Parsnip
Pastinaca sativa
A long taproot occupying the ground from spring until midwinter, and much sweeter after a frost. The single fact that decides success is seed age: parsnip seed loses viability faster than almost any other vegetable, and a bare row is nearly always last year's packet rather than anything the grower did.
- Position
- Full sun
- Water
- low demand
- Drainage
- Free-draining
- Grows to
- 40–60 cm × 25 cm
- Hardiness
- H6
- Harvest
- October to February
- Difficulty
- Some care needed
Described view
A well-grown straight parsnip beside a forked one from stony ground and a small one from a crowded row
August
Nothing to do
No sowing, planting, harvesting or pruning window falls in August.
Parsnip’s year
Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.
| Activity | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sow outdoors | March. | April. | May. | |||||||||
| Harvest | January. | February. | October. | November. | December. |
Timing that travels
The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.
Conditions it needs
- Light
- Full sun
- Frost
- Very hardy
- Hardiness rating
- H6 (RHS)
- Grows best at
- 10–20 °C
- Germinates at
- 10–20 °CSourced guidanceDepends on conditions
- Soil
- Loam, Sandy
- Soil pH
- 6–7.5
- Drainage
- Free-draining
- Water needs
- low
- Drought
- moderate tolerance
- Waterlogging
- poor tolerance
- Heat
- moderate tolerance
- Wind and exposure
- good tolerance
Where these figures come from
- LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parsnip — position
Checked 2026-08-13
- FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parsnip — hardiness
Checked 2026-08-13
- Hardiness ratingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: RHS hardiness ratings
Checked 2026-08-13
- Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parsnip — temperature
Checked 2026-08-13
- Germinates atSourced guidanceDepends on conditionshigh confidence
Applies when: Slow at any temperature — three to four weeks is normal and is not a failure. Below about 10 °C germination becomes very unreliable.
- OSU Extension Service — Oregon State University: Vegetable seed germination temperatures
Checked 2026-08-13
- SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parsnip — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
- Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Pastinaca sativa — culture
Checked 2026-08-13
- DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parsnip — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
- Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
On your soil
Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.
| Soil | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy clay | Works, with one condition | A parsnip's problem on clay is mechanical, exactly as a carrot's is: the taproot has to push through the soil to make a straight root, and on heavy ground it forks and stumps. Fertility is not the issue and feeding does not help.Grow in a deep bed of loose stone-free soil, or in a deep container. Unlike carrots there are no genuinely short-rooted cultivars to fall back on. |
| Sandy | Prefers this soil | Sandy suits Parsnip as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Sandy soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. There is ample rooting depth for it. |
| Chalky and alkaline | Works, with one condition | Parsnip will crop on chalky and alkaline, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It roots to about 60 cm and this soil offers roughly 40 cm before rock or hardpan.Grow it in a deep container or a raised bed. The rooting depth is not something that can be added to the ground. |
| Loam | Prefers this soil | Loam suits Parsnip as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. There is ample rooting depth for it. |
| Silty | Prefers this soil | Silty suits Parsnip as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. There is ample rooting depth for it. |
| Peaty and acid | Works, with one condition | Parsnip will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
| Shallow over rock | Works, with one condition | Parsnip will crop on shallow over rock, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It roots to about 60 cm and this soil offers roughly 25 cm before rock or hardpan.Grow it in a deep container or a raised bed. The rooting depth is not something that can be added to the ground. |
| Made ground and urban soil | Struggles here | Parsnip struggles on made ground and urban soil: It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold. It roots to about 60 cm and this soil offers roughly 30 cm before rock or hardpan. A container or a raised bed of imported soil sidesteps the problem entirely. |
Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.
Space and spacing
- Mature height
- 40–60 cm
- Mature spread
- 25 cm
- Rooting depth
- 60–90 cm
- Spacing
- 15–20 cm apart
Where these figures come from
- Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- SpacingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parsnip — spacing
Checked 2026-08-13
In a container
- Minimum depth
- 45 cm
Where the container figures come from
- Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Possible in a deep container and rarely worth the space: the crop occupies it for nine months.
Where and how you can grow it
Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.
| Method | Suitability | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Open ground | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Traditional dug bed | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Raised bed | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Container | MarginalsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | 45 cm deep minimum; Long occupancy makes it a poor container choice |
| Greenhouse | MarginalsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Polytunnel | MarginalsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Hydroponics | Not suitablesourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | A long taproot needing depth and time — the opposite of what soilless systems do well. |
Growing it
- SowingUse fresh seed every year without exception. Parsnip seed is short-lived, and a packet kept from last season is the commonest cause of an empty row — not the soil, not the weather, and not the sowing depth.
- ThinningThin to about 15 cm. Crowded parsnips produce many small forked roots rather than fewer good ones.
- ProtectionCover the row with fleece or fine mesh from sowing until the plants are established. It keeps carrot fly off and stops birds and cats disturbing a row that will not show anything for a month.
Where this guidance comes from
- SowingSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parsnip — sowing
Checked 2026-08-13
- ThinningSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parsnip — thinning
Checked 2026-08-13
- ProtectionSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parsnip — care
Checked 2026-08-13
Is it worth putting under cover?
Whether it will grow there is on the methods table above. This is whether the space is well spent, which is a different question and usually the one being asked.
| Structure | What protection is worth | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Greenhouse | Worse under coversourceGrowingHQ editorial positionmoderate confidence What protection is worth for this crop, judged against the same standard as every other record in this file.
Checked 2026-08-13 | Season length and a real need for cold: parsnip flavour depends on frost converting starch to sugar, and a root lifted from a warm house tastes of nothing much. |
| Polytunnel | Worse under coversourceGrowingHQ editorial positionmoderate confidence What protection is worth for this crop, judged against the same standard as every other record in this file.
Checked 2026-08-13 | Season length and the same missing frost. |
Harvesting
- When it is readyLift from mid-autumn once the foliage begins to die back, and continue through winter. There is no need to lift the whole row.
- How to pick itDig them, do not pull them. A parsnip root is long, brittle and firmly anchored, and pulling by the top snaps it off underground: drive a fork in well away from the crown, lever the soil loose along the length of the root, and lift. Twist the tops off afterwards. Roots left in the ground keep perfectly well and are easier to lift after rain than in frozen ground.
- Keeping itBest stored in the ground. Lifted roots keep a few weeks in a cool place.
Where the harvest guidance comes from
- When it is readySourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parsnip — harvesting
Checked 2026-08-13
- How to pick itSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parsnip — harvesting
Checked 2026-08-13
- Keeping itHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
What goes wrong
| Problem | How often | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Parsnip canker | commonsourceHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13 | Decided at sowing rather than at harvest: spacing, earthing up and cultivar choice. |
| Carrot fly | commonsourceHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13 | The same pest as on carrots — parsnips are in the same family and are equally affected. |
| Slugs and snails | occasionalsourceHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13 |
Safety and edibility
- Contact hazardParsnip foliage contains furanocoumarins and can cause a photosensitive skin reaction: a burn-like rash and blistering appearing where sap met skin that was afterwards exposed to sunlight. It is worst on hot bright days and can be severe.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Parsnip — skin irritation
Checked 2026-08-13
Wear long sleeves and gloves when cutting or handling parsnip tops, and do it on a dull day or in the evening where you can. Wash any sap off the skin promptly and keep the area out of the sun for a day or two.
Sources for this page
Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board · GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · OSU Extension Service · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society
Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.