Parsnip Germination

[retropants]

Mine may be a bit slow, as my heating has not been working for the last month or so, I'll give 'em one more week!!!

[Mike Vogel]

I've also been waiting 3 weeks and I think one of the seeds sprouted a "tail". It's in compost now - watch this space.
mike

[Chantal]

I planted out another 20 germinated seeds today, I'm stunned at the germination rate of Palace.

Also, I set the remainder of the packet to germinate last Sunday and planted the first ones yesterday. That's a mere FOUR days to germinate!

[Primrose]

That's incredibly fast. I've always found parsnips about the slowest of all vegetable seeds to germinate, apart from parsley. If this is normal behaviour I can see it becoming very popular with gardeners because it will rule out the uncertainty of knowing whether your seeds are just slow to germinate or have actually rotted in the soil. Patience is not one of my virtues when it comes to waiting for my first Spring sowings to appear so the sooner seeds germinate the better.

[Colin_M]

The Palace F1 started germinating after 8 days and I planted out another 4 this morning.

Interesting the difference the strain makes Chantal.

This year I bought Seeds of Italy parsnips and they seem to match the germination rate of all the other varieties!

[seedling]

Bought some Palace F1 this morning and sowed them this afternoon. Lets hope they do as well as Chantal says. My Tender and True have germinated really well this year -to my suprise. I didnt get a single parsnip last year.

Seedling

[Monika]

ALL my parsnip seedlings (Countess and Student) are now through and growing apace. This damp paper method really works.

[retropants]

One out of about 50 seeds has germinated! yipee!

[Mike Vogel]

I've just seen a couple which I'd given up on.

mike

[Mike Vogel]

Well, here's the good news. The parsnip seeds which I put into loo-roll inners have germinated. I kept them under cover. The bad news? They are the ones I sowed direct without chitting - the others were a no-show. [The variety is Turga, newly ordered from the OGC. I threw all my 2-year old seed away, but now I suspect i should have simply chucked them into the soil.] I will gladly concede that my chitting technique may have been wrong, but, given the rapid germination in soil, I won't try again - the trouble just isn't worth it.

mike

[retropants]

well, only 2 of my chitted seeds have germinated, so I sowed about 5 to a station direct in the soil yesterday. I have the SoI packet so loads of seeds in case I need to resow!

[Johnboy]

Hi Retropants,
I started some White Gem Parsnip seed off at 2am on the 17th of April and I have just checked them out and there are many that are just about to send out a radicle. This is not yet 5 days. Somehow there seems to be a breakdown in communications as to the method used. I have a solid fuel boiler and I put a cooling tray (Wire cooking) on top of the boiler and then put my seeds on there. At present I have a 2 pint milk carton cut in half from top to bottom. There is 4 layers of kitchen paper folded in the bottom and then the seeds are laid inside another piece of kitchen paper which is folded in half then folded in half again which just fits the length. I saturate the whole lot then drain out all the surplus and place on the cooling tray. I simply cannot understand how Mike and yourself are so unlucky.
I have been germinating Parsnips this way for about 10 years and have never had any problems.
If you have any of your old seed would you send me some and see if I have any more luck.
If the answer is yes I will PM you my address.
Sincerely,
JB.

[Primrose]

I wonder if any problems could be caused by only having the seed resting on moist tissue one side. I must admit, I didn't cover mine because I thought it would make it difficult handling them if they got caught and stuck on either the upper or lower piece of tissue, so just let mine rest on damp tissue below. I did cover the plastic dish they were in with a lid, and did get quite good germination so perhaps covering them is not 100% important as long as they're in contact with moisture all the time on one side?

[retropants]

Hi JB and Primrose,
I put the seeds between layers of moist kitchen towel, in a plastic fruit tub from the supermarket, one that comes with a handy lid. The contents have never dried out, and while my heating was working, they were in the airing cupboard. Since then they have been on a sunny windowsill. I wonder, so they need to be in the dark, and a covering of moist paper is not enough?
JB, I may very well take you up on your offer, I will see how the direct sowings do first! My seeds are brand new from SoI.

[oldherbaceous]

I'm sure you are all going to be so excited for me, the parsnips i sowed directly outside three weeks ago, are now bursting through the soil with great gusto.