Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Digeroo on March 07, 2017, 17:16:22
-
Are you sowing yet, I normally start in February but the soil is very damp.
-
last week in march for me singly sown 4" apart water the drill with tepid water before sowing cover with fleece 5/8 days time 99% germination no thinning required works on all varieties ive tried hope this helps
-
Sounds good, can you be more precise about tepid. Water on allotment either from tap which is cold, or from butt. which is warmer in the afternoon.
-
Sounds good, can you be more precise about tepid. Water on allotment either from tap which is cold, or from butt. which is warmer in the afternoon.
i boil a kettle pour that in a 10ltr watering can fill with waterbutt water and thats about it
-
Far too soggy on my plot to sow anything yet, besides I've still got half last years snips and carrots in, apart from early potatoes I don't put anything in the ground till April, I reckon stuff catches up. Having said that, I see today that my asparagus is up and growing!
-
I get much better germination and crops by sowing in late April when the temperatures are a bit warmer.
-
Mine were sown on tuesday this week. I always use the plank method in order to protect the seedlings from soil crusting or drying out. The ground forked up nicely and weed seedlings are just beginning to appear so the soil temperature should be ok for parsnip.
Sown thickly in five seven foot rows nine or ten inches apart. If they germinate I shall thin them to seven or eight inches to give a bed of around fifty parsnips.
I had no parsnips at all last year after sowing them in april and again later after the first batch didn't germinate. It could be that they dried out in the april sun. Or the seeds could have been duds.
In the past I have had good results from a February sowing before moving to early march. I have even sown then with frost still in the ground and they came up just fine.. :happy7:
-
What is the plank method please ?
-
You sow the parsnip seeds in drills as normal immediately laying long pieces of wood or planks laid on the soil over the rows of seeds. After two weeks you begin checking under the planks for germination removing the planks as the rows germinate.
The plank method protects the soil and germinating seeds from heavy rain causing the soil to crust. It also protects the paper like seeds from drying out in strong sunlight. I have experienced both of these.
There are a number of ways to germinate parsnips. The plank method works for me. :happy7:
-
Ah interesting. I don't have a problem with parsnips but do with carrots so will try that on them
-
I chit the seeds on damp kitchen towel pot up into half toilet rolls then out onto plot in April .
-
I will be growing Lancer using the normal seeds and Gladiator using pelleted seeds. I used pelleted seeds for the first time last year and had 100% success. I chit the normal seeds on damp kitchen towel but I tend to get a fair share of miss shaped ones hence I have gone onto pelleted seeds. I will not be setting until May as I believe that the ground is too cold and by setting in March the parsnips get too big. A farmer near where I live has grown several fields of parsnips last year and he is still getting them up . They are just the right size and he did not set until May.
-
Not sowing yet but when I do, will use the compost cone method. Drive a stick or dibber into the soil to 6 or 8 inches then rotate to form a cone shaped hole. Fill the hole with compost and sow three seeds to each cone. On germination, retain the strongest. Last year 100% germinationa nd second prize at the Flower Show. Would have been first but too big to lift undamaged.
-
Would have been first but too big to lift undamaged.
Which method did you use to lift it?
Some growers use a pressure hose to blast the soil away from around them
-
Inexperienced Granny went straight for the fork lift but the crop had grown down into the solid clay subsoil. A pressure hose would have been much more advisable. This year, eh?
-
Using a fork lift , that must have been a huge parsnip! ,
I was thinking of trying some in the polytunnel this year so I can keep a closer eye on hem as terrible failure last year. They are so delicious roasted!
Goes away to plan! X sunloving
-
I have got some sow now. But it my great frustration there are self sown parsnips coming up and they have chosen the path. Hundred of them!! So obviously not too cold. I am very frustrated.
-
Bunging mine in this morning, plus carrots, beet, turnips and radish. All the spring weeds are showing and yesterday I must have dug up loads of tiny spuds that had started shooting some with leaves above ground when I was getting the seed bed ready.
-
nice soil tilth down here in somerset, obviously my raised beds are a better and hopefully deeper crumbly texture than the surrounding soil, which is solid clay but is getting better by the year. I keep the beds covered until I sow anything in spring and have recently been raking and some rock dust and nourishment when needed. Certain seeds were sown the last two days but am waiting another week for parsnips, probably the same time as I will be transplanting my broad beans (sutton). Had a really good manageable crop of parsnips last year and was able to dig them out, vulcan, not too big. First year on the allotment I grew gladiator, they were impossible. Devil and deep blue sea, either too cold and wet or far too dry
-
Put some in direct today, have some sown in peat pots from last week, but not showing yet, next week if we are lucky...
-
They are in as of yesterday. Vulcan, no wind and nice weather, so I put two in every station and only 6" apart as I want smaller parsnips. Took the cover off the patch and soil was lovely underneath. Kept some back for empty spaces, just in case
Broad beans are also in, they are loving this weather and instinct said that time is right
-
I found many years ago that by sowing a bit later than usual I got no cancer although that particular year there was a lot about. This was conformed later by going to a vegetable talk , when parsnip seed germinates the very first root is the parsnip and if it gets damaged by late frost then canker spores can get in. Some packets this year do suggest later sowing. I sow in 2nd half of March straight in the soil with no special conditions no problems.
-
Parsnips just poking through now so it took about three weeks using the plank method. :icon_cheers:
-
I think I have the first few direct sown coming through now, again about 3 weeks...
-
I used three different methods and so far nothing. Hardly any rain since I sowed them. Though got a few carrots. Getting very dry on the surface here.
The volunteers germinated early and are doing well, so I have let them be. Though most of them are on the pathways between plots so will get mown off.
-
only a few have come up so far, I think I will also cover with fleece as soon as I have sown next year. I still have my fingers crossed, now that we have had rain. I am going to find the spare seeds just in case, for gap filling. I put 3 seeds in each station and I am still hopeful. My neighbour on the plots also only has a few up too
-
all through on friday will let them get a bit bigger before i weed them and when my back lets me :coffee2:
-
Good show this year with only a few gaps - they took the best part of 4 weeks mind but glad to have nice neat rows of seedlings..
-
Much better germination in my later sowings... maybe because they were "newer" seed... not always obvious when you buy a "new" packet.
-
I gap filled today and watered, I still have fingers crossed. Next year I will be sowing the whole packet in that space, I would rather have to thin than wonder if any more will come up. My neighbour is an excellent grower and has hardly any up, must be our local conditions
-
I've used seed tape this year for parsnips, to get the spacing right, and to get round the problem of the seeds getting blown off line by the wind, but I'm thinking now that I ought to try the plank method, as germination in previous years has been inconsistent, perhaps due to the crusting issue raised. Of course rain hasn't been a problem so far this year (SE), other than there hasn't been any!