oversize parsnips

 Report in DT the other day that parsnips in Norfolk were too large to be
accepted by supermarkets. The reason given the dry weather!!

Didn't have that effect on mine -but then mine were grown from organic
seed.
Maybe some genetic engineering gone a bit wrong?
--
hugh

 

The parsnips that I've grown this year on my allotment are immense.  Why
and how I don't know.  

I started them indoors in old toilet paper tubes  and planted them out
in April when two leaves were showing on the small plants.  And since
then, other than hoeing and weeding I've done nothing to them.  I did
water them once or twice and top dressed them with a bit of Growmore.
The result is that they are so big it's difficult to dig one up without
damaging it.

One parsnip is far too big for the two of us to eat, so we tend to make
one last the week.

I'll dig one up for Christmas and post a photo on the web for all
URG'lers to see if interested.

In the meantime, Happy Chanukah, Christmas, Eide and Yule.

Peter

--
It is necessary for the good man to do nothing for evil to triumph.

Attributed to Edmund Burke 1729 - 1797

 "hugh"  wrote

The ones I've dug up so far have been smaller than usual, normally ours are
huge great things and I always have to break off the root to get them out.
Mind, they were difficult to germinate this year, even worse than usual, so
I did have to reseed half of them.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

 

Could it be a bit of both?
If a root veg. has no water it will dig down to get it, and all the way it
has to make it's head and trunk bigger to make the journey?
My own little experiments seem to be true to that, but of course not
scientific. More, trial and error.

I have found that if I water parsnip I get a large head on it but no depth,
and also lots of root shoots.
No water, big head and a big long root, and the tip breaks off if I don't
dig deep enough when harvesting them.

Baz