I've started my parsnip seeds off on some damp kitchen towel. This worked brilliantly last year and as far as I know I had 100% germination. I've chosen two types, Gladiator which is a big canker resistant type (not tried before) and Imperial Crown which has a smaller crown and I have tried this - very tasty! Pop another folded bit of kitchen towel on top to keep them damp and stop the seeds floating off when you water them. In about a week these should have sprouted and I'll then sow them as usual.
I went to the plot this afternoon. It was lovely hazy sunshine in the morning but had gone behind clouds by the time I had got there and it had turned really cold :o(. Shame! Anyway got in 45 onion sets (forgotten the variety) in rows and a further 40 odd in a patch under the step-over apple tree to eat small or uses to fill gaps / put around my carrots. I still have some left and they were good quality sets too - from Wilkos for £1.25. Better than the independent garden centre up the road. They had 50 red Baron sets for £1.99 and they had a fair few that were mouldy! I'm going to get my red ones from Wilko too!
In the greenhouse the sweetpeas are doing well - as are the lupins. I've also moved the pumpkins into the greenhouse now, hopefully they will cope with the highs and lows temp wise in there. I wanted to move everything before it all got too crowded on my windowsills and they were struggling for light.
I'm interested in the parsnips. I started mine in loo rolls last year, which worked ok but they never got enormous like yours! Do you just wait until they have sprouted a bit them bung 'em in the ground?
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa, yeah exactly that. I managed to do really well this way last year - making sure they didn't dry out by putting a layer of kitchen towel on top too, which I've just done - I'd forgotten about that until I just had a look back at last years blog entry!
ReplyDeleteThen, when the little shoots popped out I sowed them in rows in the ground as you usually would. They did really well as you know!
I tried the loo roll method too which was okay but they weren't as big and much more of a faff!
OK. My parsnip seed packet says not to sow until April and that earlier sowings attract canker. What do you think about that?
ReplyDeleteErrm, I'm not sure about that, I thought you got canker if there was a build up in the soil of a fungus thingy (technical I know!). Mine did get a bit of canker but mostly on the really large ones and only on certain varieties (can't remember which). I'm growing ones with a bit of resistance this year.
ReplyDeleteIf you're worried you could easily wait til April, it's only a week away and mine won't have sprouted until then anyway - I wonder if it's to do with the fact that some used to sow the seeds in Feb because of the poor germination?