Sowing Parsnips now

[Elle's Garden]

Hi all,

Terry on the allotment on Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show this lunch time said he was going to sow Parsnip seeds on to a half seed tray lined with damp kitchen paper ( I think) and then spray the seed with tepid water. He was then taking the seeds home to germinate. Once germinated he was then going to plant them in tubes of compost (from loo rolls) until planting them out in mid-march when the soil is a bit warmer.

So, my question: is this worth doing? Does it sound like a good plan? I am thinking about trying it with half my seeds (possibly) .

[Geoff]

I don't know about you but I only eat Parsnips in the Winter as a roast vegetable or sometimes in soup so there is no real need to have them ready dramatically early.
Every year the forum is full of people failing to germinate them in Mid-Winter and getting awfully anxious about it. The solution usually offered is to start faffing about with tissue and tweezers like you were in an operating theatre. The other regular advice is use fresh seed of an F1 variety - I agree with that bit. I think the clue to success lies in this idea of germinating them in the warmth - perhaps they prefer it a little warmer.
My method is to get their ground ready then cover it with a cloche about the beginning of April. Then about Mid-April, it was 15th last year, I take out drills in the warmed ground an inch or so deep and fill them with multipurpose compost and sow 3 or 4 seeds at 4" stations (there's usually more seed in a packet than I want to use in a season). Water if the compost was a bit try, protect them with slug pellets and tuck them up in the cloche again until they are well germinated. Uncover and single them and leave them to get on with it.
We are still eating good sized Parsnips variety Albion.

[Monika]

I call the method you describe "Johnboy's method" because I think it was he who suggested it on the Forum a few years ago and I have grown them like that (successfully) ever since.

Not sure about the timing, though. It would certainly be too early for our climes here (more hard frost and snow expected the next few days and nights). I don't plant them outside until April and by winter, when we want to eat them, they are full size.

[realfood]

Last week my allot neighbour announced that she had sowed her parsnip seed in the still frozen ground, as some Irish website had advised!! I told her that I will not be sowing until April or May, providing the ground has warmed up by then! We are still having hard frosts every night, so it may be quite a time!
Marshalls have sent me a "vegetable seed growing guide" which suggests sowing outside from the beginning of Feb. In a mild year, you might get away with this in the mildest parts of the UK, but elsewhere no chance.

[Mike Vogel]

I'll sow mine soon in toilet-roll inners. When these are ready to plant out, I'll do so in April and then sow another lot directly onto the bed.

[Monika]

realfood, about 45 years ago, we moved up from the Lea Valley in sunny Hertfordshire to a northeast facing steep slope in Yorkshire and I tried to continue my gardening timetable as before. One lovely, balmy February day in Yorkshire, I sowed a row of carrots and a row of parsnips (just as I had always done down south) and our neighbour told me, "Those seeds will rot, they'll never come up" and he was right, of course.

I've learnt since then!

[Tigger]

I use Johnboy's method year on year and it works for me. Happy to share results.

[PLUMPUDDING]

I too have had the most success with "Johnboy's method". I tried messing about with pre-germinating them on moist kitchen paper and got good germination, but despite being extremely careful handling the seedlings they produced poor twisted roots.

Last year my March sowing was quite poor, but an April follow up with cloche protection produced two good rows of nice straight roots which were still eating. So don't be in a hurry there's no rush and you'll get better results by waiting for things to warm up a bit.

[Tigger]

I 'sowed' mine onto kitchen paper last weekend and most have now germinated so I'll pot the up individually (yes - using tweezers) into paper pots from the pound shop. They will go into the unheated polytunnel in trays and I'll plant them out, in their pots but with the bottoms torn off, at the end of March or beginning of April.

We're eating our last row of last year's parsnips now.

[The Mouse]

Mine will be sown direct, as usual.

When I do this has moved over the years from February (waste of time) to March (only good if weather stays settled), to April, which hasn't let me down yet. I have also sown at various times in May, following failures in March, and by August these have been just as well-developed as any sown in March or April!

It works for me (despite attempts last year by moles to ruin things), so I´ll keep on doing it - the fewer crops I have to start off 'artificially', the better!

[Colin Miles]

A few years ago I sowed in loo rolls but although they looked fine, the roots were all twisted and unuseable. Obviously I had left them in the tubes too long. Nowadays I station sow outdoors from April up to the beginning of May, depending on the weather and thin them out. Good results and far less hassle.

[Geoff]

I wonder if this early sowing tradition comes from hundreds of years ago before Columbus, Rayleigh and Potatoes when Parsnips were the main starchy vegetable so presumably had to be ready earlier.

[glallotments]

Ours will be direct sown in late March as usual to last through winter - we are still digging them now. As I understand it if they are harvested too early before they have been frosted they are not a good. Also they are a winter vegetable - we have plenty of other vegetables earlier in the year.

[The Mouse]

Ours will be direct sown in late March as usual to last through winter - we are still digging them now. As I understand it if they are harvested too early before they have been frosted they are not a good. Also they are a winter vegetable - we have plenty of other vegetables earlier in the year.

I can vouch for that.

I can never resist lifting the odd parsnip early, and one year I had some that were already huge in August, but they were completely tasteless!

With or without frost, they gradually get more flavour over time, but I don't think there is any doubt that frost turns turns the starches to sugar. It did with my potatoes, anyway!

[Compo]

I have just sown mine in newspaper pots, last year I did the same time in loo rolls and have just eaten the last, tender and true were no good but Gladiator were so will be sticking to them this year. I agree that it is a bit of a faff but I like parsnips from October all the way through till now so hence the early sowing. I shall sow another batch the same way in April or late march.

CoMpO