[Kirpi]

I sowed a row of chitted parsnips seven days ago, have kept them watered when they have needed it on sunny days.

I don't think I have drowned them or washed them out (used a rose on my watering can), but they haven't come through yet. The sandy soil drains well and the weather has been warmer recently, so I don't think they have rotted.

I have kept a nice supply of organic slug pellets down the line as well.

I would have thought by now they would have shown through being chitted - but no sign; getting twitchy!

The thing is, if this proves successful, it would take a lot of stress out of sowing seed into paper rolls and then having them fork and all that hassle.

Hope to hear from those who have sown chitted parsnip seeds before and what their findings were.

[seaside]

I tried to chit some but they failed .... duff packet I assume.
7 days is a tad premature I would say, even for chitted seeds. I chit peas and they take nearly as long to pop up as non chitted peas. What the chitting seems to do in my mind is ensure they actually do germinate but not necessarily much quicker.
I soaked my second lot of parsnip overnight although I didn't wait for them to chit. I sowed in pots in the cold greenhouse on 26April, probably more favourable than an outside sowing. Even then they took 14 days to show..... and virtually all of them on the same day. I didn't let them dry out as is the advice, and watered every other day with a watering can as the greenhouse was fairly warm that fortnight and they were in paper pots that dry out quickly.

[Kirpi]

Thank you seaside. Time for them yet then. I hae some more in paper pots just in case of failures - I do like my parsnips!

[sunshineband]

I always water really carefully along the side of the row about an inch away, on each side, with a very small watering can or a jug

Sad but true.

Having raised beds means this is not the chore it might sound, and for those you grow a one mile row of parsnips and are rolling your eyes it may of course be a bridge too far 

[Ashurstman]

My chitted parsnips took 14 days to appear and that from under fleece! Be patient

[DD.]

I agree that you need to be a bit more patient, but is there any need to chit parsnips?

I don't have a note of the exact date I sowed mine - very remiss of me - but 20 days ago I was still prepping the bed. They emerged 3 days ago, so that's a maximum of 17 days for direct sown ones.

[Kirpi]

I am coming round to DD's way of thinking there. All this faff and extra expense of bought-in compost growing in loo rolls which are a definite recipe for forked parsnip roots.

I'll be sowing direct in future I think. I know parsnip germination is supposed to be poor, but you get plenty on a packet so a bit of self thinning is not a bad thing.

[vanessa.xx]

That's how I did it I direct sowed but put about six seeds in each hole and what do you know they ALL germinated in about three and a half weeks, I had to very carefully thin them, I'm only growing 50 but I've everything crossed they all grow 

[DD.]

A pinch every 8". Leave them to it.

Simples!

[seaside]

Never tried chitting parsnip before this year. I won't be bothering again, that's for sure.
It's true what they say, you just have to wait until it warms up a bit.
Parsnip seeds don't keep long, maybe only a year and maybe there's a lot of poor seed out there. I'm embarrassed to say the failed parsnip seed of mine this year was from a cheap multi pack from Poundland. I won't be trying that again either.

So, maybe I'll test out the viability of next year's seeds with 2 or 3 put early into a heated propagator
Because they can take so long to germinate at lower temperatures, I think for me it's a matter of having confidence that they will eventually grow and I'm not wasting valuable Spring time.

[allotmentor]

@seaside's right - they only last one year. What I've started doing now is letting one or two plants go to seed every year (not F1 varieties) which gives you plenty of seed which I start sowing direct in Feb or March...and if it doesn't come up, you have plenty left to try again

[snowdrops]

I've never chitted parsnips & up to 2 years ago had never sown anything but direct. I have had to resow direct a few times though. My plot neighbour & I have had a discussion how if you sow really thinly as suggested on the seed packets for lots of seeds not just parsnips you seem to get very poor germination results.We have come to the conclusion there must be something within each seed that requires it to have a 'friend' to grow with. What are anybody else's thoughts on this,anybody want to do a study/dissertation on it, be my guest. So I think DD's approach of a pinch every 8" is the same as our thoughts on it.

[savbo]

having had very mixed success with growing in Richy tubes (some great, lots forked) I am this year sowing 2 seeds in dibbed holes filles with old potting compost...still waiting for seeds to come up!

I think the real benefit of chitting some seeds is you get an idea of the viability of the seed, so you know whether you're planting duff stuff

sav

[seaside]

I've never chitted parsnips & up to 2 years ago had never sown anything but direct. I have had to resow direct a few times though. My plot neighbour & I have had a discussion how if you sow really thinly as suggested on the seed packets for lots of seeds not just parsnips you seem to get very poor germination results.We have come to the conclusion there must be something within each seed that requires it to have a 'friend' to grow with. What are anybody else's thoughts on this,anybody want to do a study/dissertation on it, be my guest. So I think DD's approach of a pinch every 8" is the same as our thoughts on it.

A nice slant on it, and probably right... no dissertation needed. The more one thinks about reproduction of any kind, the more one sees the same rules. Seeds of the parsnip are not equipped with long distance parachutes, neither do they make themselves that attractive to eat. I would imagine they are imprinted with a need for neighbours and it's how they have developed over thousands of years.  They're far more likely to be picked off before maturity if they stand alone, and a little sibling rivalry builds a strong constitution I would imagine. It's the herd instinct   
I'll be doing the parsnip planting station thing next year on compost cones with proven viable seed.

[JayG]

My experiment of sowing individual pre-germinated seeds has not worked at all well, as not only are there more misses than "hits", but they took nearly as long to come up as those station-sown directly.

It probably would have worked better if I'd sown them more thickly, but that would have pretty much defeated the whole object of the exercise.
I suppose it remains a useful way of checking the viability of suspect seed, and also if you want to start them off earlier in the year when outdoor germination can be very slow and patchy.

I shall have to fill in the gaps with the thinnings from the station-sown row, which is always a bit fiddly even with my sandy soil, and not always guaranteed to avoid the need for a very bendy veg peeler!