Parsnip and carrot bed question

[reetnproper]

Ok here is my dilema.

Last year, I followed, against my better judgement, OHs instructions and chicken manured the beds in which I intended to sow parsnips and carrots. Chicken manure is NOT, apparently, the same as manuring the beds . He's grown veg longer than me, so I reckoned his knowledge would be better than mine BUT, that said, he hasn't grown either of these crops before.

Anyway, the carrots didn't come through at all and the parsnips have, on the whole, been disappointing, despite being new seed for last year.

Today, I have been digging over some of my raised beds, 2 of which are destined for parsnips and carrots. I have only dug chicken manure into the bed which wont be housing them.

OH reckons that the reason the crops were so poor was because the soil/compost was deficient in nutrients but I generously chicken manured those particular beds twice AND dug some fresh compost in as well, so I don't believe him.

Today I have stood my ground and refused point blank to put the pellets onto the appropriate beds because, as far as I am aware, neither crop tolerates manured beds.

So, what do you fellow grapers think? Chicken manure or not?

Thanks
Reet
x

[Two_Sheds]

Carrots like poor, sandy soil. No manure of any variety is needed. At all

[reetnproper]

Thanks two_sheds. That's what I thought

Reet
x

[Two_Sheds]

I had a brilliant year for carrots (loads of rain Aug-Sep), but hardly any parsnips (drought & heatwave in July knackered the parsnips)

[Shadylane]

I would agree, I reckon either would grow in the crappiest of soil as long as it wasn't stony. The hard thing is to get them to germinate if you're like me and 'forget' - and by 'forget' I mean 'decide not to bother' - to keep watering when you have a drought.

[Kristen]

I would not expect manuring the soil to prevent them growing though. Manuring usually causes the roots to grow like a glove - which is not very helpful when you try to peel them!

Not germinating / growing sound like a different problem.

You say the Parsnips were "disappointing" - do you mean "the roots were like a glove" or they were small, germination was patchy, or something else?

[gojiberry]

I usually use blood fish and bone raked into the soil at half reccommended rat about a week before sowing carrots and parsnips. Having said that parsnips are started i8n a loo roll and then planted in a bore hole filled with MPC.

Ian

[ragingbull81]

I just bought a book about growing vegetables as I am new to it all and in the section on carrots it says "Carrots are hard to please. The soil must be deep, fertile and rather sandy if you want to produce fine long specimens. If your soil is rather heavy or stony, grow short-rooted varieties. Where land has been manured during the past year, don't grow carrots at all."
Then in the parsnip section it says "If you want long and tapering parsnips you will need a deep, friable and stone free soil which has been well-manured for a previous crop"
Hope that helps a little

[Jono]

I tend to put carrots where I haven't manured. Anecdotal I know, but I do seem get better crops by doing this.

Make sure you dig well and get the soil fine though, or the roots will be stunted.

[northepaul]

I was under the impression that they forked if put in manured beds.

[Snadger]

I was under the impression that they forked if put in manured beds.

Manured and stoney ground can cause them to fork!

[binley100]

For parsnips ......jab a crowbar in the soil , fill with a mix of compost and sand and sow into that. Worked a treat for me had a good crop of hooge ones ..........Carrots however didn't do very well ..

[SeleneMourie]

The 'soil' at my new plot is very very clay based, Oh lots of quarry stones as well lol. I have dug out a bed and so no big stones and i got most of the little stones out (took me a very very long time lol) Is it worth trying to grow carrots or parsnips or shall i stick to my containers for them?

Any help will do!!

Selene

[Creemteez]

I have grown carrots and parsnips very successfully in quite stony ground by using a spade to create a "V" shaped trench (just push the spade in to its full depth and wiggle it back and forth, move along and repeat along the whole row.) Fill the trench with MPC (I've used riddled out spent grow-bags). Water well to help it settle and top up if necessary, then sow into that in the normal way.
Don't forget to protect carrots from the dreaded fly!

[di]

I do similar to Binley, except I make a v trench with my spade and fill that with a sandy/compost mix. Considering the clay soil I'll aparrently 'never grow decent carrots in', they don't fair to bad.