[chickchick]

prob a silly question but my dh has planted some direct sow into ground seeds (parsnips) and now we cant tell if they are coming up or whether its weeds! there are such a variety of differrent things sprouting up that we are scared to weed incase we pull up the wrong thing!!
any tips please?
we would have put them in pots to start off but ran out of room!

[compostqueen]

that's why I sow mine with radish seed mixed in with the parsnip, cos it marks the row, and grows dead fast whilst parsnip can take an age.  Also labels don't always survive what with birds pulling em out, us forgetting them etc    

Don't weed them out til you're sure you got parsnips. They can take weeks to germinate so be patient  

[gobs]

Keep thehoe idleis good advice.

[jennyb]

i'm waiting til my rows germinate properly before i get in there and give it a good weeding - once the rows germinate you will be able to tell which is the parsnip by the fact they are all the same in a straight line hopefully.

mine have taken about 2 weeks to germinate i think.

[cooperman]

i do exactly the same as compostqueen as parsnip seed is notoriously noted for being infertile, so you need to sow LOADS, i usually do one good pinch per space - so really drastically oversow - and bung in some radish in the same row, they come up very quick and mark the row...... happy parsnipping

[Ruby Red]

Ive just looked at when I sowed my parsnips. It was february. I guess I can give up on them now eh? Can I sow some more.

[durham_lass]

I have the same problem.  I sowed my first row about 3 weeks ago.  I have done alternate rows of parsnip and shallots, as I don't like radishes.