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Comments
"I have never heard of pre-germinating (soaking) carrot seed, will definitely try this method"
Karen Montgomery on Friday 20 April 2012
"Really useful tips re weeding and thinning- I'd been gently pulling up but snipping is a great idea. Like the tip re priming seed for later showings too."
Sara Caine on Friday 20 April 2012
"Thankyou for this infomation, it is just what i have been looking for,although i have not heared of soaking carrot seeds in water before, and i have been a gardener for many years,I am willing to try it."
Theresa Fisher on Friday 20 April 2012
"How far apart should each carrot sit after thinning? Also, how moist must the soil be kept? About how many days will it take until the carrots are ready to harvest after germination?"
Kim Spangrude on Friday 20 April 2012
"When cutting the tops back after harvesting, how much of the foliage do you cut back? Last year my carrots in the refrigerator got very soft in 2 weeks."
Pat on Friday 20 April 2012
"Another thought is to plant the seeds in the cardboard tube from kitchen paper rolls, with their own compost/fertilizer mix they grow nice and straight. If you want baby carrots use toilet tissue cardboard tubes.The tubes eventually break down and add to the compost in the garden."
Laurie on Friday 20 April 2012
"could you grow carrots in sand?"
colin loughlin on Friday 20 April 2012
"Hi Colin, Don't know if growing in sand alone will get an exceptable result - why not try it out and let us know on this blog."
Laurie on Friday 20 April 2012
"Pat, the tops should be cut back to less than one-half inch right away. The ones in stores have had their tops thinned are have been superchilled...Kim, see the profile in the GrowGuides for lots of little carrot growing details...Sandy soil is great for carrots, but plain sand would be too coarse. Carrots have such fine feeder roots that I think they would fail to thrive without organic matter. "
Barbara Pleasant on Friday 20 April 2012
"I would suggest planting carrots in raised beds that are about 12 or 15" deep and on legs to bring them waist high, and on casters. Only 'hard' work would be to sift any soil and/or compost to rid of tiny sticks, stones, etc... I say 'beds' plural so you can rotate with a couple other crops each year."
florence krohn on Sunday 22 April 2012
"Last fall I added fresh cow manure to my garden and let it sit until spring when I tilled into the soil but one article I read said not to plant carrots in manure. Is it ok to plant carrots in manure?"
Jeannine on Friday 27 April 2012
"Jeanine, it depends on your soil, climate and other factors as well. I don't think excess manuring is a problem much these days, but probably once was when that was the only source of fertilizer many people had available to them. If your manure rotted all winter and was then tilled in, I think you're in good shape for carrots or anything else."
Barbara Pleasant on Friday 27 April 2012
"Barbara, I heard that the soil for carrots should be more sandy and not so rich in nutrients to cause the root to "search" for nutrients and thus grow longer. How does this advice sit with you?For years I have grow carrots in all areas of my garden to try to get longer carrots and I mostly come up with a short stubby harvest. The carrots taste fine but must be cut into coins not sticks for serving cold. "
Mark Hausammann on Saturday 28 April 2012
"Mark, all of my beds are constantly being improved, but one section of my garden consistently grows better carrots than the others. Keep looking for your sweet spots, and when they come up in your rotation plans, do a happy dance. Also stick with Nantes cousins (spring) and thick Chantenays (fall) as much as you can, based purely on their successful track records in home gardens. The longer the carrot, the pickier they are about site."
Barbara Pleasant on Sunday 29 April 2012
"That is wonderful,Iam preparing my dissertation on this vegetable crop."
