[EVIE]

HI my friend and I are new allotment owners, I would like to grow Parsnips, has anyone got any good tips, I was told to dig a trench and put fine compost in it to give the parsnips a nice soft earth.

evie

[ParsnipPete]

HI my friend and I are new allotment owners, I would like to grow Parsnips, has anyone got any good tips, I was told to dig a trench and put fine compost in it to give the parsnips a nice soft earth.

evie

I "station" the seeds three at a time about 3/4 inch deep and cover them with fine soil. Then I cover the rows with fleece in contact with the ground. I find this aids germination - very effective.
I've just lifted the last of mine today. Now I've to many so the pigs are enjoying them.

[SkipRat]

Parsnips like a deep dug bed, void of any manure (causes forking) also remove any stones. The way I grow them is to plunge an iron bar into the ground move it in a circular motion to create a cone shapes in the soil, about a foot apart, then fill each cone station with compost. Sow two or three seeds per station, when seedlings are about an inch or so high pinch out the weeker seedlings to leave one seedling per station. Another method that I,m trying this year is to fill full toilet roll tubes with compost and sow seeds into them. I have already got 40 tubes with seedlings, in the cold frame after germinating them on the window sill, these will be planted out (complete with tube) into their final growing bed. The tubes that are made of cardboard will rot away thus not disturbing the root of the parsnip. Good luck  

[Clampit]

I plant 4 seeds together at 8 inches apart in rows a foot apart. If more than one seed out of the 4 germinates I thin leaving the strongest seedling. This should leave you with 1 plant every 8 inches in the row, however, I still experience gaps in my rows. I never plant any earlier than mid march now having had so many dissapointments in the past. I always plant radish along the same rows, these germinate a lot quicker than the Parsnips and give you a good indication of where the rows are when it comes to weeding. The variety that I have had the most success with is 'Tender and true' and that was on fairly heavy clay soil on the south coast.

[Annie]

I treat mine the same as carrots except that you have to remember that the foliage is much higher and denser so leave a good couple of feet between a row of parsnips and another crop.I have raised beds so despite the rain they are not too compacted,I draw a hoe through to make a decent little trench,water it put multipurpose compost in the bottom ,sow seeds thinly ,cover with more compost until level and water again lightly.Cover with mesh or similar against carrot fly and leave...they can take ages to come up.We had rotten germination rates last year but still had a good crop as we did not need to thin.I will be sowing in a few days and digging up the last of the `snips as well as they are beginning to re sprout.

[EVIE]

Thank you everyone for your advise, I will take it all on board, and hopefully have a good crop of parsnips.  evie