Too early for carrots / parsnips?

[janeyo]

Hi is it too early to sow carrots / parsnips into the ground? Beds are raised and we are in Cambs. Packets say Feb onwards but wanted to check.

Thanks, janeyo

got to get the pesky stones out first though....

[busylizzie]

I planted a couple of rows of carrots a week or so back in a raised bed under a cloche (I'm in the south-west) - they are Nantes type which I think are supposed to be OK early. No sign of anything sprouting just yet though, so I don't know whether it was too early or not!

I'm working on the basis that I'm planning to do successional sowing every couple of weeks anyway, so I don't lose anything if the first lot don't come up.

[pjh75]

I'm working on the basis that I'm planning to do successional sowing every couple of weeks anyway, so I don't lose anything if the first lot don't come up.

I want to do that, was planning on starting carrots off in the next few days... how many do you successionally sow at a time?

[si'sraisedbed]

I sowed early Nantes under glass (until storms smashed the glass, now under plastic!!) in early Feb, thought they had failed so put in more, now have 1mx1m of tiny seedlings about 1 cm high, will need lots of thinning as the first lot have come through too!!

[busylizzie]

I want to do that, was planning on starting carrots off in the next few days... how many do you successionally sow at a time?

I did two short rows (3ft each) but then I don't have much space! I tried two different ways of sowing too, one row is station sowed every 4in or so, the other is just thinly sowed - should be about 1 per 1-2". I want to see which works best to avoid thinning!

[pjh75]

Thanks busylizzie, I have now sown 3 seeds into a loo roll insert (x6)... will wait to see what comes up and either thin out if necessary or harvest some as baby carrots. I guess I wait a month before doing the next lot? or 2 weeks?

[allotmentlady]

I sowed my carrots in February and they are okay, parsnips I germinate them in between damp kitchen roll and put them in the airing cupboard until the sprout them carefully plant them out in about May.

[Eyren]

Hi Janeyo - I'm in Cambs and have sown carrots already in the raised bed in my back garden

They (Early Nantes) were sown in the second week of Feb, under coke-bottle cloches, and are now germinating nicely (where the gales haven't blown the cloches away!). I'm going to sow some more up on the lottie this week (if I can get the designated bed cleared in time), and then some maincrop varieties later in the spring.

[busylizzie]

My carrots sown in Feb are up now, so looks like it wasn't too early.

I've just done a second lot, and assume they will germinate an awful lot quicker this time!

[mrdinkle]

my carrots are just coming up and my 'snips are starting to come through.

[jeannine]

I sowed carrots and parsnips in ground that I'd warmed under plastic in early Feb, and covered them in a £6 cloche from B&Q. I would never normally sow them that early but I knew I'd be laid up from having an op after that so it seemed worth the risk of a few seeds.

Although the parsnip seeds were old, both the carrots and the parsnips have come up really well, so it's definately worth a try, especially if you only sow a quarter of the packet of seeds and do it quite thinly.

Best of luck with yours!