🥕VegetablesVery hardy
When to plant Parsnips
Default: central Europe (50°N)· 50.0°N
Last spring frost: 5 May
First autumn frost: 5 Oct
Frost-free season: 153 days
Calendar windows
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSeptOctNovDec
Sow outdoors
7 Apr – 26 May
Harvest
2 Oct – 1 Dec
Dates shift with your latitude — they are calculated from your local last-spring-frost date, not from a fixed calendar.
At a glance
Light
Full sun
Water needs
Moderate
Frost hardiness
Very hardy
Overwinters outdoors in a temperate garden.
Life cycle
Biennial
Spacing
15 × 35 cm
Sowing depth
1.5 cm
Soil pH
6.0–7.0
Days to maturity
120–180
Containers
Needs open ground
Plant family
Umbellifers
Soil temp. to sow
≥ 8°C
Practical notes
Use fresh seed every year — parsnip seed is dead within twelve months. Germination takes three weeks, so mark the row with radishes sown alongside.
Knowing when to pick
Do not touch it before the first hard frost — cold converts starch to sugar and is what makes a parsnip worth growing.
Storing the crop
Leave in the ground under straw and lift as needed all winter, or store in damp sand at 0–2°C.
Crop rotation
Rotate away from carrots and their relatives for 3 years to break the carrot fly cycle.
Grows well with
Keep apart from
Watch for
Full guide: parsnips diseases and pests (3) → with spread routes, compost verdicts and the prevention this list justifies.