Kitchen Garden Forum

No where in the allotment have I got parsnips! Nil germination from the probably 100's sown over time in all corners & areas to see if I could have success! Just don't understand it at all. The seed was good (at least some of it germinated on the damp kitchen towel) but didn't survive in the ground.

Just bad luck or is something afoot? The self sown 3rd generation parsnips from the abandoned plot next door were doing fine but I hoed them down as they weren't nice at all last year with a tough core & I slipped over the fence today to cut off any in flower to try to curtail the invasion! (An Indiana Jones moment for sure)!

I do have a baby rabbit on the plot (found him yesterday & he is tan so not a local), maybe he likes parsnip shoots?? Didn't manage to shoo him out the gate today but will have to, as I think he has been there a while & I've been blaming the pigeons for some losses but found tell tale signs to say he has a fondness for strawberries!

Westi

Dear Westi, i think a lot of emerging seedlings get eaten by one thing or another, only to be blamed on seeds not germinating.
I know this definatly happened to me a few years back with carrots. One night i noticed the green haze of where the seedlings where popping up and then the next morning there wasn't one to be seen....very frustrating.

Not saying that is the reason for all your Parsnips, though.

Westi, I would never dream of sowing parsnips direct and always use the "Johnboy method" of letting them germinate on damp kitchen paper, then sowing them into individual cells and later planting them out. Good parsnips every time!