[peedee555]

grew some big ones last year but they been pretty slow this year but getting there

[jaydig]

My parsnips didn't do very well this year either - but unlike you, my carrots were a 'no show' too. Had one last try at sowing carrots last week, with some cheap seeds from Wilkos, and they were up in a few days, unlike the seed that I had left from another supplier which I sowed in a row alongside the Wilkos carrots. I can only think that my original seed was duff.

In fairness to the supplier of the seed that failed, when I e-mailed them about my lack of parsnips and carrots, they said they will replace both for me this October.

[LilacSandy]

None of my parsnip or carrot have shown so I have gone back to my tried and tested, chitting on damp paper then putting a germinated seed into a plastic water cup, I wait till the green leaves are about 1" high then plant out.  Late this year but will double up the amount I plant out to make up for it, should still get them about the size of a large carrot and at least I will be able to pull them up unlike other years.

[alancas]

I read an article in grow your own mag it says to get old broom handle sharpen end and make hole about 15 inches deep move stick around at top to make it wider then fill with compost and sow seeds all mine germinated this year,mix fbb in compost before filling hole.

[GrannieAnnie]

15 inches? wow, never sown them that deep before!  Still, anything worth a try!

My first lot didn't germinate, apart from 6 plants out of 6x8ft rows!  But a few more from the 2nd sowing, and it was all fresh seed!

Carrots seemed to take forever too, but they are doing okay now.  Beetroot is a bit sparse too, but hey ho, anything is better than nothing!   

[alancas]

don't sow seed 15 deep fill hole first then sow about 1 inch deep

[GrannieAnnie]

Oh yeah, that'll teach me to read post properly!     

[42cherries]

Thanks for all the replies folks. It makes me feel a bit better that it's not just me that's struggling 

This morning I made a narrow trench about 8" deep, filled it with compost mixed with a handful of FBB pellets. I gave it a really good drench of water and then sowed the rest of the parsnip seeds from the packet, which had been soaking overnight, about 1" deep. Covered them with dry compost and soil.

Fingers crossed a least some of them germinate!

[barley]

its been a bad year for getting root crops to germinate

my dad has grown veg for 50 years and said he can't remember a year like this for poor germination 

only about 50% of all my crops have germinated 

[Mr Dog]

Another one with failed parsnips, carrots and beetroot. Have been chitting parsnip seeds the last week or so in the hope of getting something of a reasonable size. The new seed I purchased this year isn't even chitting whereas 3 year old stuff is sprouting away merrily  Beetroot seedlings are now sprouting in modules and I'm going to have one last go at carrots in the ground this week with a change of variety.

[AnneB]

I have had a similar poor experience with beetroot.  I have had to have several attempts to get things growing and then growth is slow.  Nothing to eat yet.

However my carrots and parsnips are magnificent.   I don't sow until the first week in May for these.   Most came up, and the replacements to fill the small number of gaps are also up and growing well.   There isn't anything I have done out of the ordinary other than sowing relatively late, but I always do so now, getting better results.

[simonwatson]

If we "chit" some seeds is it worth going for it?

WW 

I find chitting works for me. You get to put seed in the ground that you know is viable and they tend to come up quicker and more reliably. You've got to keep an eye on them though as the best conditions for chitting are also good conditions for mould.