Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: AlaninCarlisle on May 17, 2017, 21:21
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I realise this is a perennial question, but how long do other forum members wait until they give up on the parsnips they sowed last month and then rake over the old area/bed/drill and resow?
Another question, could I be losing my parsnips to slugs as soon as they pop there little heads out of the ground? If so, the slugs are very particular as the annual weeds that invariably come up where I sowed the parsnip are untouched
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At what point last month did you sow them, and how often were you watering them during the dry spell?
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A month would be plenty of time for me, especially if it has been cold.
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While slugs certainly always have a pop at my carrot seedlings as they emerge, they do seem to give my parsnips a wider berth. Don't know why.
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They were new seed and I sowed them on 18th April and kept them watered. We never had the sharp frosts that other areas of the country had either. Night-time lows of 3 or 4C usually followed daytime highs of 12 or 13C
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Sometimes it's hard to tell whether seeds are a no-show, or have been nobbled before you even got to see them, especially slow germinators like parsnip.
The soil temperature germination chart (http://tomclothier.hort.net/page11.html) shows the optimum soil temperature for parsnip germination is 20C (14 days), whereas at 5C it's 57 days, which is an awfully long wait, and of course increases the chances of the seeds rotting in the soil.
I used to sow in April and re-sow after 4 weeks if necessary - nowadays I sow round about now and hope for the best (still takes 3-4 weeks.)
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Parsnip can take a good 30 days or so to germinate. You have to be patient.
I had some sowed outside around 21st April and they just came up a few days ago.
I also planted a load in the greenhouse mid march and they took 20-25 days to germinate, now planted and growing well.
Mine are White Gem and Tender & true varieties.
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My parsnips took an age to emerge this year and I had given up hope. I was annoyed as I used fresh seed etc... But they took almost a month to show. Looking ok now.
Carrots came inside a week and the slugs have been all over them. Gonna grow some in a barrel with copper tape around it. Neve
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Oh, to hell with them. I'll hoe the whole two rows and start again.
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You don't have to hoe Alan. Just leave the rows as they are and sow on top with a half inch of compost over the seed. That way you might get both. Whatever it is, do it now.
I had unusual problems with my parsnips this year with my normal method of paper pots. I sowed a row direct as an insurance crop on 3 May and one or two have actually made an appearance today, 15 days. I watered lightly every day, lightly, not heavy as parsnip seeds easily float to the surface and end their days. Seeds shouldn't take a month this time of year.
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Too late. I've hoed over the two rows and re-sown the blessed things. Put slug pellets down as an additional safeguard too.
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You don't have to hoe Alan. Just leave the rows as they are and sow on top with a half inch of compost over the seed. That way you might get both. Whatever it is, do it now.
I had unusual problems with my parsnips this year with my normal method of paper pots. I sowed a row direct as an insurance crop on 3 May and one or two have actually made an appearance today, 15 days. I watered lightly every day, lightly, not heavy as parsnip seeds easily float to the surface and end their days. Seeds shouldn't take a month this time of year.
Now that is a good idea! I sowed my parsnips on 9th April and with six plants out of 70 seeds I am feeling a bit disappointed. I have another packet so will "oversow" at the weekend
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I have for many years now settled on the late, May sowing ones, like Hollow Crown.
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Too late. I've hoed over the two rows and re-sown the blessed things. Put slug pellets down as an additional safeguard too.
Always wise to put slug pellets down.
But never known parsnips ever being attacked by slugs or snails or really anything ever attacking my parsnips.
Do cover my parsnips while they are germinating and growing, as its an incentive with such bare ground for so long for the birds, cats, foxes etc to maybe have a walk over or a little dig.
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I assume it is slugs that have devoured all my carrots and parsnips. They had all germinated too and were coming alomg nicely. I now have about 4'solitary carrots. Grrrrr.
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I assume it is slugs that have devoured all my carrots and parsnips. They had all germinated too and were coming alomg nicely. I now have about 4'solitary carrots. Grrrrr.
A couple of years ago I got so desperate to get carrots past the seedlng stage I sowed slug bait pellets with the seed to get those tiny black slugs that live in the soil.... worked a treat!
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No sign of my parsnips either. I was talking to my plot neighbour yesterday and he showed me his empty row.
So, maybe we are either all unlucky or we all just have to sit on our hands a bit longer :D It's a game innit :)
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I grow snips in 5 old black water tanks, using Kings seed tapes. This year germination is very patchy.
They were all sowed the same day in the same medium. It looks like that i will half the quantity of last year.
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I sowed a row direct as an insurance crop on 3 May and one or two have actually made an appearance today, 15 days. I watered lightly every day
21 days on, and a good 80% of my insurance crop have come up, and there is even the odd one already beginning to show the signs of it's first true leaf. It shouldn't take long this time of year, and the biggest problem by far is not keeping the seeds damp. It's essential in my mind.
For those that can't get to the plot on most days in a dry spell, I guess one way to get around the problem might be to sow the seeds just that little bit deeper, maybe up to an inch.