Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi there

Having had a very successful crop of parsnips this year (I did the geminating on kitchen paper inside) I have been exitedly biding my time & have left them in the ground as I heard somewhere they tasted better after a frost.

I decided to sneak a peak at some over the w/e - & was gutted when I found that in some cases about half of the parsnip has rotted away in a gooey orange rust coloured mess. Most of the leaves look fine, there is the odd one that has faded lighter green or is a bit speckled, but otherwise no sign of ill health above ground.

Also, the ones I did roast, after cutting off the orange bits, were woody & pretty tasteless ... I gave away the packet after mine germinated, but think they were hollow crown.

Have I left them in the ground too long (woodyness), & is there anything I should have done to avoid the orange stuff that is rotting them
Cheers for your help
Skip

Dear Skip,
what you have sounds very much like parsnip canker and hollow crown is not the most resistant variety around. I would recommend gladiator for next year and do not grow them near any carrots as the flies will attack the parsnips and allow the canker to spread. Make sure you rotate properly to help reduce the severity and do not hoe too close when weeding. Also do not put the yucky ones onto the compost heap and weed out the wild members of the carrot family such as cow parsley and Queen Anne's lace nearby so that they will not keep the canker going around your plot.
Do not over feed with nitrogen and use a tomato?rose style feed from july onwards.
Regards Sally Wright.

Ah, Thanks Sally - Totally makes sence
I had planted then in the other half of the bed to the carrots, & had given them some liquid feed made from some muck I had.

Thanks for this
I'll be more prepared next yr
Skip

It could also be a leaf miner for which there is no treatment as far as I know except to religiously remove all affected leaves and burn / dump them.