Vegetable / Cool season

Hollow Crown Parsnip

Deep fall and winter-harvest beds where roots can mature slowly.

Sweet, nutty roots that improve after cold weather.

Seed spacing and maturity

Days to maturity
120
Germination temperature
50-75F
Seed depth
0.5 inches
Spacing
4 inches
Row spacing
18 inches
Start method
Direct sow

Frost-date timing

Direct sow
28 days before last frost

Action plan

Can I plant this now?
Use your local last-frost, first-frost, and soil-temperature checks before treating this crop as plantable today.
Start indoors or direct sow?
Direct sow into the final bed when the soil temperature, seed depth, and moisture are ready.
How much space?
4 inches in-row spacing, 18 inches between rows, and 0.5 inch seed depth.
Best companions?
Use crop-family rotation first, then pair with compatible timing, spacing, and canopy size rather than relying on a simple companion chart.
Common failure modes?
Use fresh seed; old parsnip seed germinates poorly. Keep the seed row consistently moist until slow germination finishes. Deep, loose, stone-free soil for straight roots.

Growing profile

Sun
Full sun
Water
Keep the seed row consistently moist until slow germination finishes.
Soil
Deep, loose, stone-free soil for straight roots.
Watch
Use fresh seed; old parsnip seed germinates poorly.
  • root-crop
  • cool-season
  • storage
  • direct-sow

Browse context

Related varieties

Source: UMN planting the vegetable garden