Topic: Parsnips

[john-the-window]

Please help!!!

I just cant get parsnips to germinate!!!
Any tips please

[flossie]

I think that it may be a bit early for them.  I would leave it later

[john-the-window]

last year i sowed every four or five weeks used 6 packets of seed and ended up with 7 parsnips

[cleo]

Yes  :)  don`t be impatient-books etc will say plant far too early-wait until your soil is ready.

Always use fresh seed and sow  say three seeds every four inches and thin out.

Now some will say sow radishes as well to mark the seed line-and that`s fine but only sow the radish thinly cos your parsnips will not appreciate the root disturbance when you pull the radishes.

And OK the pre germinating on paper-never tried it but have read it works for others

[cleo]

last year i sowed every four or five weeks used 6 packets of seed and ended up with 7 parsnips

Welcome btw-stick around and we will see what we can do

[powerspade]

Don't panic and don't take to much notice as to what the packet says. Parsnips are slow to germinate in cool soil the best way I found to test the soil is to sick my finger into the ground and if it feel pleasantly warmish then sow the seed. I usually wait until April for good results

[Tulipa]

John, last year was not a good year for parsnips, I had the same trouble as did a few people on here, there are a few threads on here about it.

Hoping for a better year this year!

[telboy]

Hi John,
Last year was a poor year for germination, for many. Even worse, for me, was 2005.
Tried - last year the loo roll approach. It was slow/painful & only a 30% success rate. Did get a few 'straight' results though.
Signs of the times perhaps?

[OliveOil]

i put 20 or so seeds on wet kitchen paper 2 weeks ago... 1 has germinated - i'm using heritage seeds - student. hope the others get going soon!

[telboy]

OO,
It's going to be very early to plant yet.
The soil temp. has to be good.
I think, for you, at least April?

[OliveOil]

I was gonna put them in tubs at home covered but at this rate i think not.

I'm so crap at seeds... jsut as ss.

I prefer chucking them in the ground and getting on with it. cant deal with pampering plants and seeds - i just kill them.

You wouldnt believe i used to work at Nickerson Seeds in plant research would you! LOL

[saddad]

I had similarly disappointing results last year.... but a new start, ever hopeful!
 ;D

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

We grew parsnips for the first time last year. I had run out of space, so I couldn't  sow them until May (in the ground), and we've had a great crop. This year I'll sow them at the right time in March (I suppose) - maybe I'll end up with nothing

[Marymary]

The only ones I've ever managed to grow I sowed really late so perhaps that's the answer though I'm saving loo rolls to try that.

[philcooper]

.....i'm using heritage seeds - student. ....

Strangely, the EU rules on vegetable varieties having to be registered (hence the small number of them currentl available) don't apply to parsnips. The reason being that the French don't recognise them as vegetables - they are officially (in Europe) fodder so old varieties like Student, Hollow Crown and so are still available commercially alongside the modern canker resistant and F1 varieties.

Phil

[Robert_Brenchley]

I didn't plant till April last year (having given up on early parsnip plantings), and ended up with half a dozen parsnips, despite a second planting in May. This year I'll be planting under fleece, and chitting first.

[artichoke]

Last year, the seeds I put in airing cupboard to chit first took a very long time to germinate. Every time I found a root emerging, I put that seed into a gutter in a frost free room, and over time (several weeks) I had a gutter full of seedlings. I am afraid I failed the next stage (to plant them out in the allotment) as I never did it.....

I found it very interesting to watch the airing cupboard ones (scattered on a damp cloth inside a plastic bag). After a couple of weeks, there would be a newly germinated one or two each day. No wonder we find it so frustrating to sow them in the open when even in warm, damp, ideal conditions the seeds were so slow to react.

I intend to do the same thing this year, but to follow it through properly this time....

[cornykev]

As above,  the soil needs to warm up, last year we had a very good first year and we've still got plenty in the ground and in the  freezer, just beginners luck I suppose. This was the way we did it, dig out a small trench fill it with multipurpose compost, finger 1/2 inch deep drop in seeds sprinkle compost in the holes and dampen. My mate being a builder wanted a smooth finish so he smoothed  the compost like he was screening a floor, I did take the piss but who had the last laugh, as I said theres still about 30 in the ground and we gave loads away.  ;D ;D ;D

[Jeannine]

This is an interesting topic. Parsnips have really confused me. I grew them 5 years ago in a very deep box,they grew enormous and I was really proud of them and remember commenting on how easy they were.........oops. Since then I have had no success  worth a light. I have used the same type.. other types...and last year 3 types but no luck.I have racked my brains to figure out why and the only difference I can come up with is that the first year I sowed ones which were on paper tape which I bought by accident. I just  laid the tape down. covered it with soil and forgot them. XX Jeannine

[Rosyred]

First time allotmenter and got parsnips after two attempts last year. Would you grow them on the same soil  or somewhere else this year? If they can be a bit temprmental.