ground yesterday in mixture of loo rolls and straight in soil.

[zazen999]

i put a load on some kitchen roll on March 18th [a non-moon day], remembered about them just now [taking some night nurse - i need a good night sleep and spotted them whilst I was taking it] and some even have green bits already - most have sprouted.

Kitchen roll stinks a bit though - will drop into the soil on the new lottie in a week or two, and report back on success.