Woody parsnips

[Bren In Pots]

I've grown Hollow Crown parsnips instead of my usual Tender and True variety and most of them are woody in the centre its really disappointing.

This hasn't happened before so I'm not sure what I've done wrong any ideas so it doesn't happen again. ?

[lottie dolly]

Nothing you done B in pots had the same thing a few years ago,if memory serves me right,are they not a bigger snip,also the dry season we experienced,so maybe just the bigger core inthem,at the wrong season,

[VirginVegGrower]

Mine must be in the wood too as mine didn't even germinate

[Bren In Pots]

So it looks like its down to the dry summer we've had and my lack of watering

I'm still going to use them and will remove the hard cores but seeing as they're only around 6 inch long there's not going to be much left.

[VirginVegGrower]

So it looks like its down to the dry summer we've had and my lack of watering

I'm still going to use them and will remove the hard cores but seeing as they're only around 6 inch long there's not going to be much left.

Back to T and T?

[Bren In Pots]

Either them or White gem I've had good results from both, I only chose Hollow Crown because they were an old variety.

[lottie dolly]

awe poor vvg,next year eh,
mine are varing sizes,from midgets to this,i sowed seed before the hot weather,took a long time to come up,then i got a lot of spaces,so sowed more,they not grown as well as the first lot,but most are big enough to peel lol,however they were treated a few times to some of our saved rain water,

[Aberdeenplotter]

I've grown Hollow Crown parsnips instead of my usual Tender and True variety and most of them are woody in the centre its really disappointing.

This hasn't happened before so I'm not sure what I've done wrong any ideas so it doesn't happen again. ?

Are they woody or are the centres just not cooked? Saw on a cookery programme recently a chef making a big thing about the core of a parsnip not cooking as quickly as the outer parts. I have the funniest feeling that he halved them and then prised the cores out and cooked the cores for longer.

[Bren In Pots]

AP even after cooking them in the pressure cooker to make soup they were woody, I put them through the sieve and ended up with lots of woody bits left over.

[VirginVegGrower]

I am a bit gutted this year as it is a favoured veg in this house but hey ho, can't have everything. I sowed in March and Miss Z says to sow in April - so that's what I'm going to do in 2012!

[Bren In Pots]

Mine were sown March 15th so I'll try April sowing next year as well.

[VirginVegGrower]

You did well, I didn't even get one and they were new seed. So I don't know what I did wrong. There's somebody who uses a scaffold board on their's isn't there?

[Bren In Pots]

I've read about the board thing so I've had to look for the thread :-

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...hem_61497.html

[VirginVegGrower]

Thanks BiP - I might try it on one row and not on the other. Hedge my bets a bit.

[cptncrackoff]

The parsnips i grew in the ground 2 yrs ago were good sized but absolutely full of carrot fly, rusty tunnels from top to bottom.
This year i germinated some indoors as per the suggested methods, they were put in my raised beds, unfortunatly they stayed pencil sized as well as being full of carrot fly. Even though the carrots in raised beds were not as bad in raised beds!?
I was going to give up but now i'm thinking big tubs, or in the greenhouse with my carrots, perhaps I'll put all the root crops indoors and all the salad outside!
Back to the topic... If i get big parsnips i normally core them anyway, i'm weird and just dont like the core, although i love them roast I cant eat them boiled or in a stew!