[AlaninCarlisle]

I know all the advice about not manuring soil where parsnips are to be grown and I slavishly abide by it. However, I always get about  50% of my parsnips forked. Should I be digging out trenches and filling them with building sand to plant on or is there some other solution?

My technique with parsnip by the way is to sow into garden soil in fibre pots that I then germinate in a heated propagator until about 2" high, I then remove from propagator and leave in the greenhouse until about 5" high before planting the pot plus soil and plant into deep dug beds. This way I get totally reliable germination but as stated, get about half the plants fanging

[Swing Swang]

I reckon you coud be planting out too late. At 5" the tap root will have come out of the bottom of the pot and be curling round and round the seed tray. Plant out when the tap root has just reached the bottom of the pot (seedling at 2-4 leaf stage, about 1" tall) and see what happens.

SS

[AlaninCarlisle]

No I check them regularly and if there's any sign of roots on the lower surface of the fibre pots they go out instantly but I'll plant out at an earlier stage anyway and see if that helps. My gut feel is however that the soil is too rich. I'll run a trial over a trench-full of sand and see how they are

[JayG]

Don't forget that stony soils are at least as much responsible for forking as excess manure, and don't try growing in pure sand as the poor things won't actually have the strength to fork!

(My soil is sandy, but also stony, so the parsnips are (literally!) a bit hit and miss, but I still have to feed them at least twice to get them to a decent size whatever shape they finish up!)

[sunshineband]

From experience I wuld say that transplanting parsnips at anything past a root about an inch long is dooming you to fanged monsters.

Add stones to the mix and ....... 

It is worth creating some decent soil of at least a foot in depth for parsnips imho, or accept they will be good for soup 

[AlaninCarlisle]

From experience I wuld say that transplanting parsnips at anything past a root about an inch long is dooming you to fanged monsters.

Yes, but I'm not really transplanting them in the usual sense of the word. They are in small peat-pots filled with soil taken from where they'll be moved to. I simply plant the peat pot complete with its contents into a well worked bed

[sunshineband]

Sorry, I should have read that properly, but.......

....... those little tap roots are so sensitive that they might well suffer when they reach the bottom of the peat pot, even when it is buried in the ground.

Or do you take the bottom out when you plant them?

[Yorkie]

Peat pots are notorious for drying out rather than rotting quickly.  Particularly (though not only) if their edges protrude above the edge of the soil after planting).

I really do think that this is at the root (no pun intended!!) of your problem.

[AlaninCarlisle]

Sorry, I should have read that properly, but.......

....... those little tap roots are so sensitive that they might well suffer when they reach the bottom of the peat pot, even when it is buried in the ground.

Or do you take the bottom out when you plant them?

I use a bulb-planter to make a snug hole first into well-worked soil, about 2" deeper than the pot. Thoroughly soak the pots and then drop each pot into place and draw soil up around the plant.

I suppose the advantage is totally reliable germination, plants at very regular intervals along each row and negligible competition from weeds at the crucial stage. If 50% of the parsnips are forked, the productivity of unforked plants is still far higher than the traditional method of an April sowing straight into the ground and the frustration of waiting a month for germination whilst watching the weeds dominate

[Nobbie]

Why not try sowing a bit later straight into the ground and mix with a bit of radish seed so you can see where to hoe. You're quite far north, so the ground may not be warm enough in April.

[mumofstig]

I make deep paper pots to grow the seedlings in and plant at 2 leaves stage.
I always pull the bottom off the pot when planting, and even planting at that stage, some of the roots have already got to the bottom of the paper pots.
I agree with Swing Swang that your 'snips roots have hit the resistance of the bottom of the peat pot, well before the tops have reached 5in tall. 

[AlaninCarlisle]

I'll try the radish seed trick, thanks

[Trillium]

I agree with Sunny and Yorkie. Parsnips are just so sensitive to their roots being moved in the least and this is what causes the forking. Even inside a peat pot, they grow so fast that for a week or two after germinating, the peat pot is already too short and causing problems.

Best to germinate in place and it can take off. And yes, stones in the soil can cause problems as well, but the peat pot is the main culprit.

BTW, I plant my parsnips in manured soil and do well every year with very long, straight parsnips, so unmanured soil is not the only way to grow them.

[cooperman]

plant direct and use plenty of seed, its the only way to get decent roots, believe me I have try all ways.
Some people think its a bit of a hassle thinning - its a doddle, once the seed is well up just go along the row/s with a pair of scissors and snip off the tops of the onces you dont want, leave in situ, easy peesy....

[mumofstig]

plant direct and use plenty of seed, its the only way to get decent roots,

Oh no it's not  I didn't sow direct but have grown lovely parsnips