Parsnips and loo roll inners - explain?

[Clara]

So having had guests over christmas I now have a few loo roll inners. I've vaguely noticed people talking here about germinating parsnips in them - please let me in on the secret!

Would sort out another problem too - the few of my parsnips which successfully grew and survived til christmas day were quite pathetic, though very tasty!

TIA Clara

[Rosendula]

Just put all your tubes in a tray and fill with compost, then sow parsnip seeds, one in each if you don't like thinning out, at whatever depth it says on the packet. We might do this so that we can start them off a little earlier, or to protect them from hungry creatures that like to eat them small. Parsnips take ages to germinate, sometimes a couple of months, so if you sow them in the ground there's a risk you might forget where you sowed them, or think they haven't taken and sow something else on top, only to have a bit of a muddle when they all poke through. Sowing them in tubes helps avoid this.

The reason we use tubes and not normal plug trays or similar is because they are nice and long and don't have a bottom. You're meant to sow them straight into the ground to avoid disturbing the roots and foliage (which attracts carrot fly, I believe). By sowing them in tubes you can just plant the tube like you would a peat pot, but the open bottom allows the roots to grow nice and straight - in theory.

Last year I sowed some in tubes and some straight in the ground. Both were great, but the ones in tubes were the biggest. None were straight - they were ball shaped - but all were huge and very tasty. Still eating them now. One parsnip was enough for all 5 of us as part of a meal.

[Clara]

Thanks that's quite clear - sounds like I'm going to have to beg a few more tubes though - I've only got 4!

[Rosendula]

I'd beg more than a few if I were you, then you can start your carrots off like that too

[MuddyWitch]

T'is a great way to start peas too; stops the mice getting 'em & again, no root disturbance. I always do mine this way so all our loo roll inards are put into a black sack in the shed, all year.

MW

[Clara]

Just one question - don't they start disintegrating after being watered a few times? Or is there a trick to that?

[MuddyWitch]

Don't drown 'em, follow the "little & often" rule & they'll usually last till planting time. Though in really bad years when we've had frosts in June, one or two have gone soft on me!

MW

[Davy]

i never thought on that before but sounds good and i'd need to start collecting for spring is only around the corner

[The Riff-Raff Element]

I did a trench as deep as the tubes and line them up. Then I fill them with a mixture of sand and compost (about 1 part to 3) and backfill the trench with soil. Three seeds in each and water in.

This way I can see easily where they are and weeding is very, very easy because nothing grows immediately next to the parsnips.

[red]

we had problems with birds pulling the cardboard tubes out of the ground - for nest building material perhaps? - and the parsnip along side it - so make sure its covered when you plant them.

i had much better results with toilet roll tube planting then sowing direct.

but even better with chitting the seeds then sowing them direct... so thats what I am goign to do next year.

[Andy Hamilton]

I grow my runners like this too, planting the whole tubes out. Had the same problem with birds but I tied CD's to the wigwam set up to grow the beans up.