I'm not really sure what came over me in a fit of sowing one day, but I started some parsnips off in a shallow tub in the greenhouse.
Now with hindsight I remembered that parsnips don't like root disturbance after they've been sown so is there anything I can do with the ones that have germinated or should I just chuck the lot of them?
how shallow?
um.... 5"....!
I think that is a little 2 shallow ( although it depends on the variaty ) what you could do is over water the container and slop them into a ready maid hole?
If you plant them out you`ll almost certainly damage the growing root tip, and instead of a long single root on each plant you will get forked roots with 2 or 3 `prongs` on each. No good if you want the true parsnip appearance, but they taste just the same, and you`ll probably get almost the same weight of parsnip from each one - it`s just that they`re a bit of a b*gger to peel.
Well, I'd rather have something than nothing so I think I may well try that, rather than lose them altogether :D thanks both of you
If you look at the tap root of the carrot on my photograph, you will see how long it is after only a few days.
(http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allcarrots_root.jpg)
Why not try teasing out the root of a few to see how long they are, make a hole with a broomhandle of similar, gently squeeze a bit of blue-tak on the end and drop the plant into the hole and fill round with fine soil/peat mixture. THEN WATER!
Nothing ventured nothing gained, remember, the plant WANTS to grow and have babies.
http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments1_homepage