Allotments 4 All

I've sown my parsnip seeds just like carrotts, will I be able to thin out ok if they grow?

Yes, I thin them to about 4 to 6 inches apart if I remember.  I also dont bother with the odd row and they seem OK.

Watch the foliage of parsnips though, the sap can be an irritant for some people.

Jerry

Yes, I have done this every year with no problems. However ... this year I am going to try producing some holes with a homemade dibber, and filling with compost to see if I get better results, at least on a couple of rows.

to save the thinning im hope fully going to make my own seed tape up and save any palava and hopefully after not disturbing them  let them have a better chance ! i never seem to have much luck with parsnip !!

carl

I always sow carrots and parsnips in drills filled with compost and get very good results. It also marks the row and makes it easier to see the seed as they are sown.

The last advantage is it makes thining easier.

Even on clay I get lovely straight crops and the parsnips this year have been the best I have ever grown.

Jerry

Brillant S89. I covered them with compost too and I have two lovely straight rows of carrotts and parsnips lets hope they grow.

How long do parsnips take to germinate if sown outside now?

Quote from: flowerlady on March 20, 2006, 18:55:40
How long do parsnips take to germinate if sown outside now?

At the moment I would seriously would not sow outside, even under fleece. Too cold and parsnips are notoriously picky.  Hang on until April.

Even her in Sussex I wont be sowing for some time.

Jerry

Ages! (if at all) - seriously, won't be sowing mine outside until at least mid April but all the seed packets say from February onwards, don't they?
When I've tried sowing them when its been cold like this, none have come up at all, but later sowings have been fine.
They do actually take quite a while to come up, maybe 2 to 3 weeks it seems to me but never recorded it.

Don't sow till the soil's had a chance to warm up or they'll rot.

ooops  :o  well maybe this will be an interesting experiment!!  ...

I'll add some fleece and then prepare to do a second sowing later!!  ;D

Ideally you sow three seeds to a station and then pull the extras to grow. In my lack of knowledge the last few years I have just sown in 4 inch spaces and put one seed in then gone back and filled in the spaces. However I think the 3 seed would work well putting radishes in between so you can see where to hoe.

When I got back from allotment I read my book and it said three in one hole but in my haste I just sprinkled along. If parsnips are hard to grow then I may not have many come up as weather is too cold but if most come up i'm in trouble haha. I was going to be good and make a hole and put three in but went out my mind when I was doing it. Maybe having my two year with me didn't help as he was putting compost everywhere.

Seed packets always recommend sowing in Feb, but this is far to early depending on the weather mine shall not be sown until the end or March at the earliest

Still got some seeds left if nothing comes of the ones i've done.

Richard, have to say when I was up at Lilleshall yesterday it was bleeping cold!

But here at home temp is now 6 deg and it has not gone below zero for some time.  Working on the lottie at the w/e although blowy was extremely pleasant.

As I seem to have double quantity seeds, put a row in then and will do another early April.