Last edited on November 02, 2026. View history
Hollow Crown Parsnip
A variety of parsnip
How to sow hollow crown parsnip: Direct seed outdoors, thin seedlings to 5cm apart
Sun requirement for hollow crown parsnip: Plant in Full Sun
A white-fleshed, mild-tasting parsnip developed in England in the 1820s and grown commercially in New Zealand in the 1920s by the Moa Seed Company. It is still being selected for root quality.
- 0
- plantings
- 0
- harvests
- 0
- seed packets
Hollow crown parsnip facts
Lifespan
Crop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For hollow crown parsnip, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 5°C and a shortest growing cycle of 80 days at its best temperature, about 1040 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your hollow crown parsnip will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing hollow crown parsnips
- Dig the bed fine and stone free 2 weeks before sowing
- Mark the rows with radish seed at sowing
- Set or refill beer traps for slugs and snails 2 weeks after sowing every week
- Thin the seedlings 4 weeks after sowing
- Weed carefully between the rows 6 weeks after sowing every month
- Water in dry weather 6 weeks after sowing every 2 weeks
- Lift roots after a frost for sweetness at first harvest
- Lift the rest of the crop 8 weeks after first harvest
Plant hollow crown parsnips with
sweet potato
Video
What people are saying about hollow crown parsnips
Nobody has posted about hollow crown parsnips yet.
Sign in or sign up to post your tips and experiences growing hollow crown parsnips.
Who's planted hollow crown parsnips
Nobody has planted this crop yet.
Sign in or sign up to track your hollow crown parsnip plantings.Hollow crown parsnip harvests
Nobody has harvested this crop yet.
Sign in or sign up to track your hollow crown parsnip harvests.Find hollow crown parsnip seeds
There are no seeds available to trade on Growstuff right now.
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
- Sign in or sign up to list your seeds to trade.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Pastinaca sativa L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Rosidae Apiales Umbelliferae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: -1 °C, rest: -5 °C |
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual, biennial |
| Habit | acaulescent (or rosette plants) |
| Optimal soil depth | deep (>>150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about hollow crown parsnips
Resources outside Growstuff.
