Rotting parsnips

[T-lady]

Help please?

My parsnips are turning to mush! Squigy and rotten - some of them it's just the top, some have rotted all the way into the ground.

Any ideas as to why this is happening?
Should I did up the remainder and store them in sand or will they just rot even quicker?

[zazen999]

No idea; I'd get them up and try to salvage. Is it particularly wet soil that they are in?

[T-lady]

I didn't think so. They're in raised beds and the soil, although it has been clayey in the past, has had loads of compost etc incorporated in the past.

[sewer rat]

Any signs of slug or even worm damage. Slugs have gotten into some of my Milan turnips and swede and turned them to mush - mostly the Milans it has to be said. I also pulled a big swede last week but as I pulled it I heard a strange noise and when I trimmed the roots of with my machete, it was full of water, though I could find no outward signs of damage.

[Two_Sheds]

Canker

sounds like parsnip canker.
Canker shows up as a brown discolouration and rot on the shoulders (leaf end) of the parsnip and can spread to the rest of the root. It often gains entry through holes made by carrot fly larvae, which are another menace.

Canker is worst in wet, acid soils. Try to grow the more resistant varieties, like Tender and True, Avonresister and Gladiator.