For the first time in many years I actually have a whole row of parsnips with no gaps. Thank you to all those people who said that you could sow them in toilet roll middles and then plant out later. I also have another batch ready to plant. This will be the first time in years that we have had more than half a dozen parsnips and those growing nowhere near each other with other things transplanted between.
Many thanks to you all.
And just a brief comment about forum members who don't contribute. Perhaps they are like me and spend their lunchtime reading through everything and then don't have much time left to add anything themselves. I certainly enjoy reading this forum and long may it continue.
Jennifer
Thankyou forum members
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Jennifer, we thankyou for thanking us. 
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
Another parsnip tip to add to your armoury - I germinate mine on damp kitchen roll in the airing cupboard. As soon as they sprout I pop the sprouted oned into a prepared drill and mark where I've reached in the drill. I get close to 100% germination that way. Occasionally there are disasters. This year my parsnips were just sprouting and we had the Ofsted phone call at school. Then it was all hands to the pumps and by the time the inspector had gone my parsnips had gone over and were leggy!
Hi Jane,
Another small tip is to germinate as you suggest and then put them into loo roll centres and then you still may have the odd failure but no gaps at all.
The actual sowing takes but seconds to do.
Also if you have old Parsnip seed you can make a trial germination to see if you need new seed. I actually tested some seed that was missed and was four years old. I got germination but not good enough so ditched them as there were not really enough for my needs
I have been doing this for a number of years now and it has worked very well indeed. The trick is to sow the seed at the very first sign of germination. This also works for a number of other seeds especially
Courgettes, Marrows and Squashes. I have also experimented with Sweet Corn and it worked well.
JB.
Another small tip is to germinate as you suggest and then put them into loo roll centres and then you still may have the odd failure but no gaps at all.
The actual sowing takes but seconds to do.
Also if you have old Parsnip seed you can make a trial germination to see if you need new seed. I actually tested some seed that was missed and was four years old. I got germination but not good enough so ditched them as there were not really enough for my needs
I have been doing this for a number of years now and it has worked very well indeed. The trick is to sow the seed at the very first sign of germination. This also works for a number of other seeds especially
Courgettes, Marrows and Squashes. I have also experimented with Sweet Corn and it worked well.
JB.