[jambop]

What is the best diameter of tube to use for germinating this way? I have decided that having a polytunnel it would be daft not to try this as an insurance policy an hours work could pay dividends 

[adri]

bog roll tubes.  works fine but need planting outdoors.

XXX

[DHM]

I've made potting on 'pots' by wrapping newspaper around a drinking glass and sliding it off. However the idea doing this is that the folds that make the base hold it together and stop it unravelling so to go tubular you'd have to think of a way to bind the edge to the tube. In terms of diameter I would think the wider the better really.

I collect all my newspapers by walking the length of the train before getting off on a friday night - proper recycling!

[mumofstig]

Bear in mind that by the time the parsnips have their second set of leaves, the roots will already have hit the bottom of the pot (or tray/box the paper pots are standing in) and will start to fork. I made pots around a tall polish can when I tried...
Thread discussing this here https://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=99597.msg1105469#msg1105469

[rowlandwells]

MUM I think you've made my day I couldn't understand why when I set my parsnips in bog rolls they always forked and from what your saying its a root problem that's causing them to fork because basically the tube's not long enough


Ive decided to go with the method of making a borehole fill it with a compost mix 2 seeds per station also thinking about adapting a raised bed so i can take one side of to lift the parsnips wishfull thinking "A"


also can one sow parsnips upto the end of April because I haven't done any parsnip sowings yet i was going to start them of in the greenhouse in bog rolls but that's all changed now

[jambop]

I have a piece of 50mm plastic pipe which I will wrap a bit of corrugated cardboard around stick it with tape then slide it off and then put a staple in at each end. I will make them 8" deep and plant them out almost immediately after they have germinated which should avoid any problems with the tap roots. I really am doing this as an experiment because logic says I should be able to get them germinated more easily in the polytunnel than out in the open ground. If at the end o the years I have some nice parsnips I know what to do next year... and I am retired time is not a factor 

[JayG]

also can one sow parsnips upto the end of April because I haven't done any parsnip sowings yet i was going to start them of in the greenhouse in bog rolls but that's all changed now

I don't sow mine (outdoors) until the first or second week of May - what you lose in growing time you should partly make up for in faster and more reliable germination. Once they get going they grow pretty fast, and reach a very good size (albeit not the monster specimen DD used to post a pic of on here!)

[DD.]

Once they get going they grow pretty fast, and reach a very good size (albeit not the monster specimen DD used to post a pic of on here!)

You mean this? (Sorry about the Photomuckit watermark - it was the quickest way to find it again).

I use my grandfather's technique of direct into the ground, a pinch every 8" or so, then thin to the strongest one.

[JayG]

Yup, looks vaguely familiar! 

[Pescador]

RW, I wouldn't start sowing before May, germination is much better when the soil is warmer.

[AnneB]

Another vote for sowing in May here.  No faffing involved.

[Mr Rotavator]

I read sowing direct under fleece improves germination. I will be trying this method later this month.

[rowlandwells]

a good bit of advise things are looking up for my parsnip growing and may it will be folks 

[Yorkie]

My parsnip is often patchy to germinate, but I suspect a reason for that may be that there have been spells of dry weather after sowing, and I fail to keep them damp enough