Parsnip Germination Tip 

Getting parsnips to germinate is one of those black arts. They’re best sown directly because if there is disturbance to the main root by transplanting the chances are, they end up looking like some alien monster with many forked roots.

Yet starting them indoors in root-trainers or toilet roll inners gives much better germination than outdoors. Once they start growing that main root grows really quickly – easy to leave it too long before planting.

However, I may have found the answer. A market gardener says to sow the seeds in paper pots which are kept in a propagator at 17ºC for 7 days. 17ºC soil temperature is the ideal for germinating parsnips. Then plant out the pots whether you can see any germination or not.

He reckons this gets them going whilst avoiding forked roots and he has great results. I’ll give it a go and report on how I do.

Removing Sprouts from Seed Potatoes

The practice of removing all but two or three sprouts from a seed potato to produce larger tubers is well documented in older gardening books. The question is, does it work? It’s certainly accepted as fact by many older growers.

The logic of less sprouts producing less, and therefore larger, tubers makes some sense but the main factors that affect tuber size are available nutrients and water. And the variety, of course. Frankly, I don’t know for sure. I suspect rubbing out most of the sprouts will make little to no difference to tuber size and will reduce overall yield. Certainly, commercial potato growers don’t have the time to go through their seed potatoes removing sprouts.

Cutting Seed Potatoes

Thinking about it, if reducing sprout numbers worked then it would be better to cut up the seed potato so that each portion only had one sprout. Anyway, an interesting experiment to find out if anyone is so minded.

The idea of removing all the sprouts is to induce panic growth in the tubers. I’ve seen ‘panic growth’ in relation to trees after pollarding or coppicing, the long thin branches, but not potatoes. My feeling was that this was nonsense, but you never know. So, I researched the views of some experts.

Expert Opinion

First the son of Medwyn Williams who works with him. Like his father, he also really knows his stuff. He’d never heard of this ‘panic growth’ and felt the idea made no sense. If you remove all the growing sprouts, there’s nothing left to develop, and the seed tuber is just ruined.

Dr David Shaw of Sarpo Potatoes a well-respected potato expert stated that couldn’t see it working either.

So, I reckon this panic growth idea isn’t a starter.

February, being the last of the winter months, often has a sting and ends up being the coldest month. So, more than any other month, this one you need to play according to local conditions. It’s best to hold off, than try to sow in waterlogged, near frozen ground that will most likely rot any seeds. Watch out for good weather in early February, in my experience it means the end of the month will be wicked.

You should have purchased your seed potatoes by now but it’s too early to plant outside so start to chit them. Chitting is the process of pre-sprouting before planting. Some authorities say it benefits maincrops but not earlies, some say it’s of no benefit and some it is of benefit to all types. My attitude is that nobody says it does harm and as I have the seed tubers I may as well chit them.

When you get your seed potatoes you put them in a cool but frost-free place where they get some light but not direct sunlight. The potatoes will then grow short stubby shoots to get them off to a fast start when planted out.

Some people suggest rubbing off all but three shoots to help get larger potatoes with the maincrops. I don’t do this myself, knowing my luck I’d lose the remaining three at planting!