Parsnip Canker
Parsnip Canker is the most serious problem with parsnips.
Latin name - Itersonilia pastinaceae
Brown or black patches appear on the shoulder of the root which then become soft and rotten. The secondary rotting which follows the initial discolouration is caused by fungi or bacteria.
The Cause of Parsnip Canker seems to be root damage, which allows the canker to enter the broken skin and cause rotting.Â
The initial damage can be caused by:
- careless hoeing
- cracking caused by heavy rain after a drought
- carrot fly
The remedy is
- use of canker resistant varieties
- better cultivation
- later sown crops, as these are more resistant
[…] Chosen because of good canker resistance , and ideal for small gardens and high density cropping. Growing enough root crops to last the winter is always a problem, so the opportunity to grow more, smaller roots seemed worth taking. […]
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