Planting parsnips: Cultivation, mixed culture & location

Parsnips are a hardy root vegetable and are easy to grow in your own garden. In this article you will find out which location is best suited and how to sow and plant parsnips.

The parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) is a relative of the carrot (Daucus carota) and is very similar in cultivation. We give tips on how to successfully grow parsnips and what to consider when choosing a location, sowing and planting.

Planting parsnips: When is the best time?

Parsnips grow slowly and take about 160 to 200 days from sowing to harvest, depending on the weather and the variety. Therefore, the parsnips are sown early in the year, from February and by mid-June at the latest. Late-ripening varieties should be sown in early May at the latest. Parsnip seedlings can be planted after a good hardening from mid-March.

The perfect location for parsnips

The best location for parsnips is on loamy, rather moist, humus-rich soil. Low moor soils and humus-rich, loamy sandy soils in warm, airy but not too hot locations at a constant 16 to 20 °C are ideal. Waterlogged and compacted soil is not very suitable for growing parsnips, but you can help be improved by plenty of sand and compost, which are worked extensively and deeply into the soil become. Constructing embankments can also allow parsnips to be sown in heavy soil without the risk of waterlogging.

Liming should not be carried out before the parsnips are cultivated, as they prefer a slightly acidic soil pH between 5.5 and 7 and are sensitive to fresh liming. On the other hand, acidic composts are ideal for enriching the soil with organic matter before planting parsnips. Fresh manure should not be used to enrich the bed, as this increases the risk of carrot fly infestation. A sunny to partially shaded location is ideal for parsnips.

Parsnips can also be grown in raised beds if the soil there is rich in humus and can store water well. As second layer for raised beds ours is suitable Plantura organic compost especially as it has a high proportion of organic matter on which soil organisms can feed. It therefore serves as a nutrient reservoir for the overlying layer of plants and also stores more moisture for hot summer days.

The ideal preculture for parsnips is one green manure, which deeply loosens the soil. Suitable are for example lupins (lupinus) or oil radish (Raphanus sativus var. oleiformis). However, the green manure should be broken up and worked in in the autumn before sowing the parsnips, so as not to impede root formation. Who according to the principles of the annual crop rotation works, plants the medium feeder parsnips after heavy feeders like Potato (Solanum tuberosum), cabbages (Brassica) or pumpkin (Cucurbita).

You should avoid growing parsnips directly after other umbelliferous plants (Apiaceae) such as carrots, Parsely (Petroselinum crispum) or fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), otherwise disease or pest infestation may increase. A waiting period of 4 to 5 years between growing umbellifers of all kinds should be respected.

At a glance: What location and soil requirements does the parsnip have?

• Sunny to semi-shady location.
• Deep, humus-rich, evenly moist soil.
• Ideal: loamy sandy soils or fen soils.
• In the event of waterlogging or compaction: cultivation in raised beds or on mounds of earth or improving the soil with sand and compost; Cultivation of short-rooted varieties.
• Slightly acidic pH of 5.5 - 7.
• Ideal previous crops: green manure or heavy feeders with annual crop rotation.
• Cultivation break to other umbellifers of 4 - 5 years.

Tip: On very heavy, clayey soils, it is easier to grow short, wedge-shaped parsnip varieties than elongated ones, which tend to tear off their storage roots at harvest. Such short, but wide roots form about the varieties ˈKral Russianˈ and ˈWhite Kingˈ.

Planting parsnips: instructions

If you have decided on a suitable variety and have already bought seeds or young plants, then nothing stands in the way of cultivation in your own garden. Sowing is preferable to pre-cultivation indoors, because parsnips are cold-tolerant and can be sown early in the year. With pre-cultivated parsnip young plants, there is often strong branching of the roots and they often grow less well than directly sown plants.

The bed should be thoroughly and carefully loosened before sowing or planting. Stones and weeds should be removed from the bed. Poor soils can be treated with a dose of compost or a slow release, mostly organic fertilizer like our Potassium-rich Plantura organic tomato fertilizer, are enriched to create the best growing conditions for the parsnips.

Now create seed furrows with a depth of 2 to 3 cm in a row spacing of about 30 to 40 cm. The seeds are then placed 5 to 6 cm apart and covered with soil. The seed is then carefully watered and kept evenly moist until germination. Depending on the weather, parsnips germinate after 2 to 3 weeks. If the parsnips sprout too densely, they can be isolated after 4 to 5 weeks at a distance of 10 to 15 cm. Purchased young plants are only planted as deep as they were in the pot with the same row and plant spacing.

Step-by-step guide to growing parsnips:

• Loosen up the bed well, enrich with compost or mainly organic long-term fertilizer.
• Create seed furrows with a row spacing of 30 - 40 cm.
• Sowing depth 2 - 3 cm, seed spacing 5 - 6 cm.
• Pour on and keep moist but not wet.
• Germination time 2 - 3 weeks.
• Possibly. separate after 4 - 5 weeks at a distance of 10 - 15 cm.
• Alternatively plant young plants.

Tip: In the garden, parsnips go well with fast-growing cut salads (Lactuca sativa) or radish (Raphanus sativus) are sown together as a marker seed. These marked rows are ready to harvest before the initially very slow-growing parsnips get really big.

Mixed culture: Good neighbors for the parsnips

The parsnip as an umbellifer should not be placed next to closely related species such as carrots, parsley, fennel or celery (Apium graveolens) stand. Otherwise there is a risk that pests like the carrot fly (Psila rosae) or diseases such as carrot blackness (Alternaria) spread quickly. Good neighbors for a mixed culture with parsnips are onion plants (Allioideae) How Onion (Allium cepa), Garlic (Allium sativum) and leek (Allium porrum). marigold (tagetes) and marigold (Calendula officinalis) keep phytotoxic roundworms (Nematodae) away. Other good plant partners are, for example, lettuce, Chicory (Cichorium intybus), chard (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris), Ringworm (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris), beans (phaseolus) and Peas (Pisum sativum).

Gain parsnip seeds yourself

If you want to win your own parsnip seeds, it's very easy. Select a few strong plants for seed propagation and leave them on the bed over the winter. Parsnips that have flowered in the first year are not suitable for seed production because they often pass on their tendency to shoot prematurely. The parsnips that flower in the second year later bear more germinable seeds. The best time to harvest the seeds is when the seed pods are turning yellow to light brown. Cut off the whole umbels early in the morning with secateurs and lay them out to dry at room temperature. Be sure to wear gloves when doing this, because parsnip plants contain essential oils that can lead to photosensitivity and burn blisters on the skin. Then dry the seeds for a few days, shake them out of the umbels and keep them in a dry, cool and dark place. Parsnip seeds only germinate well for up to a year and should therefore be sown again as soon as possible in the following spring.

The parsnip looks confusingly similar to the root parsley (Petroselinum crispum subsp. tuberosum). In our special article you can find out how you can distinguish between the two types of vegetables and how root parsley can be successfully cultivated in the vegetable patch.