[Pony Girl]

I am thinking of sowing my parsnips this weekend or the next and like the idea someone else on here mentioned about sowing a row of radish along the same drill to mark the row. My question is how do you do this – do you sow them in together or cover the parsnip seed and then sow the radish over the top?

Cheers peeps. And now it’s raining again – what have we done to deserve this?!! 

[JayG]

Didn't work for me - the radishes always managed to come up in exactly the same spot as the parsnips (and 10X quicker  ) so the poor little parsnip seedlings were swamped and then disturbed when pulling the radishes out.

I station-sow parsnips at 4" intervals and mark the row with a plastic label - I seem to remember Salmo recently posting that he sows radishes between the stations so presumably avoids the two competing with each other.

Also worth remembering that at a soil temperature of 5C parsnips take 57 days to germinate, at 10C it's 27 days, the optimum being a rather unlikely 20C (14 days.)

[RJR_38]

57 days  :blink:

[JayG]

57 days  :blink:

That's the parsnip conundrum - they need warmth to germinate but also require a long growing season, which is why there are several threads in this forum about starting them off indoors (without also causing them to fork.) 

I'm hoping to sow mine outdoors in a week or so, but will wait a bit longer than that if necessary.

[Salmo]

I station-sow parsnips at 4" intervals and mark the row with a plastic label - I seem to remember Salmo recently posting that he sows radishes between the stations so presumably avoids the two competing with each other.

I take out a shallow drill, put a pinch of 5/6 parsnip seeds evey 4 inches and then go back along and put just a couple of radish seeds between the parsnips. Then cover lightly and tamp down along the row quite firmly to ensure good contact between seed and soil.

I am on light sandy soil. If your soil is sticky I would not tamp down too much and try to leave the surface loose which will help to avoid a hard cap forming if there is heavy rain. A hard cap can trap seedlings underneath. On this last point, if you cover with a cloche it helps to prevent heavy rain puddling the surface.

[Pony Girl]

Didn't work for me - the radishes always managed to come up in exactly the same spot as the parsnips (and 10X quicker  ) so the poor little parsnip seedlings were swamped and then disturbed when pulling the radishes out.

I station-sow parsnips at 4" intervals and mark the row with a plastic label - I seem to remember Salmo recently posting that he sows radishes between the stations so presumably avoids the two competing with each other.

Also worth remembering that at a soil temperature of 5C parsnips take 57 days to germinate, at 10C it's 27 days, the optimum being a rather unlikely 20C (14 days.)

That's interesting to note about germination times. Could you sow radish or spring onion between the rows of parsnips to avoid disturbing them too much? (am just trying to think of ways to maximise use of the bed rather than particularly marking the row).

[Aidy]

I always and very successfully chit my seeds then pop in the ground once the sprut has appeared.

In a tray lay some kitchen paper, spray with water as you dont want it soaking, lay your seeds out and place another piece over and again a light spray of water, cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm not hot. check after about a week for the signs of spruts then every other day.
The bed they are going in is cleared ready for sowing, I use a cut off piece of broom handle to dib a hole about two inches deep, fill with compost and when the seed is ready pop into the compost, lightly cover and wait.

really easy and works a treat.

[JayG]

That's interesting to note about germination times. Could you sow radish or spring onion between the rows of parsnips to avoid disturbing them too much? (am just trying to think of ways to maximise use of the bed rather than particularly marking the row).

I'd probably go for radish and something else quick (like salad leaves) rather than spring onions, which for me at least are pretty slow growers and would eventually be shaded out by the canopy of parsnip leaves (hopefully!)

[Snoop]

I always and very successfully chit my seeds then pop in the ground once the sprut has appeared.

In a tray lay some kitchen paper, spray with water as you dont want it soaking, lay your seeds out and place another piece over and again a light spray of water, cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm not hot. check after about a week for the signs of spruts then every other day.
The bed they are going in is cleared ready for sowing, I use a cut off piece of broom handle to dib a hole about two inches deep, fill with compost and when the seed is ready pop into the compost, lightly cover and wait.

really easy and works a treat.

That's useful advice for me. I've tried growing in paper pots in the past but also tried germinating some straight in the ground. Very poor germination rates, but those that did were significantly bigger and better shaped than the paper pot ones. Will try your method. One thing though: I was thinking of using a bulb planter (which removes soil, so the label says) so as not to compress the soil underneath.

[Headgardener22]

Snoop,

Do you think your idea of chitting them would work if you just put the chatted seeds in the ground? I ask because I'm on clay and when I tried growing parsnips in compost filled toilet rolls, all that happened was that the parsnips went to the bottom of the compost and then "ballooned" so I got parsnips that we 4 inches long but 6 inches wide at the top. When I sowed them direct in the soil, they seemed to be more "parsnip shaped" longer and not so broad at the top (although a lot were forked).

[Snoop]

I have clay soil too and extreme weather conditions, so if I were to put the chitted seeds directly in the ground they'd have to work their way through the equivalent of terracotta tiles. I also grow 'stumpy' parsnips rather than long types. You could maybe try stumpies as well.  I grow Guernsey: fantastic flavour.

Personally, I won't bother with paper pots again. And if I was prepared to go to the effort of making paper pots and spending on compost to fill them, I might as well go to the same effort and expense of making holes in the ground and filling them.

Maybe you could experiment? If so, I'd be glad to hear how you get on.

[Flump]

I always and very successfully chit my seeds then pop in the ground once the sprut has appeared.

In a tray lay some kitchen paper, spray with water as you dont want it soaking, lay your seeds out and place another piece over and again a light spray of water, cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm not hot. check after about a week for the signs of spruts then every other day.
The bed they are going in is cleared ready for sowing, I use a cut off piece of broom handle to dib a hole about two inches deep, fill with compost and when the seed is ready pop into the compost, lightly cover and wait.

really easy and works a treat.

Thanks Aidy,I'm going to try that method! 

[Lupin lurcher]

I use toilet roll tubes to start my parsnips in, they always work a treat for me. Fill roll up with compost pop in a seed, spray with water, once they have germinated and are about two inches tall I just dig a hole and put the whole thing in the ground that way the roots are not distrubed.

[Flump]

So,I found out the other day that Parsnips stop germinating at about 15  degrees c. That'll be why mine aren't doing too well on a sunny windowsill then!! :blink:

[DD.]

I think you've been misinformed.

That should be 35C or 95F!

15C would be quite a nice temperature for them.

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