Parsnips

[kittykat8]

Is it to cold to sow parsnips direct into a raised bed , I am down in Cornwall.

[SimpleSimon]

Mine are in the ground and I'm up north (well just north of the Midlands these days). I chitted them first. I did sow direct last year about end of march and covered with glass. They germinated fine.

[Bren In Pots]

Like Simon I've also been sowing my pre chitted parsnips in the last couple of weeks into open ground,

[Plot70]

I have been chiting and planting into open ground and already have some hopeful looking leaves above the soil.
I will continue in small batches until all my seeds are gone.
The moment the roots begin to appear I put them directly into the bed. If the little roots get too long they do not grow.

[Mark Rand]

How long is too long?

Asking for a friend.

[SimpleSimon]

How long is too long?

Asking for a friend.

Anything beyond just emerging. I chit a batch, plant the ones that I didn't leave too long. And repeat until I see a leaf in every station (in the ground but I put them in a collar that's on top of a parsnip shaped hole filled with spent compost). I find the ones that are anything beyond just emerging are more likely to fail. Seems like faff but I have planted direct and it takes forever and by then the weeds are more prevalent so I'm not sure what is what. Chitting and then and planting into a collar (an old 7cm pot with the bottom half removed) makes it's quicker and the collar protects the plants when howing. I remove it when they are starting to grow strongly.

[Mark Rand]

The reason for asking was that in the 24 hours between sowing the ones that had started to emerge and today, it seems like the whole b****y lot of them had grown roots up to 5mm in length.

I put them in and watered them, Just have to see if any come up.

I've given up with sowing direct, although that's given me the best roots, when they germinate and survive. Sowng into loo rolls might work if you plant them out when the very first leaves show, but I still had forking over the last two years when doing that.

We shall see. It's not about economics, it's about being able to nip out into the garden when you need something to add to a roast.

I'll start a fresh batch tomorrow, to fill the gaps in.

[Plot70]

How long is too long?

Asking for a friend.

Anything more than 2mm.
I wait for the first root or two and then plant the batch out.
The roots are just too fast once they are out and quickly get past the fail point.
Getting the bulk of the batch to the point where the roots are about to emerge looks like the best answer.

[Plot70]

Optimism is in the air at my plot.
The seedlings sure look hopeful. I have another batch chiting and then a final batch to go.

[ameno]

That's a lot of stones you have there. Don't the parsnips fork in such stony soil?

[Bren In Pots]

Looking good Plot70 Mine are showing above ground but don't have their true leaves yet.

[Plot70]

That's a lot of stones you have there. Don't the parsnips fork in such stony soil?

I picked out all the stones over about half an inch. What is left is more like pea shingle.
It is a heavy clay soil that has been "fluffed up" as much as possible so that there are plenty of air pockets for the roots to push the stones into.
Have a look at what I chucked into the land fill bin last year during the first clearing operation.
I put parsnips in after bind weed weeding. The roots were right down to rock and had to be scraped off.
A deep root crop was an obvious choice for the bed.
Winter squashes were allowed to vine over it last year and there was a layer of bine weed under them that had to be pulled all summer.
The sun dried bind weed roots crushed down into slow release pellets with all the energy they had been pulling up from deep down.

[Snadger]

Always sow my parsnips direct usually in February. My Dad did this and always grew decent parsnips so I carried on the tradition.
They are still in the seed leaf stage at present. I normally sow a pinch at 6 inch stations and thin them later.