Parsnips

@Scrungee , I just checked the other thread, and I stated that I usually used to sow mid March.

Edit : It looks like you were right, 3 weeks

 

I soak the seed first, wait for signs of sprouting then plant into "bog rolls" filled with "very fine" compost, I grow gladiator and always have decent parsnips for christmas lunch.

 

Do your “big rolls” go mouldy @Vince ? The ones I’ve done for sweet peas have. Humph.

 

Mine do, but they appear to fare better if spaced apart as pic in post #11, if closely stacked together they can get very messy.

 

Ah yes good idea @Scrungee I’d just reused a takeaway tub-not much space in them

 

Please, Please forgive me. Why all this fuss about growing parsnips? OK if you are growing for showing, then. Using clay soild drainage pipes filled with a mix of 80% sharp sand, then you will get straight long roots. However for the table/kitchen use. The average pkt of seed will contain around 1000 seeds. You and I are not growing commercially. So, why not stick to the old fashioned way. Dig a full spit, incorporate whatever compost is available. Don't tread the surface but gently rake. Line out, scratch the drills and sow the seed. Later thin out. This way you can have a good store to see you through the year.

 

@Mike Allen the first post explains why there is parsnip talk. Not sure what you mean about fuss? I guess its just the usual discussion on a gardening forum you know, people sharing their own parsnip experiences and techniques etc

Glad you have had success with your parsnips. I’ve got heavy clay so interesting to read the different techniques people have tried and seeing what works for them.

 

96 Bog roll tubes sown, each with 3 seeds (I always sow the same quantity in each tube so I know how many others I might need to terminate, in order to avoid what's been described as the 'embrace of death', where more than one is left to grow and they twist around one another, producing spiral runts.

Other stuff not mentioned in post #11 was:

Tamp a lower portion of the compost in the tube down (piece of broom handle, inverted trowel handle, etc., to prevent the compost falling out when you go to plant them out.

Watch out for further seeds germinating after planting out (and nipping least vigorous out).

 

You are so organised @Scrungee . Very neat!

 

Now in blue plastic ex-mushroom trays ready to be taken to plot polytunnels today. I have some with the bases cut out (using a jigsaw) to be place in between whole trays enabling them to be stacked for transportation (and also if tunnel staging space is getting full). I get dozens of these from a local hotel/restaurant.

 

Sown on 17/3/19 and it looks like they started showing yesterday, 3 weeks and 1 day after sowing. Need to get them in open ground PDQ before their roots get to the bottom. Will probably fleece over them as freezing temps are forecast and they've been in a cosy polytunnel.

 

@pete have you direct sown yours yet?

 

I don't grow them these days.
But I would be doing it now if l did.