Parsnip germination

[SarzWix]

I We have so many threads on parsnips; [...]

Lets get a good thread running on how to grow the perfect parsnip - so that...
[...]

Fi and Wayne can practice searching and merging...?!

[FionaH]

Ahead of you!

[zazen999]

Thought I'd get 2 in one there - Fi merging and a parsnip thread.

My work here is complete

[FionaH]

pfffffft

[lynda66]

arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh falls on floor in puddle of wee

[Bren In Pots]

Can this thread be made into a sticky, it will help all those that ask about parsnips.

[northepaul]

speed germination process up by this.......dampen kitchen paper, place seeds on kitchen paper....dampen another and place on top. carefully move to a warm airing cupboard and germination takes about 10 days, transfer to ground with tweezers, always worked for me!"

May I ask if this is a usual way of germinating seeds, or specific to parsnips? Also what do you do if you dont have an airing cupboard?

[zazen999]

You can use this for pretty much all seeds; I use it as a germination test for newly saved seeds. Anywhere warm will do it.

[chriscross1966]

I do the former, but scatter into a bed rather than rows; and my clay soil still produces fabulous parsnips; the difficulty is getting them out when the clay is wet.

Anyone else?

I think the harvesting problems are the reason for the soil advice... when I was a kid my dad grew epic parsnips on clay.... but it could be an hour with a mattock and a crowbar to harvest them.... somewhere one of the few pictures of me to survive my attempts to destroy all photos of myself (troubled teen years I guess) is me aged six or seven holding a parsnip that is reaching from my shoulders to nearly the floor and the top of it isn't really much narrower than my head.... we were hosting the big family christmas that year (8 adults, 7 kids IIRC) and that parsnip did roasties on christmas day and boxing day for all of us...... even my grandad was impressed (not a man who was ever impressed by things other folks grew, the word curmugeon leaps to mind)

chrisc

[greasyfire]

I thought they would grow in the same way as any other root vegetable like carrot or beetroot. Would they cross pollinate with any othersspecies of root veg