A brown reddish canker can form on the shoulder of the root of a parsnip.
But if you rotate your crops and grow your parsnips in deep loamy soil with balanced fertilizer and lime parsnip canker should not occur.
Sowing parsnips seeds early and thin to 6 inches apart can also reduce the risk of parsnip canker.
If canker persists on your parsnips then grow a canker resistant variety such as Avon Resister
Wire worms and cut worms may also attack parsnips.
Diagnosing wire worm: A parsnip infested with wireworms will have small regular sized holes in the root containing shiny yellow larvae
The maggots of celery leaf flies will burrow into the parsnip leaves, causing brown blisters on them and the leaves become shrivelled.
Pick off and burn the affected leaves or crush the blisters.
Extensive damage can be treated with trichlorphon, dimethoate or malathion spray.
Usually due to drought, the parsnip roots can crack and split lengthwise.
To avoid cracks in parsnip roots keep the soil moist so that it never dries out completely
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Parsnip problems - treat pests, disease, wireworms, cracks