[sally10]

Hi,

I have been growing parsnip and beetrot ( for the first time ) in a raised bed in the back yard.
Since planting I have taken on an allotment. I am only growing peas so far and I have hens.
The parsnips and beetroot I have planted are too close together and I have read that if planted too close together they wont grow properly. I pulled one up yesterday to see how it was going and it is forming nicely.
I am now going to move them on to the allotment so they have more space. Do I just dig them up and re plant them in my newly dug bed and add some compost ?? do I need to add anything else to the soil to help them bed in
thanks in advance

Sarah x

[Trillium]

Personally, I'd leave them alone. Parsnips in particular dislike being moved at any time, let alone during key growth time. The growing tip is very likely to snap and that's the end of growth. The beets might make the move but you'd be better to leave them be. Mine are always crowded yet they still manage respectable sizes. Put it down to experience this year.

[GrannieAnnie]

I never move parsnips, but I sometimes start beetroot off in modules then transplant out, saves me thinning them!  so you could try some to see how they go.  Mine always droop after transplanting for a couple of days then pick up again.

[WirralWally]

I'll second the expert opinion quoted above by Trillium.
Don't move them at all.
Thin them out and accept what grows.

Neither parsnips nor beetroot will thrive if disturbed, so don't take the risk.


However, there will always be someone who has, quite by luck, managed to successfully make such a transplant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . so, if you want to take the risk . . . . .

One always has to question why many garden centres, and the like, sell any manner of vegetable plants in little polystyrene containers for planting out.  

[peapod]

Dont move them as Trill said, they wont forgive you.

You can let the snips grow for a bit longer and eat the baby thinnings (just like baby carrots). Snips are a long season crop, so you still have time for the ones left behind to get big enough for Christmas.

[AlotArds]

Hi Sally,
I wouldn't move them either.  Why don't you plant some more beetroot, you should still get a crop before the end of the season. Good couple of rows, nice.

[Paul Plots]

I'm for leaving them be too.

Beetroot grown in modules transplants successfully when it is small. I'd sow another lot direct for a crop later in the season.

Pull the ones you have to thin them as you need them. They should do well.

[Kristen]

Me too, don't move them.  However, you could try transplanting some thinnings - as you say the crop is too thick anyway? I doubt the Parsnips will survive, but the beetroot might.

There again, if the baby-beet thinnings are walnut-sized you might as well just cook them and that will leave more room for the others to bulk-up

[JayG]

I have transplanted parsnip thinnings many times, and beetroot for the first time this year, with complete success, but in both cases they were not far beyond the first true leaf stage and it needs to be done with extreme care (would be much more difficult in heavy clay soil I suspect.)

Sally10's sound way too advanced for that; thin them and eat the thinnings if large enough!

[skywalker]

I have also transplanted parsnip thinnings but agree they dont like it. Success was limited although some have taken nicely. Next year I will be more careful with spacings.