parsnips & carrots

You say mixed results Vince-in what way can I ask, so as to hopefully avoid any obvious errors.

 

If parsnip seed can be sown in the ground in February, in the 1940`s then it can CERTAINLY be sown straight in the ground in February 2009.

 

So you say it`s ok David? Rightio, another job for tomorrow then, thanks David.

 

I think sowing early reduces the germination success - gives you an early crop though. I would station-sow for early sowings, and you could then plant some early lettuce in between (I'm going to raise a few in pots which will be interplanted - I hate growing lettuce in drills, we always get a glut, then nothing, so I figure to sow half a dozen 3.5" pots each week to spread the harvest evenly - famous last words!)

 

Hi folks. Well, it took 3 weeks but they came up a couple of days ago, and today I planted them out :thumb:

 

Well done Freddy you wouldn't have a little photo of them to share with us? not that we don't believe you of course!:wink: Hel.xxx.

 

Hi Helen. You want a photo ? Well, just for you, here's 2....... :D

 

I personally wouldn't want an early parsnip crop, I prefer them to be well frosted so the starch turns to sugar!

Carrots though, I start off with an early nantes type and back that up with heavy yielding maincrop varieties like Ulyses and St. Valery.

 

Vince, I too prefer them to be frosted, and they will be

 

Hi Freddy

Just had a look at the pics of your parsnips in the loo rolls. Seen this mentioned before and wondered what folk were talking about.

Sorry to be a pain, but can you please explain the procedure you have used. Does the loo roll method only work for parsnip and carrot or do other plants benefit? Do you leave the loo roll in the soil or take it out once the plant has grown?

I have a great free source for cardboard tubes, some are quite thick but a lot are the same sort of thickness as loo rolls, will these be of any use for my garden?

Look forward to hearing your advice, thankyou.

Regards

Chopper.

 

Root crops, in particular Parsnipa and Carrots, cannot be transplanted - their "tap root" gets broken and then its pretty much game-over.

So to avoid minimal disturbance, but have the benefit of starting them off in idea conditions (warmth for germination, cossetted on a greenhouse bench , etc etc then starting in "pots" is what is needed.

The Loo Rolls approach is, in effect, a bio-degradable pot with the added benefit of much more "depth" than conventional pots.

You plant the whole thing, the plant is unaware it has every been transplanted, everyone's a winner!

Some people report that the cardboard attracts fungal infections though.

 

Hi Chopper. There's some info here http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/parsnips-18813p2.html Take a look at one of my little bewts ! What I do is to sow them 3 to a core under cover (no heat) and as soon as they're up, plant them out still in the cores. They MUST be planted within a few days otherwise the root will be out of the bottom ! Take care no to let the compost fall out of the bottom and water them in to prevent any air pockets. After a week or so, thin them out to one plant, choose the one that looks the most likely to succeed .I wouldn't use cores for carrots, I think that would be VERY tedious. One thing that happens using this method is that you get fungal growth on the cores. This doesn't seem to bother the parsnips at all, but I couldn't say what the effect might be on other things. You'll find that the core rots down after a few months. You could use kitchen roll cores, but then you'd have to make the holes a lot deeper to plant. I use a bulb planter to plant mine which works fine. Of course, there's some here that don't like this method, or think that other methods are better. All I can say is it works for me. Cheers...freddy

 

I think one of the other benefits is that you are providing "fine soil" close to where the Parsnip starts to establish - which stops it forking, and makes it easier for it to swell, at least initially.

 

Right then, I have read all of the replies on this thread, thankyou for those offering advice and information. What I decided to do is have an experiment to see which produces better results.

I have gathered some cardboard tubes and sewn a couple of seeds in the end of each one. Used a fine seed compost to get them started. Instead of leaving the tubes loose in a seed tray, I have bundled them together and put some packing tape around the bundle, then sttod the bundle in a plastic tray. Much easier to handle and the tape will be cut off before I plant the seedlings.

I have also sewn a row of seeds in holes made by a metal bar. Each hole has a couple of seeds in. I will be able to see what happens as they have both been sewn at the same time. The tubes are in an UN-heated greenhouse.

Also spent some time preparing a seed bed for some carrots. Lightly forked over and then raked to a very fine tilth. My first attempt with both of these veg so I am keen to see what happens.

Come to think of it, it is my first attempt at anything to do with gardening....!!!!!:rotfl:

Chopper.

 

Chopper, watch out for the dreaded carrot fly ! BTW, it'll be interesting to see how your experiment turns out :thumb: