Parsnip Growing Masterclass: This Crop is Better Than Carrots!

If I had to pick just one root crop to grow in my garden it would have to be trouble-free, super hardy, easy to store and – of course – taste magnificent.

Well, do you know what? There’s one vegetable that does all of the above, and more! I’m talking about truly indulgent parsnips, the cream of the winter root crops. Not convinced? I’m going to prove to you why you should grow parsnips – and how to get the best from them.

Sowing Parsnips

Parsnips have a bit of a reputation for being tricky to get started, probably because they are a bit slow to germinate. But I’m going to show you exactly how to succeed. In my experience it’s all about starting with fresh seed and sowing once the soil has warmed up.

I’ve heard it suggested that it’s only time to sow parsnips when you can sit comfortably on the soil on your bare bottom. But if that seems a little risque, use the back of your hand to check that the soil isn’t cold to the touch instead!

Parsnips grow strongest in a sunny position and, as it’s a crop that forms good-sized taproots, they do best in loose, free-draining soil. I don’t particularly mind forked roots, though they can be trickier to peel. If that bothers you, pick a spot that isn’t too stony, and avoid very fertile soil that’s had lots of manure or compost recently added, as this can also cause roots to fork.

The seeds are quite thin and papery but easy enough to handle – a lot easier than tiny carrot seeds. Create drills (shallow trenches) about half an inch (1cm) deep and a foot (30cm) apart. If the soil is dry, water into the drill before sowing to make sure there’s plenty of moisture around those seeds. Sow seeds a few inches apart.

The seeds can take up to three, sometimes even four weeks to germinate – they’re in no hurry – so it’s easy to fall into the trap of writing them off as a no-show! So once you’re done sowing your parsnips, sow some radishes within the same drills. This is poetry itself, because the radishes pop up in the blink of an eye – often within a week – neatly marking out the rows so you know where your parsnips are. They’ll rattle through their growth and be ready to harvest in maybe four to six weeks, by which time the parsnips should be up. The super-speedy radishes won’t compete with the parsnips and will be out and done way before the parsnips are inconvenienced by sharing their rows.

And, the best bit, you’ve only gone and got yourself two delicious root crops from the same space. Nice!

Improve Parsnip Germination

Although double-sowing your rows with parsnips and radishes shores up confidence and neatly marks where the rows are, it doesn’t speed things up. But I’ve an ingenious little tip that’ll do just that…

Most of us are familiar with pre-sprouting or ‘chitting’ seed potatoes to get them off to a quicker start. Well, we can do the same with our parsnip seeds. Take a lidded container and line it with wetted paper towel, then sprinkle your seeds onto the paper. Take a second sheet of paper towel and lay it over the seeds. Put the lid on your container to keep the moisture in.

This can now go somewhere dark and relatively warm (room temperature is perfect) to sprout. After five days, start checking daily, carefully lifting up the top sheet of paper to inspect your seeds for tiny sprouts. As soon as you see little roots poking through, they’re good to sow, which you should do promptly while the roots are still very small, because longer roots are more likely to snap when you plant them.

The real advantage of pre-sprouting like this is knowing for sure how many seedlings you’re going to have, which cuts out the risk of having gaps from non-germinating seeds. And with germination taking up for four weeks outside, it might then be too late to re-sow to cover any no-shows.

You can sow your sprouted parsnip seeds at the same depth as for non-sprouted seeds, but since you know you’ve got 100% germination success, you can sow them a touch further apart. Pre-sprouting will give you at least least a few days’ head start on non-chitted seeds. Smart stuff!

Sowing Parsnips in Toilet Paper Tubes

Juggling space for your crops in the garden is always a challenge, so one way around this is to sow parsnip seeds into toilet paper tubes. Set the tubes into a tray to prevent them from falling over, then fill them with screened potting mix, gently firming in as you fill to remove any air pockets.

Dib a little hole on top of the potting mix and sow two or three seeds into each before covering back over. Water regularly from the top, just enough to keep the potting mix moist so that the cardboard doesn’t stay too wet for too long, to avoid the risk of the sides of the tubes going mouldy.

Thin the resulting seedlings to leave the strongest in each tube. Once they have at least one adult leaf you can plant them just as they are – cardboard pot and all – setting them about 8in (20cm) apart in a grid pattern, or a little more than this if your aim is growing the biggest roots. The slightly raised lip of the cardboard will help to protect against pests like cutworms, and having slightly larger seedlings when planting may also help to prevent early slug attack compared to direct-sown parsnips.

Growing Parnips

As your seedlings grow, start thinning them out in stages til there’s around 6in (15cm) of space between each plant. Needless to say, keep your parsnips weed free, particularly while the plants are smaller so they have to compete for moisture and nutrients. It’s a good idea to err on the side of caution by getting in there and hand weeding rather than hoeing, to avoid disturbing those precious roots.

Young plants will need regular watering, but established are surprisingly tolerant of drier conditions. That said, very parched soil can cause roots to split, so don’t let them remain bone dry for too long! Mulch them with the organic matter of your choice – I like to add dried grass clippings regularly to help to shade the soil, locking in moisture for longer and slowing down weed growth.

Parsnip Pests and Diseases to Watch Out For

One of the best things about growing parsnips is that once they’re off and away, they pretty much take care of themselves. The only real issue – though something my own parsnips have never suffered from – is carrot fly. These tiny flies can sometimes lay their eggs on the shoulders of the roots right at the soil surface. The maggots will then mine their way through the roots as they feed. However, the damage is rarely as serious on carrots – usually limited to just a few tunnels at the very top of the roots – which is perhaps another reason parsnips deserve to take the root veggie crown!

But if you’ve had serious issues with carrot fly in the past, or just want to avoid the risk altogether, cover your ‘snips with some insect mesh or horticultural fleece to stop the flies getting anywhere near your roots.

Damaged roots – often caused when carelessly wielding a hoe to remove weeds! – are more susceptible to parsnip canker, a disease that causes the shoulders of the roots to go browny-orange as they rot. The best way to avoid it entirely is super simple: pick a canker-resistant variety from which there are, fortunately, plenty to choose, for instance Albion, Archer, Gladiator, Javelin, Palace, or Picador.

One word of caution: parsnip sap from the leaves can sometimes cause blistering if it gets on your skin on a sunny day, so use gloves if you need to work with them in summer.

Harvesting Parsnips

Lifting and positively gorging in decadent fashion on these ravishing roots begins as soon as the leaves start to die back in autumn. At this point the plants won’t be putting on any additional growth til spring, so the roots will have grown as big as they can for this growing season.

However, a good hard frost will greatly improve the flavour and overall sweetness of the root. The cold helps to ramp up taste because it converts starches in the roots to sugars, taking roots from yum to otherworldly!

Ease the roots up with a garden fork, rocking back and forth to get as much out of the ground as possible without it snapping. Harvest the roots as you need them, but if your ground freezes rock hard for weeks on end, lift roots before this happens and storing them in boxes of damp sand or old potting mix. Or simply cover the ground with straw to insulate it from the worst of the cold.

I’ve hope I’ve convinced you that parsnips are the best! But if carrots are more your thing, check out our Carrot Growing Masterclass to steer you in the right direction for a bumper crop.

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