[Mr B]

Hi All,
   As my ground is a bit stony and previous attempts to grow carrots and parsnips have resulted in every miss shape possible I have been thinking of making V shaped trenches with a spade and filling this with compost to grow them in, has any one tried this? I was thinking that the compost might dry out too quickly so would it be better to use a mixture of compost and soil which has been riddled to get the stones out?
regards,
Chris

[stompy]

Hi chris, i did that last year.

What i ended up with was parsnips about 4"-5" across at the top and about 10" long but they tapered from 5" to 1/2" within the first 4" if you know what i mean.

There was no forking but the roots were prety much useless.
This year in starting mine off in loo roll inners indoors filled with a mix of 3 parts sieved compost to 1 part sand that should help with germination too, then i will plant them on with a bulb planter loo roll and all, at least that way i can guarentee 5"-6" of good root.
Im sowing 3 seeds to every loo roll and will thin to the strongest one.

[dougsta]

I planted some parsnips in loo rolls last year, admittedly in 100% compost (no sand) and all looked great (huge crowns) until I dug them up in the autumn and they were horribly forked - not much use.

[stompy]

Have you any idea what caused the forking dougsta?

Did they fork in the loo roll or after it and did you plant them on before the roots showed at the bottom of the roll?

[dougsta]

Parsnips are notoriously fussy when it comes to transplanting anyway.
I'm almost certain that the forking was due to the compost and that it occured in the ground once they had been transplanted (but they were still sitting in the compost that they were originally sown in). Too much of a good time in all that lovely compost and no reason for them to go deeper. I have read an interesting explanation for carrots a parsnips - Don't give them great soil - make them search down for their nutrients to get them long.

[Slowgrind]

Grew my carrots in buckets last year, it worked perfectly!
I did use fresh compost!

[bigben]

I used Richies paper pots idea last year, dug a trough dropped the paper tubes in and back filled. I got a fairly decent crop. This year I am using loo roll tubes but will need to dig a deeper trough and use sieved soil as the tubes are a lot shorter than the paper tubes I used last year. One or two ended up fat at the top but narrowing sharply and I planted a couple of seeds in one or two by mistake so they twisted round each other but were still ok but less easy to peel.

[JayG]

My soil is quite deep and sandy (box ticked!) but also quite stony (box unticked!).

My parsnip crop was much better last year because I fed them (they are quite strong growers and need food.) I achieved this by adding pelleted chicken manure at sowing time and also top-dressing with growmore.

As I expect you already know growing either parsnips or carrots in freshly-manured soil will cause forking as the roots have a wild underground party seeking out the richest bits of soil to grow into.

[DD.]

I get my large parsnips by NOT feeding them and not watering them.

Choice is yours, dear reader.

[JayG]

Your soil might well have more natural fertility than mine DD (so we might both be right!) 

[Annie]

To answer your question I have heavy clay soil and always make a v shaped groove,water it ,sow seeds,cover with compost and cover with net.I water lightly until the seedlings come along and go slug hunting.then i leave.They do not seem much detered by the clay and the compost prevents `capping`.I don`t water either as the roots then head down wards looking foe water.

[noshed]

I find that neglect seems the best policy for parsnips. When I nurture them they are rubbish.

[Lupin lurcher]

Hi don`t do what I done yesterday.  I have been saving my loo rolls for months now in preperation for sowing my parsnips, I soaked the lot for about 10mins. in the bath when I got them out the lot unravelled, so there was just soggy curled up cardboard.  I guess I will have to make so paper pots now instead. 

[Christine]

Grew my carrots in buckets last year, it worked perfectly!
I did use fresh compost!

In a nice sunny spot. Hey presto good parsnips.

[JayG]

Grew my carrots in buckets last year, it worked perfectly!
I did use fresh compost!

In a nice sunny spot. Hey presto good parsnips.

Now that is an achievement Christine: sow carrots, get parsnips (were they GM?)