?

Never heard of it going well nor planting in fall. Hopefully someone in that zone has experience planting in fall. Root crops like carrot, turnip and parsnip in general don't like being transplanted.

Curious to hear about overwintering parsnip...

Dan

Um, I tried this this past spring, starting them in regular #72 cell packs.

Did it work in the sense that the plants lived and grew? Yes.

Did it work in the sense of producing a good root? NO, NO, NO.

I got stunted, mangled roots all twisted and curled up at the bottom like a corkscrew.

I think it WOULD work in a very tall, tapered pot -- it appears to me whatever shape the taproot grows into initially is what it's going to always be shaped like.

Next year, I'm going to try it again in really tall disposable cups, like the size they sell a large soft drink in at fast food places, 32 ounces or so.

I didnt think that you could transplant carrots til I saw Jon Hughs video. He does carrots and other things but his soil is somehting else. Something I can only dream about having.

transplanted a 15ft row in sandy soil, raised bed this a.m. Plants were about an inch tall & root was straight. 85deg now & no wilting. Very pleased so far. I hope they get some size by Thanksgiving.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Jonehughes3384#p/u/5/35NcOLRkcPg

Tried to post this yeasterday but the durn site wouldnt let me. We'll see if it works today.

Hope Jon doesnt mind me showing this to you all.

I was able to transplant carrots NO PROBLEM AT ALL I started them inside and then transplanted them outside, I used a bag full of soil (big blue ikea bag) with a few holes punched in the bottom and they came out as straight as an arrow.

I'm going to do this w parsnips (fall planting) and make a raised trough about 18inches high fill it w soil up to 12 inches and then back to eden garden on top of the soil another 6 inches w/fresh chips as soon as they get to be 4-6 inches tall. Then I'll place a poly tunnel over it just for fun and see w happens, CAN'T WAIT I love when gardeners say you can't do something and it works perfectly well. zone 7/8

wintergaarden- Could you explain your carrot method a little more as I'm a bit confused. Did you start them inside then transplant outside into the bag or did you start them in the bag and transplant them into the ground? If it was the former, what did you initially start them in and how tall were they when you transplanted them?

Rodney

Hi Rodney, I started the carrots indoors in a long skinny plastic tray leftover from my fig newtons. I only have 2 in my family so if you need more carrots you might use 2-4 fig newton trays or a larger take out tray. I just wet the soil, sprinkled seeds all over the top about 1/4 inch apart, put a tiny dusting of sifted soil on top of those and kept them moist w a spray bottle til they came up. I put them about 1/2 to 1 inch (CLOSE!) under my home depot plain ol flourescent shoplight til they grew 1 tiny true leaf.

At that point I transplanted the young seedlings out into an ikea bag filled with very loose a little sandy soil with a few knife holes poked into the bottom. (i recommend loose bagged potting soil w a little sand mixed in, not heavy clay soil from outside) It's better NOT to fertilize carrots, it just makes them grow more leaves and not get sweet.

I followed Jon Hughes' instructions on his youtube video: Transplanting Carrots 3-3-2010 except mine plantings weren't nearly as neat as his. My carrots came out perfecto! straight as an arrow and sooo yummy. Mine were the skinny long carrots (finished size about 1/2 inch thick by 8 inches long.) I didn't do any thinning at all.

john hughes' youtube tranplanting carrots method here good luck, lemme know if you have any more questions.

p.s. i plan on starting my parsnips indoors on a paper towel inside a zip bag that's wrung-out-damp. Then once the first root comes out, sprinkling them outside in my 18" x 1 x 6ft open bottom trough filled with loose friable potting soil (i use cedar grove veggie mix it's half topsoil half compost.)

Last year I started parsnip outdoors and got NOTHING, zip, zero, ziltch, so I started starting seeds indoors so as to not waste my life lol

This post was edited by wintergaarden on Sun, Nov 9, 14 at 21:41