[landgirl]

Hi, I planted parsnip plug plants in April, they were toddling along nicely but have suddenly had a mammoth growing spurt and have produced long yellow flowers on stems, gone to seed or is this okay.

[Sue33]

Hi landgirl,

well it's my first year at parsnips as well but mine don't have any flowers on them, don't think it's a good sign, someone will be along in a minute to tell us 

[landgirl]

I will wait with you in anticipation

[Lady Lottie]

I am no expert but it sounds like they have gone to seed.  Had a quick Google and found someone on another site discussing a similar problem, someone suggested they started off some more on damp  kitchen paper thus:

"I usually do mine on damp kitchen paper, put it in a tupperware box with lid on and then stick it in the airing cupboard, usually start sprouting in about 4 days - then transplant them into toilet rolls filled with earth and plant out when I have 5 minutes" 
The thread was dated this time last year - no idea if it works, or whether anyone on here has ever tried it, just thought I would pass on the info - might be worth a try.

[DD.]

Sadly, they have bolted and will be of no use.

This is very unusual, in fact I've never known parsnips to bolt before.

[Ourveggiepatch]

Hi

Welcome to the site, Im relatively new too.

Re your parsnips mum and I have grown them hundreds of times and what you describe is definately not normal.  The should be strong with medium green leaves relatively fanned out but not drooping.

We grow ours this way and they taste just the best - try it next year and I guarantee you wont have any problems.

Sow 1 seed per disposable peat pot in the greenhouse in a heated propegator, keep moist but dont drown. When relatively large I.e a good strong size with several nice healthy leaves then break off the bottom of the pot to allow the parsnip to grow through before planting the entire pot in the garden after frosts have cleared. Leave in good sun to grow, keep watered and the occasional feed. Wait! until a few weeks of hard frost and if lucky a good covering of snow in the winter before harvesting for Christmas.

What you will have are parsnips for Christmas of the sweetest flavour where the starch had been turned into sugar from the frost and snow.  When roasted and eaten the sugar turns to syrup resulting in exceptionally sweet parsnips with glazed in syrup.

[DD.]

Sow 1 seed per disposable peat pot in the greenhouse in a heated propegator, keep moist but dont drown. When relatively large I.e a good strong size with several nice healthy leaves then break off the bottom of the pot to allow the parsnip to grow through before planting the entire pot in the garden after frosts have cleared. Leave in good sun to grow, keep watered and the occasional feed. Wait! until a few weeks of hard frost and if lucky a good covering of snow in the winter before harvesting for Christmas.

Hopefully somewhere along the line you took them out of the propagator?

I'm a pinch every 8" person myself, straight into the soil, never had a problem.

What you have to bear in mind with any root veg is that they hate a lot of root disturbance, sowing in peat/paper pots will avoid a lot of this, it quite likely this occurred and they've made a run for it!

[landgirl]

thanks for the advice, I thought they had gone horribly wrong and this seems to be the case, am I too late to sow some more? In the potting shed or out in the garden.  What would be a good variety?

[Ourveggiepatch]

Sorry I hate to be the bearer of bad news but its too late in the season now (as far as I am aware) to so more parsnips.  I would love to get some in for Christmas but wont be able too.

My advice would be hold off, get some fresh seeds next year (just in case its a problem with the seed stock and the seed of parsnips dont store well either from one year to the next although if desperate you can get away with it) and use fresh compost. 

Another thing to bear in mind is when planting root veggies in the soil i.e transplanting out they do not like too freshly manuered soil so compost etc in plenty of time for any acid to get out the soil - look up crop rotation on the net.  I.e roots, brassicas and others all need to be rotated to minimise virus developing in the soil and to give root veggies the chance to grow in a less fertile soil.

if anyone knows of a fast cropping parsnip for Christmas please let us know we would both be interested.

Thanks

OVP

[Kristen]

There was a discussion in another thread that there is a variety of Parsnip that can be sown late (not sure that equates to being ready for Christmas though )

I had a look at T&M's site and they say that on all their Parsnips that they can be sown through June ... but I think that is optimistic. But there are late varieties.

[Kristen]

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=39846.msg472620#msg472620

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=38964.msg465879#msg465879

[landgirl]

Goos news everyone, I told you I was new to veg growing and this post will show me up for how new I am.  having thought they had gone to seed and after yhe replies I got i decided last night to pull them all out and pop something else in the space.  I had rather cunningly made a carrot fly screen out of an old net curtain, canes and hair grips around these parsnips and the carrots along side them. I took it down last night and started pulling at the  yellow flowers, have youy guessed yet, The yellow flowers were from some gargantuan wees growing in beside the parsnips.  The parsnips are fine, infact I dug in around one and it is huge and perfectly formed,  what a diddy I am. 

[Lady Lottie]

  - well, you won't make that mistake again now will you?

[landgirl]

Thanks Lady Lottie, I felt such a twit and then very satisfied with my big parsnips. I must spell check my posts a bit better I did mean weeds not wees!  I watched Hugh last night making his funky strawberry jam, Hubbie and I shared out 1st strawberry last night, a small but delicious pleasure.  When I have lots I might try Hughs strawberry and geranium jam, sounds lovely

[Kristen]

Good news indeed!