[Kleftiwallah]

Really cheesed off ! 

Anyone out there got any idea why?  Planted in deeply cultivated, loamy, free draining soil, just as it says in all the books.  We'll still roast them but it is a tad frustrating.   Cheers,   Tony.

[Aunt Sally]

Did you add manure ?

Were they transplanted or sown in situ. ?

[tosca100]

That is usually down to freshly manured ground I think....not that I have ever grown them. Someone will know.
James Martin had some on his show on saturday....looked like something from Dr Who!

[Kleftiwallah]

Very deep bed of well prepared soil, no stones and no fresh manure.  Because they are reluctant to germinate, started them off on kitchen paper, I'm thinking that was the cause plus scrimping on the watering in Summer  How do you improve the water retentive properties of peaty open soil?. 

Oh well, they will still be roasted along with the Sunday joint. We will try again in 2011.   Cheers,   Tony.

[JayG]

If your soil is peaty it could well be too acidic for parsnips which need something nearer neutral. A cheap pH testing kit would confirm, liming if necessary.

If there are no stones it sounds as if your roots have been searching for food; although fresh manure can cause forking they nevertheless need a good food supply to develop properly.

[savbo]

.  Because they are reluctant to germinate, started them off on kitchen paper, I'm thinking that was the cause

oh dear, haven't pulled any of ours yet but I started them on paper then grew them in Richy pots until 2 leaves out...wonder what I'll find?
 
M

[suziet88]

I have not grown parsnips before this year and pulled my first ones up at the weekend.  They looked really weird - all joined together and forked - one weighed 2lb 13oz!  I started them in toilet rolls but now think I planted them too close together.  They still taste fine though and I will be trying again next year (every day's a school day!)

[m1ckz]

yes , mine are all shapes too lol,
1 special one is 5 inches across and has about 7 nips coming off it,sure does look funny
mine where planted from seed an left, TOO CLOSE HUH

[gillie]

I have always been very wary of starting parsnips in paper pots or loo rolls.  If you damage the roots ever so slightly when shifting them about or planting they will fork giving these many-rooted shapes.

So, if you must do it, plant them out gently and early, before the roots can be seen out of the bottom of the pot.  

After all, the parsnip does not care what shape it is - it has to be persuaded into growing one long tap root.

Personally I will persevere with station sowing seeds into prepared holes filled with compost.

Gillie

[Cheshire Phill]

Same for me as Gillie, station sowed into prepared holes with a crowbar, filled with sand/compost mixture seived, have some over 18" long and 6" across already...


Every day is indeed a school day...

Phill

[savbo]

I only did the chitting thing cos it was 4/5 year old seed... will have nice new seed next year!

[gillie]

Chitting is probably OK as long as you move the chitted seed on as soon as the root begins to appear.  Do not wait until they are hairy things half an inch long because it will become impossible to sow them without doing some damage.

Gillie

[JayG]

I sow mine direct and transplant some of the thinnings with no apparent ill effect either on speed of growth or final shape/size.

I am very careful how I do it and I'm not sure it would work very well on heavier soils (they're whipped out and back into my sand-pit of a plot before they even notice!)