Parsnips

[Tracebe]

Good morning all, lovely day

I have sown two lots of two rows of parsnips and three have come up (enough for my christmas lunch ......) has anyone ever tried germinating them in deep modules? I know the books say that they do not like root disturbance but surely if you you used root trainers and were carefull do you think it would work? Some books also say that beetroot doesn't like root disturbance but my module grown beets are looking lovely (the only things the magpies/rain haven't destroyed!)
What do you all think? It's not just me btw the whole site has had low germination.

[Capsid]

I've tried germinating parsnips in loo rolls which works OK but you need to get them in the ground before the tap root gets to the bottom otherwise you get a twisted root. So I sow direct now. For beetroots, I have always sown in modules and this works well for me.

ETA: also I think it's worth sowing direct because the seed should all be sown in that year, so I chuck them all in and thin out.

[chris]

Ive transplanted them fine, they just fork lots..

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...tml#post744912

[Acanthus]

I germinated an old packet,previously opened, on kitchen paper , in march, turned them out into a bit of a drill when they got a bit of a green shoot, never thinking they would amount to much. They are the best row of parsnips I've ever had.The rows I sowed direct, with brand new seed, haven't done very well at all, very sparse germination. So give it a go!

[Florence Fennel]

Five sowings, no germination and one of those was a chitted batch. Think I've given up, that or carrot sized parsnips for The Dinner if I sow now

[Tracebe]

AAh, interesting! Thanks for replies. I think I might give it a go next year in some root trainers I got on special offer a few weeks ago. I am having a bit of a re-vamp on the plot - the bad weather has hilighted bad drainage problems in a couple of areas despite lots of council compost dug in so I and my plot neightbour are devoting half the plot to Charles Dowdings no dig theory so the parsnips will probably go into some nice crumblier soil in a raised bed next time. He has some intersting ideas and it seems to work really well for him. It's nice to have a fresh aproach and new ideas but I'm only half way through his new veg course book so will reserve judgement for now

[Feral007]

I think you have to try new things to see if they'll work for you. We used the no dig last season and found it good. Not everything came up, but then we were a bit overexcited and oversowed, so there was plenty anyway. The beetroot I found after everything else died out was fabulous. The leek looks good too. Just need to have more space next time (so more no digs) so that there is plenty of room for everything at once.

[Paulottie]

I germinated an old packet,previously opened, on kitchen paper , in march, turned them out into a bit of a drill when they got a bit of a green shoot, never thinking they would amount to much. They are the best row of parsnips I've ever had.The rows I sowed direct, with brand new seed, haven't done very well at all, very sparse germination. So give it a go!

Chitting method is excellent and germination quick....although damn fiddly....tweezers to the ready!

I have heard of people mixing chitted seed with wallpaper paste and piping it up the row....never fancied this as all the pastes in shop seemed to have fungicides in them.

Still worth a go now...parsnips will only be small but still, nicer than great woody things

[Aberdeenplotter]

Ive transplanted them fine, they just fork lots..

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...tml#post744912

Chris has hit the nail on the head with his forking comment and of course the housewife likes her veg nice and straight. Globe beet if direct sown will have a single tap root but if module sown and transplanted, will have several tap roots. Not a problem for the kitchen except perhaps more difficult to clean before boiling but certainly a problem if they are destined for the showbench.

[bojangles]

I done the kichen paper way too and Im very surpised what they look like now out on the plot!! Bg green leaves shame my runner beans are not the same!!

[Tracebe]

of course the housewife likes her veg nice and straight.

This housewife doesn't mind wonky veg oh - that's sounds odd!! anyway .... moving on .....
I'm hoping that if I sow them into the root trainers (12cm long) and transplant gently as soon as they have germinated, hopefully the little devils won't know what's happened!

The things we do for a christmas lunch

[solway cropper]

I grow all mine in flower buckets with the bottom cut out. Sown in the greenhouse in March/April I usually get eighty percent germination at least and I get up to 1.5kg of snips per bucket.

For how I do it go to
the recycled gardener: easy parsnip growing

[SeleneMourie]

I went for the sow into ground in a square and cover in fleece method! Carrots top left and Parsnips top right. I'd say all of them germinated as there does not seem to be any gaps... The bottom left and right were sowed six weeks later and were also under fleece but do not seem to have faired well!!!

[cazp]

I made deep holes in the ground and filled with compost within which the seeds were sown direct during June - they nearly all germinated but I think the rain every day helped germination