Parsnips

[Moggle]

When should I sow them?

Also how exactly do I go about chitting the seed, and what does that achieve?

Thanks all

[Moggle]

[tim]

To save me pontificating, go to '''chitting parsnip seeds' & look at Medwyn's site? Can't get a clean link for you. = Tim

Got it!! It's Medwyn's Prize Vegetable Seeds. I think that Multiveg mentioned him ages ago? Worth a look for anyone.  =

[sandersj89]

The link is here:

http://www.medwynsofanglesey.co.uk/Articles/T020406.htm

If you do not want to go to the bother of chitting, which I have never done, sow them in drills filled with a loam based compost. This improoves germination rates. Also if it is a bit chilly cover with a fleece to increase germination rates.

Parsnips are notorious for poor germination rates and taking their time to show their heads, last year 2 rows of mine sowed in soil took over 4 weeks to raise their heads. In compost they were up in  about 2 weeks.

They like it warm and not too wet to germinate, so getting an early start is not easy and not really required as I like my parsnips on the small side.

Jerry

[cleo]

Why does this `myth` about sowing parsnips early still exist?-it`s even now on seed packets.

Early spring is soon enough-and it is the one and only veg I do bother to sow `in station` 3-seeds at about four inch intervals.

I have never tried chitting them-but I could be missing something.

Stephan

[ACE]

Somebody gave a talk at our allotment society and reccomended  spreading the seed  on damp kitchen roll, then put them in an ice cream carton and put them in the airing cupboard. Then as the seeds germinate cut them out with the kitchen roll an plant them. Keep the paper damp and keep going until you have a fortnight without germination.
  I never tried it as I cannot stand the bl%dy things, but other members had some success.

[adrianhumph]

Hi all :D
            Dobies are selling primed parsnip seeds called new white skin, according to the blurb " by a non chemical method they are moistened & heat treated to bring them to the point of germination then held in suspended animation" The seeds are dispatched seperately during March.
I am buying some  ::) So i will let you know how they do ;D

                    Adrian.

[aquilegia]

I had a total failure with them last year - sown direct, sown in large pots of compost mixed 50:50 with sand, sown in paper pots and chitted (they went moldy).

This year I'm going to be more patient, wait til it's warmer (maybe late March or April) and sow direct in compost drills and in loo tubes.

I will have homegrown parsnips roasted for Christmas dinner. I will!

[derbex]

I can't have sown mine until March at the earliest last year, and it may have been later. I stationed sowed some as per the message above and covered them with bottle cloches for a while.

When I pull them they're as long as my forearm and as wide at the top -one does the three of us for a meal with plenty to spare.

Tender & True was the variety, they seem to thrive in my heavy soil having drilled through it into the clay below.

Going to space them closer this year as they are too big.

Am I right in thinking that you should sow fresh seed each year?

Jeremy

[aquilegia]

Jeremy - how far did you space them last year? Some people have had success with seed a few years old, but I'm not going to run that risk!

[derbex]

Aqui -probably more like a foot apart. They were really too big, but that said they weren't at all 'woody' when roasted.

If some people have succeeded that's good enough for me, I'll just sow a few more. If nothing happens then I'll just have to make a panic buy of more seeds.

Jeremy

[aquilegia]

thanks Jeremy - if I sowed them a foot apart in my veg patch, I'd only be able to grow about three. But then three would be better than last year's none!

[plot51A]

I only got my lottie in April last year, and was planting as we cleared. Parsnips were one of the first things to go in  - so they couldn't have gone in before late April/ early May. Spaced 4" then covered the drill with vermiculite - partly to see where they were! Remember being quite surprised at how quickly they germinated, and most of them have grown really big. Didn't thin them enough so some are lovingly intertwined. Variety is Tender and True, soil well draining and good texture. But reading the posts about sowing on compost etc shall definitley give them their vermiculite "duvet" again this year- but will be planting earlier as lottie is now properly cleared. Hurrah!

[Moggle]

Cheers everyone, I will do my best and try not to be impatient, and wait till March. Still have to remove oodles of couch from the bed before I can think about planting anyway  :)