why didnt my parsnips grow?

[biglongdarren]

couldnt get them to grow last year and this year i tried them in riddled soil/sand and some growmore,that was it and although they grew down they didnt grow wide,thickness of your thumb at the most,ground was very damp at times if that was anything to do with it???
Darren.

 

[Flatters]

I tried 3 times this year and not one. The second lot I tried I soaked the seeds for a week to see if that would get them going; no joy. Carrots have done welll this year though.

 

[biglongdarren]

yea i had brillaint carrots also,my parsnips grew long and plenty of green on top but just no thickness to them at all.
Darren

 

[Skyhook]

I always think the earlier you can get parsnips in the better- I like to have mine in by March.

 

[JamezF]

Not a question I can answer with certainty, but I know parsnips take a (relatively) long time to germinate and seem to prefer a long growing season. The parsnip root is, basically, a large store of energy and that energy comes from the sun. Perhaps given the poor summer the plants expended more energy than normal creating foliage to collect sunlight, but just didn't get enough to perform well?

Mine have been "mostly ok" so far, though they're still definitely on the narrow side compared with previous years.

James

 

[JamezF]

I always think the earlier you can get parsnips in the better- I like to have mine in by March.

Getting them in under cloches is a good plan, I reckon. The earlier they can germinate and get growing the better.

James

 

[Luminos]

I've never managed to grow parsnips or carrots by sowing them direct.
They only work if I sow them in seed trays/modules first, which is real hassle when planting-out time comes. Soil here is gritty and free-draining - in theory, ideal...
With parsnips you must have fresh seeds, they rarely germinate if they are not.

 

[drstitson]

The pros such as medwyn williams grow their root veg in deep beds or drums.

he uses deep raised beds (3ft+, breezeblock) filled with sand - a piece of drain pipe is used to bore cores out of this for filling with chosen "secret" compost mix.

parsnip seeds apparently do better if sown into a drill that has had boiling water poured into it immediately beforehand.

edit: link to a MW parsnip article for compost mix: http://www.medwynsofanglesey.co.uk/articles/149/parsnips___providing_covers

 

[Flatters]

I have found that when I sowed carrot or parsnip seeds in trays then transplant, this seems to disturb the root and I end up with 4 or 5 main root instead of one big root.

 

[drstitson]

no transplanting - root veg should be sown direct and thinned to avoid deformities.

 

[Luminos]

Didn't get any deformities - tend not to disturb the roots too much when transplanting - but the whole process is so time-consuming I'll be buying them in future!

 

[JamezF]

I do tend to plant my parsnip seed fairly thickly and thin later because germination doesn't seem that reliable.

James

 

[Pete D]

I too sow fairly thick but into a shallow 3'' wide 1'' deep trough which I water twice before sowing, then cover and water again. had a reasonable year and usually keep pulling them well after new year. Get them in early too, end of February with my first lot of carrots.
Pete D

 

[BeeJayBee]

Our first sowing of parsnips didn't germinate this year. The second lot we tried something I'd read online, which was to cover the row with a plank of wood until they germinate. It seemed to work, but we've no idea whether it was because of the wood, because the temperatures settled down, or that the ground was watered a bit more.

 

[Chrisfnvs]

Try a F1 variety such as Gladiator and chit the seeds by placing some damp kitchen towel in a tray and place the seed (spaced out )on to it and keep moist, place on a warm window sill cover with some more cloth to exclude some of the light and it should start to germinate in 10 day or so, a white shoot will appear on the side of the seed, doing this saves a lot of time as parsnips can take a long time to germinate when sown direct, at least you will know your seed is viable, sow in March into prepared stations, i use a iron bar to do this, i push it into the soil and use a circular motion to make a tapered hole of about three foot or so and then put your compost mix in a week before you plan to sow to allow to settle and top up and firm in and sow three seeds or pre- chitted seeds and cover over, if you use the pre-chitted seeds just cut the kitchen towel and sow like that, be careful not to brake the shoot off as they are very brittle, sounds like yours did germinate but did not grow well, could be the growing conditions ie shade, ground to heavy or stoney to wet or to dry (it was a very warm spring plants needed a lot of water this year) , or even old seed (that is more lack of germination)or just not a very good variety there are so many variables in growing veg, just a few things to eliminate and work out what went wrong, good luck next year Chris

 

[Bram]

they can be damn awkward at times to germinate, i have sown at beginning of march and even into late april with varying results and have sown a week apart sometimes with success with one and not the other ,once had 2 rows sown and after a good 2 months nothing germinated so i hoed through them and a week later bloody things were coming up all over the place

 

[Chrisfnvs]

Also they can germinate while you are not watching only to have the top growth of the seedlings eaten by slugs, so re-sow thinking no germination and find loads growing everywhere! growing veg is as easy as keeping bees Chris

 

[tonybloke]

parsnip seed needs to be 'fresh' ( only 1 yr old) parsnips need a firm seed bed. press broom handle into ground by standing on it, to create the 'drill' for the seed. water the drill with sea-weed feed. allow to soak in. plant 3-4 seeds every 4 - 6 inches. cover with soil / compost mix. firm in again with back of rake. soil temp is main trigger for growth, so, depending on location in UK, probably best planted 2nd / 3rd week in March. when plants are large enough ( 2" high) thin out to one plant per site.

 

[Andy Duff]

Sorry about the delay in posting this.
Seed type gladiator or tender and true.
Mix sieved multipurpose compost 3:1 with medium vermiculite, add a tablespoon of growmore per bucket.
Push soil pipes (5 inch dia min) into ground and fill with compost mix.
Sow 3 seeds per tube (this years seeds only as they only last 12 months)
cover with half inch of compost mix.
soak well with water.
cover with 2ltr pop bottles that have been cut in half, this keeps the compost moist, if it dries out germination will fail.
water a little every day until germination occurs.
Remove pop bottle and thin out the weakest seedlings from each tube, leaving the best.
Water regularly and once well established feed once a month with tomato feed.

 

[buffalow]

same method used totaly agree , only i use 1lb honey jars instead of plastic bottles ,always fresh seed and usually Gladiator F1,
regards Mark