Thinning out

[Shelle]

Can anyone explain the basis of thinning out? How do I know what needs thinning out and when? Also what is the best way of thinning out (ie how do I pull?)?

The pots I am growing are radishes, beetroot, carrots, spring onions and potatoes.

Whilst I tried to sow thinly, I dont think I sowed thinly enough. Debated about pulling some yesterday but chickened out as I wasnt sure at what stage I should do that. Presumably I need to thin the carrots asap (although only just showing so may be difficult!) as the carrot fly season is coming.

Any suggestions?

[Wendy]

ive got to thin my carrots too so i'll be interested in any answers to this question,
my spring onions seemed to sort themselves out on their own i planted loads in a pot and the strongest ones survived so they are now nicely spaced - dont know if the carrots will do the same thing

[TPeers]

The reason behind thinning is to give each individual plant the room it needs to grow and produce a good crop.

As to when and how - how many gardeners are there?

Personally it depends on what I am growing FOR, if I want main crop carrots, each plant will need more space than for baby veg.....

If all the carrots etc are in pots the spacings as stated on the packets are too great - try for now 1) waiting until true leaves have appeared, 2) if the plants look too tight together such that they are touching at soil level, thin to one finger space in any direction. The thinnings will be unuseable, so compost. 3) when the plants again start to look crowded (in a month or so) thin to 2 finger spaces, these thinings should be useable in salads or as baby veg.

Continue in this way for a third time if the carrots don't look big enough to you, after another month or so.

The same rational and method will apply to radishes, beetroot, lettuce, spring onoins etc...

For the spuds you should be thinking of putting another layer of soil into the tub to earth them up and encorage tubers (spuds) to form on the stems.

Hope this all helps

Terry

[rustylady]

Check your seed packets (or buy a copy of Dr Hessayon's Vegetable Expert) for final spacings. If sowing in pots you can usually prick out individual plants into bigger pots to give them the necessary spacing (tomatoes, chillies, cabbage family etc. but this doesn't work with taprooted plants such as carrots, parsnips etc. They really do need to be thinned out (i.e. pull out the surplus seedlings and discard)

[Shelle]

Thanks for your advice! Made much more sense now.

One of these days I will be able to stop asking such stupid questions

[bramble]

Shelle, no question is a stupid question and theres always someone here to answer your question. Good luck with the growing and enjoy the experience.

[Flummery]

We all started by either asking what seemed like a stupid question or making a huge and sometimes expensive mistake. I know what I'd prefer! Ask away kid - someone will know.

[Shelle]

Lesley, (and others), thanks for your input.

I think I like the idea of sowing "less" better, just needed to know whether I needed to thin out this time as I wasnt sure just how thinly I had sowed (not enough I suspect as a new starter).

You certainly learn from mistakes dont you!

[Wendy]

Absolutly Shelle!!
thanks everyone for your help!
Im gonna go your way LJ, picking baby carrots and leaving some to grow bigger - i love baby carrots and i hate to throw away any plants

[pigletwillie]

Look at the growing techniques board, there is a post about carrots. I also use the same method for spring onion, beetroot, turnips and radish.