Parsnip tap roots showing at bottom of loo roll......too late to plant?

[Newton]

I sowed seeds in loo rolls. They have just germinated with seed leaves. I thought I would plant them out tomorrow but the tap roots are coming out of the loo rolls. Will they be ok to plant or am I too late?

Wisdom gratefully received.....

[gojiberry]

I usually find that you have at least a week from germination to the tap root showing but this crazy weather may have caused a spurt in growth. Have you germinated them with heat? I usually use a propagator but remove the loo rolls as soon as I see a hint of green. You may be alright if you get them out straight away. The worst that can happen is that they will fork.

Ian

[FionaH]

Plant them out, they may be a bit squiggly but better that than no snips at all

[Kristen]

If the tap roots are only just coming out they will probably be fine. Hopefully they've been hardened off? They probably won't come to any harm if not, but the shock may cause some to bolt etc.

This year I planted the 10% of mine that had an indication of tap root showing at one end of the row, come harvest time I will see if they are more forked than the rest, and if so I will ditch any with taproots in future years.

[Newton]

Thanks kristen,fiona and goj

I will plant out as a test too. As most of my direct sowings have germinated

I will post the results later in the year!

[Lotsaveg]

I tried growing mine in loo rolls last year and left them until they were out the bottom. They were absolutely useless, forked, corkscrewed and distorted.

[womble]

I tried growing mine in loo rolls last year and left them until they were out the bottom. They were absolutely useless, forked, corkscrewed and distorted.

Yes, unfortunately this was the exact reason I stopped doing this, the roots grow so fast that it's a pain.

[Lotsaveg]

This year I was given some commercial parsnip seed. The seeds are individually cased in a clay ball and are pink in colour! They're really easy to sow and I guess the clay helps them to germinate.

[womble]

This year I was given some commercial parsnip seed. The seeds are individually cased in a clay ball and are pink in colour! They're really easy to sow and I guess the clay helps them to germinate.

I want some of those!

[Lotsaveg]

I want some of those!

More than happy to send some to you in the post if you pm me details.

[womble]

More than happy to send some to you in the post if you pm me details.

That's very kind of you, but I didn't mean it like that. I meant I want some of those to buy They sound perfect.

[Pies]

get them from moleseeds the clay makes the seed into a pellet so they can be sown by machine nothing more

[Newton]

Can you just snip off the root before planting? Will it then continue to grow or not? Just a thought.....

[womble]

get them from moleseeds the clay makes the seed into a pellet so they can be sown by machine nothing more

Aww, they sounded more exciting than that

[janeyo]

I did mine in kitchen roll holders and they were slower to get the the bottom and were therefore still reasonably straight