Parsnips are a little temperamental -  they take a long time to germinate and a lot can go wrong in that period. They don’t do well when they underwatered or overwatered so take extra care in the first few days after planting. Ideally. They prefer soil temperatures of around 21 degrees, any sudden changes can lead to the seed not germinating.  They also have a very short viability period. As we don’t sell parsnip seedlings, we’ve put together a few tricks to help your seeds germinate.

Parsnips have a long growing season so plant when the soil is workable, they're best sown from July- Dec in New Zealand. Parsnips are big fans of cold weather so they're ideally grown best in the South Island. The cold weather converts the starch to sugar giving parsnips their infamous sweet taste. So,  we recommend leaving your parsnips in the ground until after the frost or the coldest weather.

Planting tips:

• Always sow fresh seed
• Before sowing, soak the seeds overnight
• Keep the soil moist until the seeds germinate – can take up to 20-28 days.
• Don’t Grow with brassicas and carrots. Carrots attract carrot fly whose larvae buries through the soil and attacks susceptible plants such as parsnips.
• Grow with capsicums, silverbeet, garlic and beans

Care tips:

• Make sure that your parsnip bed is free of weeds at all times
• Keep thining your parsnips so that they stand at least 8cm apart
• Keep on top of your watering 
• Fertilise six weeks after sowing

Harvest tips:

• Parsnips take about 4 months to grow
• When they're ready to harvest dig a small trench and pull the root system towards you
• Once harvested, cut off the foliage and store in a brown paper bag

Seed Harvest:

• If you plan on harvesting seeds of your parsnips, only choose the best seed for the following season. 
• Parsnips only flower in their second season, the seeds are produced in clumps
• The seeds turn brown as they mature, to harvest simply cut the stems off and leave them in a brown paper bag to ripen up. 

 Kiwi gardener Tip:

For better and bigger parsnips dig a cone shape in the ground, add a layer of soil, potting mix and river sand, sow seed on top of the prepared soil and cover.