Parsnip germination

[Hazel at the Hill]

I'm sure that you knowledgable Grapes can help me out here -

I've just bought some of those jiffy compressed discs - which expand to little compost plugs when you add water to them - at a bargain price this weekend.

I was wondering if I could sow a couple of parsnip seeds in each, give they can be a touch tricksy to get going straight into the ground, then I can then just plant out the whole lot out.

Is this a good idea? Or should I just stop being so impatient and wait to sow them direct?

[vicki lorraine]

I would worry that the depth is not enough.
If you are worried about germination you could check the seeds between two pieces of damp kitchen roll. Then only plant the seeds which germinate this will give them a head start.
good idea to mix parsnip seed with radish seed as radish germinate really quick and this will identify your row for you whilst waiting for the parsnips to show their heads.

[wellie]

Hazel,
No, I'd advise against that and to save those Jiffy 7's for some other seedlings that 'bolt' if disturbed by transplanting (Florence Fennel comes to mind...) but I'm not trying to put you off, just to give your parsnips a better start for you:

Get a piece or two of kitchen paper, soak it in water and sprinkle your parsnip seeds very sparingly over it. Keep the towel moist at all times, but not sodden. When the parsnip seeds start to send out little 'feelers', get a pair of tweezers, and handling the seeds with the tweezers, transfer the little darlings to some compost-filled toilet roll cardboard innards. Cover lightly with a little compost, water, and wait for your babies to show signs of life, then plant the whole toilet roll thingy where you want a parsnip....

No, honestly, it works a treat.....

[JennieAtkinson]

Hazel - I thought that was such a good idea too! I use Jiffys alot.

So Wellie, how long will they be on the damp kitchen towel? ie how long before you need to plant them do you start them off? Critical for me as I have to wait alot longer than most for the ground to warm up.

[vicki lorraine]

JA
I have just put up cloches in the hope it will raise the temperature of the ground by a couple of degrees.
When im ready i will plant my parsnips under the cloche.

[JennieAtkinson]

That sounds good Vicki - I had hoped to use some fleece this year, but am waiting for the snow to go and the wind to die down! Probably April if I'm lucky.

[wellie]

Jennie, if you were going to do this, I'd wait till March, because once the seeds start to geminate on the kitchen paper and you transfer them to the compost-filled toiletrolls, you don't want the parsnip seedling ROOT to grow so far down as to start feeling its way out of the bottom of it.
This was one of the very first vegetable growing blunders that I made.
If the taproot gets distorted, you don't have a useful parsnip to cook with (necessarily....)

[Alice]

Hello Hazel, I would go with Wellies method but I would add
put the damp kitchen paper in a small freezer bag - it stops the paper drying out
and put the seeds on little postage stamps of damp paper on the damp paper. That way when they sprout you only have to lift the square of paper and plant it with the seed on it, and not fiddle about with the tweezers. (That one came from Sue) And thanks Wellie, I'm making notes of all this for my own parsnips.

[wellie]

No, I've just learned more from you Alice and Sue, and isn't that exactly what it's about? Never would have thought of that addition, in a month of Sundays ! Brilliant, thank you.....

[supersprout]

I would put the seeds on little postage stamps of damp paper on the damp paper. That way when they sprout you only have to lift the square of paper and plant it with the seed on it, and not fiddle about with the tweezers.

Thank you Wellie, Alice and Sue - brilliant!

[Hazel at the Hill]

Hazel,
No, I'd advise against that and to save those Jiffy 7's for some other seedlings that 'bolt' if disturbed by transplanting (Florence Fennel comes to mind...) .....

Advice taken, Wellie - so besides the Fennel, what else should I save the jiffys for? i.e. what doesn't like being disturbed by transplanting? Brassicas? Sweetcorn?

So many questions!

[Hazel at the Hill]

Oh, and I'm going to do the kitchen paper/loo roll thing - that sounds sure way to success! Many thanks, grapes!

[wellie]

Hazel, you sound as excited as I was when I first grasped a-hold of all this veg growing stuff....! And I promise you, you'll never lose that enthusiasm now, and it gets better and better every year.
The completely brilliant bit of it all Hazel, is that with every post, every thread, you'll never stop learning.....
I never do, which is why I love it so much.

PS. the teletubby's hungry again.....

[Hazel at the Hill]

It's great, isn't it, Wellie!

Bit worried about March, though - the list of things to do/sow/plant is getting a bit out of hand, and I've only just remembered about the 5 jerusalem artichokes in the fridge which I've kept to plant out rather than eat!



PS - Fat Boy here has joined me to help with the posts, but really wants his SUPPER!

[Hazel at the Hill]

Hazel - I thought that was such a good idea too! I use Jiffys alot.

.......it just came to me in a jiffy (ha ha!)

What do you mainly sow in them, JA? Greenhousey things (toms, cucs etc) or seedbed type things (brassicas etc)?