Growing Skirret: A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 10, 2026
Skirret is a minor European root crop, related to carrot and parsnip, that’s been repeatedly lost and rediscovered over the centuries. It’s rarely grown today, though not for lack of flavor: cooked roots taste sweet and soft, something like a cross between carrot and potato.
Slow, erratic germination is normal
Skirret seed germinates slowly and unevenly, often taking three to six weeks before you see meaningful numbers of seedlings. For full-size roots the first year, start seed indoors about 8 weeks before the last frost, keeping the soil moist and, if possible, applying gentle bottom heat until about half the seed has come up. It can also be direct-sown any time from mid-fall through late spring, though spring sowings should wait until after the last frost since young sprouts can be killed by a hard freeze.
More shade-tolerant than most root crops
Unlike carrots or parsnips, skirret tolerates shade reasonably well, at some cost to root size. That makes it a sensible pick for the shadier edge of a bed, near an orchard, or along a woodland border, spots most root vegetables in this dataset wouldn’t do well in.
A perennial that rewards patience
Skirret is ready to dig at the end of its first year once the top dies back, but yield improves substantially in year two and keeps climbing modestly after that. Because it tolerates freezing soil, established roots can be dug whenever the ground is workable rather than on a single fixed harvest date, and a patch left alone for a few years will noticeably outproduce one dug clean every fall.
Skirret has no recorded companions or antagonists in our data. See the full companion guide for skirret for how it’s tracked. Give it a permanent spot in the Garden Designer rather than an annual rotation slot, ideally somewhere it can pick up a little afternoon shade.
Source: Skirret (Sium sisarum), Cultivariable.
Companion planting guide for Skirret · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 5-9. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Method: Either: Start indoors for an earlier harvest, or direct-sow outside for less fuss. Skirret tolerates either.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Skirret plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: about 2 square feet per plant (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 1.5-2.5 ft.
Varieties worth considering
- Cultivariable Standard: Cultivariable's own straight-species seed offering, the standard way most home gardeners grow skirret since named cultivars propagated by offset are far less commonly available. (source)
Cited from the source shown next to each variety. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.
Where to buy skirret seeds
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See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing skirret" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Skirret: A minor, nearly-forgotten European perennial root vegetable in the carrot and parsnip family, with thin, sweet roots that cook up soft.
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