Topic: Parsnip seedlings

[caroline7758]

Having left some of my parsnips to flower and then cut them down, I noticed today I have loads of parsnip seedlings coming up. I don't suppose there is any point leaving them in, other than as a green manure?

[jimc]

Weed out the ones you don't want and let the rest grow.
I have been growing parsnips for 6-8 years now. I found it difficult to get the first lot of seeds up (took probably 3 years) but once I got the first plant to seed I haven't had a problem since with parsnips available nearly all year round now. It just means areas where they are too thick have to be weeded and if you like rows then the inter row area has to be chipped clear.
I do the same for carrots and celery and have pickings every week of the year.
The other thing is they germinate when they know the season is right, not when we think they should germinate.

[ancellsfarmer]

Jimc- How cool/cold does it get in winter down there? Here in North East Hampshire, Uk, parsnips die off and reshoot  as Spring comes around.

[caroline7758]

Ooh,thanks! Glad I didn't hoe them all off  now! I must say they do take forever to grow in pots, so i'll take advantage and seewhat I get!

[Digeroo]

I thought if they were left from an autumn germination that they had a tenency to go to seed before you want to crop them.

I have thousands at the moment.  There seems to be 100% germination rate.

[gray1720]

I have thousands at the moment.  There seems to be 100% germination rate.

I know, maddening, isn't it!All the effort you go to, the bleeders will not germinate to order, but let them get on with it somewhere you don't want them...

When I took my plots over, there were a lot of feral parsnips, and for some time I just ate them as I got round to digging them out. Nothing wrong with them but if they're growing in unprepared soil they will tend to be very funny shapes!

Adrian

[jimc]

ancellsfarmer my winter temperatures got down to -5C frost a few times this year. Regularly it is -6C however some years it can go to -9C.
On the other hand daytime temperatures are usually in their teens, the lowest this year was 10C, and sometimes creep into the low 20's. We were quite mild this year with ten 20+C in June and July and 11 in August.

[Digeroo]

I shall leave some, I am not a supermarket so do not mind funny shapes.  Actually rather better, no one steal funny shapes.

[Digeroo]

I have had a thought.  Nature does not bury the seeds, and I have found that I get better results from surface sowing parsnips.

[Vinlander]

I have had a thought.  Nature does not bury the seeds, and I have found that I get better results from surface sowing parsnips.

A friend of mine found out exactly the same thing by experiment (an exasperated fling that came up trumps), and suggested it might even help to get old seed to germinate. I tried it and it works!

I can now get a good crop (at least 30% germination) from last year's seed packet and home grown seed from the year before that can be at least as viable.

Cheers.

[ancellsfarmer]

Following the gist of the various posts, I'm going to broadcast the remaining (and by next Spring, )"unviable" seed I have left from this year, and then ,if they come up, gently mulch/cover with bracken/leaf litter and road-side sweepings. Will report on percentage up, and in due course, percentage that survive to Easter. Do others across the nation wish to try this experiment?

[Paulines7]

I have a couple of packets that I didn't get round to sowing so if I get time I will sprinkle them now and see what happens.  Problem is that "shaggy soldier" annual weeds have taken over all my veggie beds and I won't have time to clear them as I am concentrating on weeding flower beds and planting wallflowers and bulbs at the moment. 

I will try mine in polystyrene boxes filled with multi purpose compost.  I have some deep broccoli boxes which I picked up from the rubbish pile at the market.  I came home with eight of them last time I was there.  They are handy for putting plants in to overwinter in the unheated greenhouse as well as for filling with multi purpose compost and perlite to put cuttings in.  I grew my broad beans and garlic in them this year though the crops were not as good as they would have been in the ground but at least it gave me something until my OH had the time to dig out the nettles in the beds. 

[Digeroo]

I have just dug up two of last years feral parsnips. One is a bit of an odd shape but the other is huge no sign of any canker.  I think it may be bigger than my official ones.   Not clear why I am bothering to go out in the cold in February and March when they are very fickle when I can have thousands germinating in September. 

I also have had success in the past with an out of date packet of parsnip seeds surface sown.  Got more than 30%.  But anything more than 10% for parsnips I consider a bonus.