Your comments and tips

02 May 16, Tony (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Ok I'm going to give parsnips some serious attention this year - I love 'em! I live on sub-tropical North Coast NSW How worried do I have to be about stones/compost twiggy bits etc in my soil? I have dug down 30cm and sieved the soil to 5 mm - but there are still some gritty bits -do i have to go to flyscreen to get rid of the stoney bits? very tedious sieving- I'm thinking of using equal parts soil/compost - both sieved to 5mm. Any responses gratefully received

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24 Sep 16, Barbara (Australia - temperate climate)

I live below the Range at Toowoomba and see plants I have "killed" in my garden growing out of the gravel in the excavations so I no longer worry about that sort of thing as water and nutrients are the important things. Strong roots will go around or even into gravel etc. I make wicking beds [google or you-tube for info], I put bones, a layer of veggie scraps and finely crushed egg shell after the first layer of soil, by the time roots have got down 25 cm. it is a slow release fertilizer.

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16 May 16, Bianca (Australia - temperate climate)

My frost dates are June, maybe last one in July, if the cold weather lasts that long. If i was to plant in Aug as suggested above, and harvest in 20 weeks, this would not see us through to a frost date with the parsnips in the ground... Can anyone shed any light on correct planting times? I would have to assume this is inaccurate?

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30 May 16, Ben (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Hey Bianca, Yeah unfortunately parsnips need a long cool season to grow at their best, and your question makes sense. I'm in far north nsw and we just make sure to plant them as soon as night temps get consistently below 14C (usually around end April/beginning May) and harvest them before night temps are consistently above 14C (usually late September). They also start to flower around this time so we get them out before that happens too. Saving seeds of the last plants to flower is a good idea so that you can eventually have more heat-tolerant parsnips in future. So basically the earlier you can get them in the better, but not too early! haha. I think the planting times are set as they are because it's when the weather is safely cool enough in ALL subtropical regions but yeah I reckon just go with the conditions of your micro-climate. Hope that helps. Ben

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15 Aug 16, Trish j (Australia - temperate climate)

Hey Bianca, I read that because they are so difficult to grow the best way to grow parsnips is to keep them in the same patch, and let the patch self seed, so only pick half the crop, ensure they go to seed and harvest again the following years. I havesome beautiful parsnips, (in heavy soil too!) not many, so not picking, waiting for them to seed for next year.

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25 Feb 17, Ruth L. (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

In the Barrington Tops area we always plant parsnips (organically) from August to February, mind you the ones that had a bit of frost taste a lot sweeter!! I don't believe that leaving parsnips in the same patch to self seed is a good idea, crop rotation is a must for healthy growth! we harvest by hand (fork!!) very carefully....(medium scale)

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25 Feb 17, Ruth L. (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

here you find the best tips for growing parsnips!! https://www.organicgardener.com.au/blogs/parsnip-secrets happy gardening and success with the parsnips!!

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14 May 17, liz (New Zealand - cool/mountain climate)

hello - i also need some help with parsnips - i have a raised bed and put in plenty of compost most years - this last year i managed to get a whole row of parsnips to grow but - they are so tiny no bigger than my fingers and wrinkly like norah batties stockings but taste so darn good - my question is - how do i get them to grow into proper big parsnips - have i got something missing from the soil of my garden that they need to grow long and big??? thanks

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15 May 17, John (Australia - temperate climate)

Parsnips like deep friable soil to get long roots. Too much manure will give you twisted and forked roots. Planting them after a crop like lettuces, cabbages, beans, tomatoes, pumpkins, etc is good as the soil will be loosened up and there will be less nitrogen in the soil. An excess of nitrogen will cause big bushy tops and small roots.

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17 May 17, Aaron (Australia - arid climate)

I am in Perth Western Australia and wants try to harvest my parsnip in between July & September can you advice on planting date. Thank you ! Regards

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