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 here 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 well-established companion pairings, and nothing it needs to be kept away from. 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.

Mature height: 1.5-2.5 ft

Method: Either: Start indoors for an earlier harvest, or direct-sow outside for less fuss. Either works.

When to plant skirret, by zone

Every zone skirret grows in. Pick your zone in the header and it will be highlighted here. Each zone links to its full page.

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)

Why each variety is listed comes from the source shown next to it. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement. The buy links are separate from those sources: they go to seed suppliers that sell that exact variety, and we may earn a commission on some of them.

Where to buy skirret seeds

None of the seed suppliers we list carries skirret seeds right now. A local garden center or a specialty seed house is the place to look.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page also go to other retailers we may earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a clear consensus of positive, independent reviews, or ones we bought and use ourselves. Each item on our gear page says which.

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)

Pin this for later

Growing Skirret: A minor, nearly-forgotten European perennial root vegetable in the carrot and parsnip family, with thin, sweet roots that cook up soft.

Save to Pinterest