[Lady Lottie]

I have never grown parsnips....well, anything really.....before.  Went upto the plot at the weekend and as I'm weeding on my hands and knees....noticed that most of my parsnips' foliage was swaying above my head - one plant has leaves that reach above my knee!  Am worried they are growing masses of leaves at the expense of decent roots??  This is just me theorising though......is it due to the heavy rainfall recently?  Or are they going to be whoppers?? (She says hopefully.......)

Just wondering if anybody else has got gi-normous parsnip tops?

[Bombers]

You're O.K. LL.... I think you're in for a bumper crop 

[Lady Lottie]

You're O.K. LL.... I think you're in for a bumper crop 

Woo hoo!  Really?  Fantastic. Will stop fretting now - thanks.

[DD.]

Huge also - hit the enviromesh ages ago!

[Lady Lottie]

Yay!   But see now I feel like they need cosseting like babies.........is there anything especially devious that is just waiting to destroy my crop that I need to protect against?

[DD.]

Carrot fly can attack parsnips, which I why I grow them under enviromesh with the carrots.

The damage can appear as canker which the wounds let in. It not so obvious that the cause is the carrot fly. If you've got big parsnips, and get this problem, it'll cut out OK.

[Bombers]

Have you thinned them out? depending on the variety, they'll need between 8-12" apart from each other.

[Lady Lottie]

Yes Bombs I have....and I tried to transplant the thinnings cos I didn't want to waste them!   I thought it was worth an experiment - I hate chucking "living plants" unless they are weeds obv........Some of them did actually take too!  But only a handful. Daft I know.

Thanks for the advice DD. :happy:

[DD.]

Root thinnings don't transplant well due to the amount of damage caused.

Root transplants need really to be done very carefully from modules.

[Smudgeboy]

Glad I stumbled across this post - I'm a parsnip first timer, only about 14 plants in a raised bed, but the leaves are enormous.

I was getting worried I would have to pull them up ealry - I assume they still need to be left until the first frosts, yes?

[Bombers]

Or the second....

or the third.......

Mine will be there until they've all gone! 

[8doubles]

I transplant the thinnings too, just stick my finger into some light soil (used compost is good) and push them in. Even if i don`t get showbench specimens from them they are still edible with possibilities of a funniest looking veg prize.

[Quetzal]

Yeah, this is mine below, from the start of the month. They're even bigger now, and I was starting to wonder, so it's good to know i'm not alone. I dunno what they're gonna look like by October/November...

[Bombers]

I dunno what they're gonna look like by October/November...

cue DD's picture......................

[DD.]

Modesty usually forbids it, but seeing as you asked.

Drum roll please.............