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Parsnip germination tips?

StephenSouthwestStephenSouthwest Posts: 635
in Fruit & veg
Hi all,

I did get some parsnips to germinate last year, but it took me three packets!
Any tips to improve germination rates fro this year?

Thank you, Stephen

Posts

  • WilderbeastWilderbeast Posts: 1,415
    @stephentame I've been looking at this too, I'm going to try pregermitatimg seed in moist (oh I hate that word) compost inside a plastic bag in a warm place. I've found this method on several sites and it comes up if you Google it. 
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    Wait till the soil temperature reaches at least 10°C (some say warm enough to sit on with bare buttocks) and don’t let the soil dry out. Soaking the seeds for 12 - 24 hours prior to sowing is worth trying.
    Rutland, England
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    Morning!  I am going to try the damp kitchen towel (in a warm place) - when they germinate, place each seed into an empty toilet roll filled with compost and when they are big enough and the weather is clement, plant them out.  I have done this with some carrots - thought I would take the lazy way out and not have to thin them out - which usually ends up in plucking up all the carrots!!

    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    It's a valuable winter food crop with germination its Achilles heel.  To ensure a good straight root, I use a crow bar to form a 12-15 inch deep hole, wiggled about to be 3-4 inches wide at ground level.  If you wish to use some form of nutrient, place it into the hole before back filling with friable soil or compost to within half an inch of ground level.  I then sow 5 or 6 seeds in each hole before completing the back fill.  This is as near as I've got to producing a full row, but even that suffers a few blanks.
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    I germinated them on a kitchen towel, then into a bit of compost in the ground. They were about the only veg I ever grew really successfully.
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    Fresh seed and patience are the main things you need. I've never had significant germination failures, I always sow direct (one of the very few crops that I don't start in modules - apparently voles are of the same mind as @B3 when it comes to parsnip) but I buy new seed every year and I don't sow them until May when the soil is much warmer (contrary to the advice on the packet, which I think says to start them in February). They do take longer to come up than most other similar crops. Traditional advice is to plant radish in the same drill as they'll have time to germinate, grow and be harvested by the time the parsnips have got big enough to mind them being there. It also inhibits your impatience a bit
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • Stephanie newish gardenerStephanie newish gardener Posts: 516
    I grew parsnips for the first time last year. I'd heard they can be difficult to germinate and that you need to use fresh seed, so I had two hopes when I direct-sowed an out of date packet in a bed with homemade compost in about July. 
    They all germinated and we've had two of them. They're not huge, and I was thinking of asking when I should harvest them.
    I'd read that you should pick when the foliage dies back, but a knowledgeable friend said they just keep growing so it's ok to leave them in the ground. They now have fresh leaves growing and I've been meaning to have a root around one or two to see how big they are.
    I won't be growing them again this year because I don't expect to be that lucky two years running!! 
    No longer newish but can't think of a new name so will remain forever newish.  B) 

  • ColinAColinA Posts: 392
    For the last few years I have grown Parsnips successfully by germinating in toilet roll centers filled with compost and placing in a shed in the first week in May,I sow three or four seed per tube and when large enough to handle thin out and then plant out 
  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,723
    Sow once the soil is over 10C and keep the area moist, you can even put a plank over it for the first week and then lift it every day after to check for parsnips.
    Keeping the seeds damp is the key I have found.
  • StephenSouthwestStephenSouthwest Posts: 635
    edited March 2021
    Thanks all - fresh seed, warm and moist, and be patient - seems to be the way to go!
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