Peculiar Parsnip Problem

[BertieFox]

We garden on pretty heavy clay but use deep beds which are fairly well worked.

Harvesting this year's parsnips we have discovered the following:

1. Parsnips sown properly in the bed are either the size of large carrots, or larger and forked.** All are badly affected by rust. There were only two or three parsnip sized parsnips!

2. Where the odd seed had either self-sown from a plant left to go to seed, or maybe a seed dropped, the parsnips were really huge and chunky, mostly in good health. This, despite the fact they were growing in the path area which is unworked except for being covered frequently with a layer of woodchips.

3. The last large one I harvested yesterday had a completely hollow brown core. There was enough 'flesh' to make it worthwhile, but is the impact of rust or something else.

I wonder what I should do to get better parsnips for next year (other than the intuitive response of sowing them in the paths! ) Why are they growing so small in the beds? I grow a 'rust resistant' variety but it makes little difference.

Any suggestions for perfect parsnips would be welcome.

** WE have been very careful not to add fresh manure or compost to the bed, though it has had some mulch on it.

[Kristen]

I've on heavy clay too, although I have raised beds and the soil, through being worked each year, is getting better.

I start my Parsnips in newspaper pots, they are about 6" tall (planted out shortly after seed leaves appear and absolute latest when first true leaf appears, otherwise tap root coming out of bottom of pot!)

I "plant" them using a bulb planter - the long-handle sort you can jump on, so that I can make a hole at least 6" deep. If the hole is too deep I backfill first with some fine soil. I water the holes before planting (I figure water under the pot will encourage the taproot to chase it further into the subsoil!)

My aim is to get 6" of good "top", matching the pot (and good MPC used in it), but in practice I get plenty more than that. I do get some forking - 20%-ish

I used to grow Tender & True, but I have found that Gladiator F1 works better for me.

I don't get any rust, but I do get some canker. I now net (enviromesh) against Carrot fly as, although they don't wreck the root, I think the damage they do lets the canker get a foothold.

An alternative would be to make planting holes (bulb planter / crowbar) and fill with fine soil / MPC and station-sow into that. I expect you have considered that though? I've missed some seedlings in thinning out and they have grown twisted together so worth sowing such that thinning is 100% guaranteed!

Only other thought is a frame that you can put on top of the bed and into which you sow & grow, and fill the frame with sand, or something very sandy, to give the roots a start. The sand will then join the clay after that season, as you rotate the crop. I reserve the end of my crop rotation beds for Carrots, and add a lot of sand each year, and gradually that "bit" of the bed is getting better ... although this year I am planning a V-shaped trench, for the Carrots, backfilled with sifted compost/sand at 50:50 or so.

[Nicos]

Sorry Bertie, I have no idea...my parsnips are always rubbish!

However...I have found that most plants growing from self seeding tend to be earlier, hardier and healthier than the ones I sow later on.
Maybe it's the survival of the fittest thingy?...ie if they aren't eaten by wildlife and not killed off by frost, the have a longer growing season ...and so are healthier maybe??

[lottie dolly]

Could we be all doing it wrong,i wonder if they would be better off,scatering a few seeds at each station,a lot earlier on than the pkt say,i feel a trial run coming up,

[Nicos]

That had crossed my mind too lottie

( probably end up with none at all this year!!!! )

[lottie dolly]

Another 1 just struck me,could it have something to do with the cold weather,giving them a jump start,when the season warms up,like stratification,then fight of the fittest,

[Nicos]

I'm pretty sure the soil would need to be moist as opposed to wet, cos otherwise they'd rot.

As I said...not a crop I do well with...whatever I've tried!!

[Kristen]

I had a Parsnip that self-seeded last year,the seedlings looked amazingly healthy ... I hoed them all up as Wrong Place and also Children of F1 and I thought they might not turn out to be much cop ...

I also have Amaranthus growing in my ornamental garden. The first year I lovingly grew the plants from seed, sown early in the year, given artificial supplemental light, potted on to 9CM, hardened off and planted out after risk of frost ...

... the self-sown ones, in subsequent years, are WAY bigger and more impressive than the first season ones, and of course they start into life MUCH later than the ones I grew in my greenhouse, as they have to wait for soil to warm up before germinating, so they have a much shorter growing season as a consequence.

WHY is that?
Should I top myself now?

[Nicos]

I am SOOOOOoooo glad you have said that Kristen!!! ( not the topping your self bit though)

Not just me then??!

Funny thing parsnips aren't they????

[lottie dolly]

Well,looks like it fit to go out now,i will go and sow some parsnip seed,nothing to loose ,and sod the house work

[lottie dolly]

Well,looks like it fit to go out now,i will go and sow some parsnip seed,nothing to loose ,and sod the house work

I HAVE been and sowed some,i part sink a section of down comer for each station,and sow in that,then i know where they should be,seed from last year i simply sprinkled on top in another area,

[mothhawk]

LD, did you scrape the snow off first?

[Bill HH]

I found last year was bad for rust It got my parsnips and leeks. Mildew got the squashes and peas. Sometimes I wonder why I bother.

[lottie dolly]

LD, did you scrape the snow off first?

no snow to scape off ,all i did was rake the soil level,it's a new smaller raised bed,and whats inside is all fine stuff,not even frozen,,only an experiment,still got seed to sow in another few more weeks

[BertieFox]

I quite like Nicos's theory best, as we only notice the self sown ones which survive and they may have found just the right niche in the soil, even though in a path. Perhaps there was a soft bit of earth there or the remains of an old vole hole into which they could grow without impediment.

I quite like the experimenting idea and I will drop a bit of seed around in various nooks and crannies and paths in the plot and see what happens. I will also try the paper pot method. In the past I have grown into soil blocks or modules but this meant disturbing the tap root on transplanting as I probably left them too long. Will see how that works out this year!

Thanks for the advice.