Yet another question about carrot and parsnip germination

[newgardengirl]

After a few failed attempts at carrots and parsnips I've realised that I need to try a method which many of you have described, which is to put the seeds on damp kitchen paper and then plant them into toilet rolls once the root is already growing.

My question is: is it now too late in the year to be doing so? Especially considering that I would like to grow them successionally so plant a new row of each vegetable every week?

I have two varieties of each vegetable: the carrots are "Early Nantes" and "Flyaway", and the parsnips are "Gladiator" and "Tender and True".

All my other seedlings are growing well in pots indoors, even the peppers and aubergines now, and I also have a few pea and cauliflower plants on the main patch outside. But carrots and parsnips are the only things that just won't grow at the moment!

[Tyto Alba]

Will this toilet roll thingy work with carrots then?

I thought it was peas.

[Flummery]

I think you could use it with carrots but I wouldn't think there was a need to. I've been using the method for parsnips - I'm growing tender & true too. The reason is that you can tell the seed's germinated because you can see the root. You then get one guaranteed viable seedling per tube. For me (and many people I gather) germination of parsnips in the ground is very iffy.

Carrots seem to germinate ok and the seed is so small it would be hard to pick up from the kitchen towel when germinated and put one per tube. If you're having probs with carrot try them in a decent sized pot of gen purpose compost and sow carefully about an inch apart to allow you room to take out alternate ones and let the others get bigger.

That's how I do it anyway! But don't forget there's more than one way to do any garden job!

[newgardengirl]

Sorry, yet another question:

I planted a few seeds in toilet rolls the other week and a few of them are (very slowly) starting to grow now. However, due to having to keep them watered, the toilet rolls are now largely covered in a white mould. It is still safe to plant these into the ground or should I not use them?

[buttercup]

hello there!

im sowing on kitchen paper at the mo too!
very slow, and very fiddley! but as long as you can ensure some will grow!
this is my first year growing anything so i was nervous about sowing them direct into the beds!
i have ended up picking a seed out of the bowl a couple a day,and sowing them in toilet rolls, i hope itll work no seeds come through in the rolls as yet, what is the best way of sowing the sprouted seed?
cheers buttercup

[berksmike]

Started a proportion of my parsnips indoors in toilet rolls and planted them out.... They are doing really well..The rest of the parsnips and all my carrots were planted direct and theyre popping through.... Will thin them out at the weekend and get the fleece up

[Flummery]

Are you sure it's mould NGG? If you have hard water it could just be salts. It took about a week for the sprouted seedlings to show above the sprinking of compost I topped them with in the loo tubes for me Buttercup. However, I know there are people around with more experience of this method - I'm sure you'll hear more!

Flum

[rustylady]

Are you sure they're not germinating in the open ground? Maybe you're just being a little impatient. I've never had a problem with carrots, although parsnips can be a bit iffy. The probem with sowing tap rooted plants in containers (even loo rolls) is that they don't like transplanting. It really is better to sow where you intend them to grow to maturity. You can get away with germinating on kitchen towel, but then you really do need to think where you are going to put them. We used to germinate, then mix the sprouting seed in with wallpaper paste (no fungicides or chemicals) and squeeze them out through an icing bag into a seed drill on the plot. Water, cover with soil and grow as normal.

[Paulottie]

You are always right Rustylady, I'd say that carrots normally fail because the seed bed is not kept damp. but I am growing (sow every 3 weeks) both Flyaway and Early Nantes, amonst others, and am not having too much trouble (although feb sowing under fleece was spasmodic.) I water them every day until they are up. Can't say I've seen a parsnip yet tho. We have a sandy loam here, but even then it can Cap over a bit- Try covering the drill with multipurpose instead of soil to show where it is and keep texture open.

My lottie neighbour and I are trying this towel method for snips and I am facinated by the piping bag trick-any moore info?. We were going to plant them direct with tweezers!!!

I have got to say that even with a family of four we would need year round dysentry and 96 hrs in a day to plant enough persnips in loo rolls. Let alone carrots -life is just too short. I used to be an advocate of loo rolls for sweetcorn but i just had a batch looking yellow,mouldy and overwatered. I have now reverted to 3" pots. 96% success

[newgardengirl]

I have got to say that even with a family of four we would need year round dysentry and 96 hrs in a day to plant enough persnips in loo rolls.

Hehe - I've been collecting them for quite a while now, but I also collect them from work and some other people have been saving them for me too!

[mikk100]

I did carrots and parsnips straight into the ground last year and they did really well. but this year I put in my parsnips maybe 3 weeks ago and I'm not seeing any sign of them. I didn't even realise they are hard to germinate in the soil because of the success last year. I'm now starting to panic about the prospect of not having any parsnips at all. How long do they take to germinate, have I left it long enough? I can't fancy planting them in loo rolls I agree that I'd need millions to get enough beans/peas and parsnips going.....

[SueA]

Mikk100, did you use fresh parsnip seeds this year? They don't keep very well & if you're using some saved from last year that could be why they're not up yet. I sowed sweet pea seeds in toilet rolls a couple of years ago & just ended up with a mouldy mess, I kept the rolls in a tray & only watered them occassionally but the rolls were covered in mould, I think people have had some success with paper pots (see WiZeR's instructions elswhere on the vine) & these might work for parsnips but I don't see the point with carrots.

[madderbat]

I did parsnips in t.rolls about a month ago, and put them into the ground yesterday, but sowed carrots direct into soil about two weeks ago - they have just come up.

Moon gardening may be a good idea, see this thread :
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...moon+gardening

- today is a root day so I'm going to sow some carrots and more parsnips direct into the ground later.

[HeyWayne]

I sowed carrot and parsnip seeds into modules 3-4 weeks ago now, and all I've got to show for it, is three carrot seedling poking through.

[chickenjane]

Parsnips can be very stubborn & you can end up with no or v patchy germination.

In my experience soil needs to be v well worked & loose.

If planting into heavy clay then taking out small planting furrows & replacing it with potting compost,ideally john innes works well.

Light soil can cause germination faiure,as someone said above by forming a hard pan (crust) on the surface.

Apart from this the watch words are WARM & MOIST.Parsnips won't comeup if cold or dry.Then if you're lucky they'll be up about a week after the carrots(assuming sown on same day)
Hope this helps.

Ps as LJ said -there's nothing to be gained from successional sowing of parsnips-except to re-sow areas of failed germination.