SIBORUREMA on Sunday 13 May 2012
"i am a new veg grower and am having trouble growing onions from seed i planted out a whole packet and only 6 of these are growing wot am i doing wrong "
lee on Friday 18 May 2012
"Lee, onions are so slow-growing at first that the seeds are best started indoors, where you can control conditions. Direct-seeded onions are a weeder's nightmare, if they come up at all. See this blog for many small details on growing onions from seed: http://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=232"
Barbara Pleasant on Saturday 19 May 2012
"thanks barbara also will it be ok to fin out carrots i just through all the seeds in the plot and to my surprise they have all come up and need to be thined out looks like i will have a good crop this year im a novice grower "
lee on Saturday 19 May 2012
"i have planted seeds in a improvised earth box with a half sand half compost mix. Will be interesting to see how it develops. Also put a few onion bulbs in to discourage carrot fly"
colly on Saturday 19 May 2012
"i will definatly try soaking seeds in water , this year 2013 i have started all my seeds in my greenhouse this has had good results , couldnt trust the weatherit snowed had frost gales even started my potatoes off in green house "
jo on Sunday 5 May 2013
"I stored my last year carrot crop two ways one in sand and the other in peat moss. The sand is the way to go. My extended family enjoyed carrots from the garden at Easter. I still have a few left. The last ones in the sand are better cooked now "
Mark H. on Sunday 12 May 2013
"help.... i am great at flowers but not so good with veg Why on all my veg ,carrots onions beatroot do i have lots of folidge but no sign of a veg, my carots are all folidge and root i understand my onions will bulk in a month or so , my beetroot is all green no beetroot. i have put a recomended fertalizer advised best is the one that used for potatoes. my garden was once a farm land and potatoes were grown so i belive the soil is good Please advice or all my hard work done in vain Carol "
carol on Sunday 28 July 2013
"Carol, it sounds like you are in a cool climate, or perhaps got a late start. Don't worry. Carrots do take a long time to plump up, and prolonged cloudy weather can make beets run late. Be patient."
Barbara Pleasant on Monday 29 July 2013
"Thank you . They are planted south facing but they were late going in so hopefully they be ok Thaks againCarol"
Benj on Monday 29 July 2013
"I planted carrots in the spring. They were in the ground 80 days and I harvested a few. They were ok. Went on vacation and about three weeks later I harvested several that looked good but were dry and had no or bitter taste. I left the rest in the ground and dug them up while getting the garden ready for winter. I thought these would be no good too but they are excellent. These have been in the ground since May it is now the beginning of Oct. I am wondering if the bitter tasting ones were due to being harvested in August during dry conditions."
Craig K on Sunday 3 November 2013
"You are right on, Craig. The variety you grew required cool soil temperatures to develop its sugars. Many gardeners stick with Nantes types varieties in spring and experiment more with interesting varieties when planting carrots in summer for fall harvest."
Barbara Pleasant on Friday 15 November 2013
"Thanks so much for the tip on priming carrot seeds. I planted seeds twice this spring, few of them came up. So I soaked some seeds overnight; drained the water and folded the seeds in a piece of paper towel; put them in a ziploc for 2 days. The 3rd day I looked at them and a couple were about to sprout. I laid them on top of the soil (in a container),sprinkled a bit of potting soil over, patted them gently in, misted lightly and covered with a piece of floating row cover and then a big wide plastic plant saucer.2 days later I saw some new sprouts; 3rd day, almost all were germinated. I removed the row cover and left the plant saucer over them, propped up a little with a rock. Looks like I'll be successful this time."
mosaiclady on Monday 23 June 2014
"I plant my carrots (nearly always Nantes variety in spring) in v shaped trenches which I make by inserting my garden spade to it's full depth into the row and moving it backwards and forwards to create a trench which I then fill with used potting compost to which I have added some granular fertiliser. I then sow my carrots into this and cover with more compost which has been sieved to remove lumps. So far very good crops of long straight carrots. Last couple of years been using carrot seed tapes - the moisture held in the paper tape seems to help germination. Thanks for all the info Barbara."
Alan Corbett on Sunday 10 January 2016
"The best-tasting, crispest (crispiest?), sweetest carrots I ever grew were planted downhill from an Emu pen where, of course, the slope allowed for a naturally occurring slow fertilization from the rain-diluted emu-poo! They were a little hairy (the carrots, not the Emu), but I would highly recommend Emu pen leavings as a carrot garden enhancer!"
Julie Kehler on Tuesday 22 November 2016
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