Seed Saving: How to Save Parsnip Seeds
Learn how to save parsnip seeds in the newest edition of our seed saving series!
Parsnips are an easy-to-grow root vegetable. Their mild flavor makes them a great low-carb potato substitute in soups and stews! Here in Montana, they are one of the most cold hardy vegetable crops we have found, surviving all winter out in the garden!
Parsnips seeds are somewhat short-lived and can be a little hard to germinate. They are also harder to find on seed racks.
The good news is, it’s super easy to save parsnip seeds!
Parsnips are a biennial, meaning that they normally produce seeds their second year and then that plant dies.
How to Save Parsnip Seeds
- To save parsnip seeds, leave at least 6 parsnips to overwinter in your garden. 20 or more plants is ideal. They can survive down to -20 degrees Fahrenheit or colder!
- Let the overwintered parsnips bolt in the spring. They will send up seed stalks 4-6′ tall. Parsnips are pollinated by insects and can cross with other varieties growing nearby.
- Harvest when the seeds are brown are dry. Parsnip seeds will last for 2-4 years.
Growing Parsnips for Seed
To save parsnip seeds, you’ll want to plant them at the normal planting time for your area. For most of the US that is in the spring.
To get viable seeds, you’ll need to let at least six parsnips flower. 20 or more plants is better to ensure genetic diversity and make sure your parsnips don’t get inbred. It’s a good idea to leave a few extras in case some don’t make it through the winter.
I always plant plenty of extra parsnips, since this plant often struggles with low germination rates.
Overwintering Parsnips for Seed
In most climates, including here in Montana, parsnips can overwinter without protection out in the garden. The following spring, they will send up seed stalks 5-6′ tall, with bright yellow flowers similar to a carrot flower.
If you live in an area too cold for the parsnips to make it outside, they can be dug in the fall and stored like carrots overwinter. Trim the tops and either refrigerate or store them in a root cellar to be replanted in the spring.
How to Save Pure Parsnip Seeds
Parsnips are pollinated by insects. When those big yellow flowers appear, they can cross with other varieties of parsnip that are in flower as far as one mile away.
Although parsnips can be caged like carrots, the seeds are usually kept pure by isolation. And since not many gardeners are saving seeds from parsnips, isolation is usually as simple as only allowing one variety of parsnip to go to seed in a given year in your garden.
[convertkit form=1206165]
Harvesting Parsnip Seeds
To save parsnip seeds, wait till they are mostly brown and dry. They can be harvested easily by hand, holding a bucket or bag underneath the seed clusters to catch them as you pull them off the plant with your fingers.
Alternately, the whole plants can be cut or pulled when the seeds are mostly dry and brought under cover to finish drying out. Put the plants upside down in a bag or box to catch the seeds as they fall.
Parsnip seeds will last 2-4 years in a cool, dry place (Actually, the parsnips pictured above were grown from 7 year old seed!). You can read more about seed storage here!
Want to learn more about seed saving?
You can find more of our seed saving articles right here!
We also have an online class available that will teach you everything you need to know to start saving seeds from your garden today! The course can be completed in just a few hours, and includes helpful reference charts and downloads.
You can find out more about Simple Seed Saving here!
Happy Seed Saving!
6 Comments
Gene Kremer
The links on your website are not working. Interested in seed saving
Kait
Hi, Gene! I checked the links and they appear to be working on my end. Feel free to email me if you need more help!
Kimberly Lee
When harvesting the seeds from the parsnips and if you left the rut in the ground, would it still produce seeds for the next year after that?
Kait
No, parsnips are a biennial, meaning that they only live two years. The first year they make a root. The second year they make seeds, then the plants die.
Alan Melbourne
Here on the North Coast of New South Wales, theparsnips have to be planted in autumn or winter, in late spring or early summer we are eating them and some go to seed that same season, not over a 2 year cycle. Maybe bienniality can be speeded up???
Cheers,
Alan
Kait
That is correct, Alan! Biennials are usually triggered to go to seed by going through cold temperatures followed by warmer weather. I sometimes get seeds from biennials in one season by starting them extra early inside. The important thing is to not save seeds from early bolters that go to seed before the rest of your main crop. That will pass on the early bolting tendency to the next generation, making the parsnips genetically smaller over time. Whenever most of your parsnips are bolting, it’s fine to save seeds.