Root
How to grow parsnips
Pastinaca sativa
Parsnips are easy once they are up; getting them up is the hard part. Sow seed bought fresh that year, direct into deep, stone-free soil that has not been manured, from mid March to May. April sowings in warmer soil germinate far more reliably than early ones. Thin to one plant every 15 cm, then leave them alone: no feeding and little watering. Lift from October through to February, ideally after the first frosts.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy, best after frost
- Position
- Full sun
- Soil
- Deep, light, stone-free; never freshly manured
- Ideal pH
- 6.5 to 7.0
- Water
- Low, deep roots find their own once established
- Feeding
- Light feeder
Sowing and planting parsnips
WhenSow Mar to May direct; harvest Oct to Feb
Starting off
Direct only, from mid March (fleece-covered) to May, once the soil is above 10 °C; germination takes 14 to 28 days and the seed loses viability within a year, so buy fresh each spring. Mark the row with a sprinkle of radish seed. Pre-chitting on damp kitchen paper at 15 °C and sowing the sprouted seeds speeds things up.
Spacing and planting
Sow 1 to 2 cm deep in drills 30 cm apart, 3 seeds at 15 cm stations, thinning to one; 10 cm stations give slender roots for roasting. Not a container plant unless given a 45 cm deep tub of sieved compost, and then only short types such as 'Avonresister'.
Varieties worth growing
- Gladiator F1
- Vigorous hybrid with smooth white skin, good canker resistance and quicker, more even germination than older types.
- Tender and True
- Long-rooted heritage parsnip, widely thought the best flavoured, with good canker resistance. Needs deep soil.
- Javelin F1
- Slender, uniform roots that resist canker and fanging; holds well in the ground through winter.
- White Gem
- Shorter, wedge-shaped roots that cope with heavy or shallow soil where long varieties fork.
- Countess F1
- Late maincrop with smooth, pale skin and high yields; one to leave in the ground for lifting after Christmas.
Parsnips month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Lift as needed. Order fresh seed.
- February
Lift the last roots before they start to regrow. Fork over next year's bed and remove stones.
- March
Sow from mid month under fleece on light soil only. On clay, wait.
- April
Main sowing, three seeds per station every 15 cm. Keep the drill moist.
- May
Last sowing early in the month. Thin to the strongest seedling per station.
- June
Hand weed along the row and hoe between rows, taking care not to nick the crowns.
- July
Water only in a long drought, one good soaking a fortnight.
- August
Draw a little soil over exposed shoulders to keep canker out.
- September
Nothing to do.
- October
Start lifting once the foliage dies back. Mark the rows with canes.
- November
Lift as needed; the flavour improves after frost.
- December
Lift for Christmas. Cover part of the row with straw so the ground can still be dug in a freeze.
Feeding parsnips
A light feeder. On ground that was fed for the previous crop, parsnips need nothing at all, and fresh manure or generous fertiliser gives forked roots and leaf at the expense of root.
Like carrots, grow lean, fresh manure forks the roots. Modest potassium only.
Feeding plan
The year before
Garden compost
Dig in for the crop that comes before parsnips. Add nothing fresh in the parsnip year.
A week before sowing, poor or sandy soil only
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
70 g/m², the lowest label rate, raked in. With rows 30 cm apart that is about 21 g per metre of row. On average garden soil, none.
June to August, monthly, optional
1 g per litre of water as a foliar spray or drench: 10 g in a 10 litre can. It supplies trace elements without nitrogen. The label allows every 2 to 3 weeks; monthly is enough.
Before sowing, only where last year's roots had cracked, corky shoulders
1 to 2 g/m², a quarter to half a level teaspoon per square metre, scattered evenly, once a season and never exceeded.
Signs to watch
Forked, multi-rooted plants
Fresh manure or stony soil, not feeding
Grow on ground manured a year earlier
Splitting after rain and a cracked, corky shoulder
Boron short or uneven moisture
Seaweed feed and steady watering
Soft, lush foliage with thin roots
Excess nitrogen
No feeding at all next year
Pests, diseases and problems
Orange-brown or black rot spreading from the shoulder of the root, found at lifting
Parsnip canker, a fungal rot that gets in through cracks and carrot fly wounds; worse on acid, wet soil and on early sowings
Grow resistant varieties, sow in April or May, draw soil over the shoulders in summer, improve drainage and keep the pH at 6.5 or above.
Gappy or empty rows a month after sowing
Old seed, or seed rotting in cold, wet soil
Buy new seed every year, wait until the soil is above 10 °C, sow three seeds per station and keep the drill moist until seedlings show.
Rusty brown tunnels just under the skin of the root
Carrot fly larvae
Fine insect mesh over the row from sowing, edges buried. Parsnips suffer less than carrots, but the wounds let canker in.
Pale then brown, papery blotches on the leaves in summer
Celery leaf miner
Pinch off affected leaves on small plants. Established parsnips outgrow it and need no treatment.
White powdery coating on the leaves in a dry late summer
Powdery mildew on plants short of water
Give one thorough soaking a fortnight in prolonged drought and keep to 15 cm spacing so air can move.
Seedlings vanish soon after they emerge
Slugs, which have several weeks to find a slow-germinating row
Sow three seeds per station as insurance, keep the row weed-free and use slug nematodes on moist soil in April.
Harvest and rotation
Harvest and storage
Lift from October after the foliage dies back, ideally after the first frost has sweetened the roots. Dig a trench alongside and lever with a fork to avoid snapping the 30 cm root. A 3 m row gives 4 to 6 kg. Leave in the ground until February, marking rows with canes, or store in damp sand.
Rotation and companions
Rotation: umbellifer (carrot) family with carrots, celery and parsley, 3-year gap.
Good to knowUse fresh seed (it keeps poorly) and be patient, as germination is slow; the flavour sweetens after the first frosts.
Growing parsnips in pots
Parsnips can be grown in a container, but only a deep one. Use a tub or old dustbin at least 45 cm deep with drainage holes, filled with sieved peat-free compost mixed with a quarter sharp sand and no added fertiliser. Sow three seeds per station 10 to 12 cm apart in April, thin to one, and choose a shorter variety such as White Gem. Keep the compost evenly moist, because a container that dries out and is then soaked gives split roots. Expect six to eight good parsnips from a 40 cm wide tub. This is how exhibition growers get long, straight roots, and it is a practical answer to stony or heavy clay ground.
Parsnips: common questions
Why won't my parsnip seeds germinate?
The seed is old or the soil is too cold. Parsnip seed loses most of its viability within a year, so last year's packet often fails completely. Buy fresh seed each spring, wait until the soil is above 10 °C, usually April, and allow up to four weeks before giving up on a row.
Do parsnips need frost before you harvest them?
No, but frost makes them sweeter. Cold turns some of the starch in the root into sugar, so parsnips lifted in November and December taste better than October ones. They are edible as soon as the foliage begins to die back.
Can you start parsnips in pots and transplant them?
Not in ordinary pots or modules, because a disturbed tap root forks. It can be done in deep cardboard tubes filled with compost, planted out whole as soon as the first true leaf shows and before the root reaches the bottom. Sowing chitted seed direct is simpler and gives straighter roots.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.
- How to grow parsnipsRHS
- How to grow parsnipsBBC Gardeners' World Magazine