Your comments and tips

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

Reply or Post a new comment

17 May 17, Giovanni (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Parsnips take about 5 months to harvest from sowing and are normally planted between June and September in the Perth climate zone. This leaves a gap as seed sown in late September would be ready in late March not July - September as you were hoping. They would normally only keep for 3 - 4 weeks in the refrigerator so you still have a 'gap'. Why not plant some seed in March and give them a try? When the seedlings emerge keep them moist and apply a thick mulch to keep the soil a bit cooler. It's worth a try and you'll know for sure then. Maybe someone else has tried it and can answer.

Reply or Post a new comment

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!!

Reply or Post a new comment

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)

Reply or Post a new comment

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?

Reply or Post a new comment

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.

Reply or Post a new comment

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

Reply or Post a new comment

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

Reply or Post a new comment

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.

Reply or Post a new comment

27 Apr 16, Richard (Australia - temperate climate)

how do you harvest on medium sized scale

Reply or Post a new comment