Too many carrots

[monkeyboy]

About six weeks ago, I planted some carrot plug plants from the local homebase into a container. I didn't know whether to thin the seedlings out or not.

I've had a look and the carrots are now about two inches long but very small and pale looking. There's lots of them and I suspect they're not growing as well as they should due to clustering.

Would it be too late to thin the carrots out now?
Could I replant some of the carrots into another container?

[Small pumpkin]

Not to late. Just pinch off the tops at ground level. Don't pull them, carrots hate having their roots disturbed.

[bario1]

I would thin them out. Try to disturb the remaining plants as little as possible. You could try transplanting the thinnings, but as a rule carrots don't like root disturbance, so I'm not sure how successfully they'd grow on.

[burnie]

I go round my raised beds carefully pulling out a few and eating them raw, I always water afterwards to settle the soil round those left behind, I haven't noticed any problems before.

[Penellype]

If you are going to thin them make sure that they are netted as carrot flies can smell a damaged carrot from a considerable distance and will home in on them.

You may be expecting them to grow too fast. Carrots are very slow growing and mine are still at the thin and pale stage having been sown in March and early April. The only ones that have been big enough to eat so far were sown in the hotbed in January.

[Snadger]

Not to late. Just pinch off the tops at ground level. Don't pull them, carrots hate having their roots disturbed.

Does pinching the tops off work? I've never heard of that but it would certainly stop any root disturbance.

[monkeyboy]

Thanks all. When I say "too many", they're clustered together in a way that reminds me of grapes. I think they need a bit more space and not have to compete for nutrients.

[Small pumpkin]

Does pinching the tops off work? I've never heard of that but it would certainly stop any root disturbance.

I always do that when they are small for the first thinnings ( seedlings up to about 2" high). If they still need thinning after that I pull them because they are usually usable ( just, if you have a good imagination! ) and they should have a little space between them so root disturbance is minimal. Then I do the same as burnie fill any holes that have been left and water.

[veggiechicken]

About six weeks ago, I planted some carrot plug plants from the local homebase into a container. I didn't know whether to thin the seedlings out or not.

I've had a look and the carrots are now about two inches long but very small and pale looking. There's lots of them and I suspect they're not growing as well as they should due to clustering.

Would it be too late to thin the carrots out now?
Could I replant some of the carrots into another container?

Did you thin them out as you planted them?
TBH, I think its a waste of money buying carrot (and most root crops) plug plants. They're always sown too thickly, the roots don't have enough depth and they're not well cared for.

[greenishfing]

I agree. Waste of time! Having said this I have yet (after many attempts) to grow a decent carrot crop by any method.

[ameno]

Did you thin them out as you planted them?
TBH, I think its a waste of money buying carrot (and most root crops) plug plants. They're always sown too thickly, the roots don't have enough depth and they're not well cared for.

All of that is true, and I agree completely about them being an utter waste of money.
However, by far the biggest reason they are a waste of money is the price. A set of plugs costs, what, £2? Given the yield you are likely to get from them, it would cost less than a quarter of your outlay just to buy the carrots in the supermarket. And far less still just to buy a packet of seeds and sow them yourself.

[ameno]

I agree. Waste of time! Having said this I have yet (after many attempts) to grow a decent carrot crop by any method.

If you only want salad carrots, not big fat maincrop ones, I recommend a big tub of compost.
I grow mine primarily in a tub 18" across and 12" deep, and they always do really well.
A tub warms up quicker, and the compost has a fine texture, so germination is good, and the loose soil allows the roots to easily push through it.
Just don't sow them too early. Carrots don't germinate well in cold soil, so despite what the seed packets say, you shouldn't really sow outside until about mid-April unless you want really patchy germination.
Although with a pot, you can just bring the pot into a greenhouse until the seeds germinate, then put them back outside again. That's what I did this year, at the beginning of March, and I've been pulling salad carrots since late June.