Parsnips (damned Parsnips)

[bill_j_smith]

Hi
I am trying to germinate some Parsnips (I have been since March); I have sown two seeds to 'dissolvable' pots (about 20 pots) with the idea of planting the pot directly into the ground thus minimizing the impact upon the root.

The little beggars will not grow - I have tried multi-purpose compost and seedling compost with no results - I have also tried them in a heated propagator and outside of the propagator also with no results - advice?

P.S planting straight into the ground wasn't an option - the snow only left here 2 weeks ago!

Cheers

[FelixLeiter]

Parsnip seed should be fresh: it does not keep for more than a year. It also likes a little chilling to spark it into action — it might be that your sowings have been kept consistently warm. Now that the snow has cleared, I'd sow your next lot direct. They can be slow to germinate.

[vegpatchmum]

They can be slow to germinate.

Lol, that has to be the understatement of the year

I am trying my hardest NOT to submit to the temptation to sow more parsnip seeds because I know that the moment I do the first lot will start to show themselves and I'll have too many in the bed and have to thin out which is a job I hate

VPM
x

[Primrose]

Me too VPM. I got out and sowed them fairly early on one of those rare sunny days when God was smiling in Eden. Then we had that bitterly cold windy spell and ever since I've been checking every day for signs of life and found nothing.

I've had this problem in previous years when I've sown direct rather than sowing in loo roll holders, and have in fact oversown over the same row before now as I'm fairly short of space. Then I've had the embarrassment of having both sowings germinate and the business of a double lot of thinning out. I shall be patient a while longer. But it's a pain in the backside because it really throws out your sowing & cropping programme, doesn't it?

[Colin Miles]

Been far too cold to sow anything, let alone Parsnips. I'm hoping that next week, after this next cold spell, that I can sow them - and carrots. Last year I sowed Parsnips on Apr 12th and they caught the warm weather and germinated quickly - well, for Parsnips. The previous 2 years it was Apr 17th and prior to that 18th Apr. So a bit later this year but they will catch up.

[Monika]

Having had trouble for many years with parsnip seeds, I have followed the "Johnboy method" for the last three or four years with great success! I am sure somebody will be able to dig up Johnboy's instructions in the KG forum archive, but in very short words:

spread seeds on damp kitchen paper - keep damp and warm until rootlets show - sow in roottrainers/kitchen rolls/individual pots - keep in shelter until first true leaves - harden off - plant out.

Works every time.

[Monika]

Forgot to mention: I use the same method for Hamburg parsley (as also suggested by Johnboy in the past) and that, too, works very well.

[Primrose]

I may yet resort to this method after my much earlier sowing, even if it's just to produce a handful of parsnips. At least then I will know I'm going to get SOME if my earlier sowing completely fails. There's certainly something more satisfying about this method in the certainty it provides. Anything or nothing could be happening underground until it's too late to resow.

[hilary]

Hi,
I tried all methods last year and not a parsnip. So this year I sowed in the ground a couple of weeks ago having put a mixture of compost and sand in the trench and two rows up......
Having said that I was at a talk by the Chairman of the NVS Barry Newman the other week and his method was to station sow three seeds and to then cover with guttering until germination. So as a backup I tried that last week and will await results!

I hate to say this but I ordered twice the number of packets needed, just in case!,

Hilary

[Johnboy]

Well the minimum temperature for Parsnips is 4C and soil temperatures
are above that almost everywhere. On Monday my soil Temperature at 9" depth was slightly above 10C which surprised me because a fortnight ago in the same patch it was 0C.
JB.

[Colin Miles]

Johnboy, I was intrigued by your soil temperatures so went out and stuck my soil thermometer in. Not 9 ins deep, maybe 3 or 4 and that came up with 11C.

However, I think the problem is surface temperature, or the top inch which may nearly reflects the surface temperature. And until the last week this has certainly been below 4C in most of the country. When the weeds don't germinate well the veg aren't going to anyway.

With Parsnips nowadays I always station sow 3 or 4 seeds and cover lightly with peat so that I know where they are. And Archer is a good variety for germination.

[Johnboy]

Hi Colin,
You will find that taking the temperature at 9" you are getting a truer reading. The sun, when out, can heat up the surface which due to other weather factors can cool very rapidly or even warm up further and It can also heat up your thermometer and give you a false reading.
If the temperature at 9" remains a constant then you truly are maintaining that temperature so that is the temperature you should be working to. Surface temperatures can get really hot with the sun out even with a stiff breeze on the go.
I have taken the soil temp at 9" again since my earlier posting this morning and last night was quite cool here and at 5am this morning the air temperature here was 3.8C but yet again the soil at 9" is 10 C.
JB.

[The Mouse]

I sowed my parsnips direct in the garden three weeks ago, and they have germinated in the last few days. The carrots and leeks I sowed at the same time came up 5 days earlier. It's the first time in 13 years that my early-sown carrots have germinated, which is rather strange, given the weather!

[retropants]

ditto, mine were showing yesterday. sowed direct on the 7th.