No more luck with Carrotts

[Alex_Parrott]

Afternoon all. I wonder whether I could pick your brains for some keen advice. During the some I complained about the thinning of carrotts however now I wish I had not as i no longer have any to thin. I have tried several varieties of carrotts including nantes and autumn king and have been unsuccesful in germenating both resulting in two wasted packets of seeds and my money to!

has anyone any idea how to germinate carrotts at this time of year? I have tried using cloches and leaving them open and zilch! have considered trying to get them to sprout indoors on damp kitchen towl but could be fiddly.

Any advice much appreciated

[Florence Fennel]

Where did you plant them Alex? Containers, raised beds or in the ground?

[Hans Mum]

this is the first year i've managed to grow carrots, in an old bath, with a layer of polystrene chips at the bottom, a layer of chicken bedding then a mix of topsoil/compost. I just sprinkled the seeds on the top and watered them in and theyve been fab. Don't know which has been the reason but its worked for me.

[BarleySugar]

I can't help you I'm afraid. I put some in about 3 weeks ago, and didn't hold out much hope as I was unable to water them during the dry spell, but when I went to pick beans etc yesterday they were coming through! It's the first time I've got them to germinate in the open ground, I've always done pots before. However I was asked once if I was sure they weren't germinating, or were they getting mown off by slugs before I ever noticed them? I don't know the answer to that, but there are few slugs at my other garden (yet)

[Alex_Parrott]

Hi Florence, they have been sown in the ground. I sowed some in a window box about a week before sowing the others and they are going great. I have sowed some where my other carrotts had been pulled up and some where the ground had not been used and some where my potatoes had been. No luck in any of the spots.

Hope this helps

[Anita Plot]

I have grown carrots for the first time.

I read or heard somewhere that the seeds do not keep from year to year so I decided to use all mine up. I watered the raised bed then chucked all the seeds over then covered in thin layer of seed compst.

I now have a carrot forest.

Some are ready to eat now and I will pull them this weekend

[Florence Fennel]

Hi Florence, they have been sown in the ground. I sowed some in a window box about a week before sowing the others and they are going great. I have sowed some where my other carrotts had been pulled up and some where the ground had not been used and some where my potatoes had been. No luck in any of the spots.

Hope this helps

No clues there then Alex, unless like someone else has been told, they were taken by slugs. Don't give up, try some more. I sowed some 3 weeks ago and they are up. I have parsnips after 4 unsuccessful attempts and I too cannot explain why they just disappeared. I had to buy a new packet and I sowed in only 2 rows x 3 ft between the carrots and even some of them haven't germinated!! Good luck with it.

[Alex_Parrott]

Thanks to all of you. I think I will try scattering the seed in an area instead of doing drills and sprinkle compost on top. A little unrelated but is it possible to still do parsnips? I did have some that I thought were doing great but then I dug around them to find they were covered in flea like bugs that were burrowing and hollowing so would like to try again if possible.

[zazen999]

If you don't sow with slug pellets, they chomp them once they start to show.

[Emma R]

I put seeds in one of my raised beds in April - 2 days later very heavy hailstones and rain washed them away, I think. Also tried in May and June with only a few tufts surviving, don't know why.

Two weeks I decided to try the leftover seeds (Autumn King, Nandor and Scarlet Horn) in deep containers (have decided to use the bed for something else) starting off in the greenhouse, these are all now doing very well. Think I will use containers next year too, if they continue to do well.

[Two_Sheds]

I sowed some in a window box about a week before sowing the others and they are going great.

Nothing wrong with the seed then.
It will be slugs, eating the carrots as soon as they emerge. You don't see the slugs, so you assume the seeds didn't germinate.

[helanuels]

has anyone any idea how to germinate carrotts at this time of year? I have tried using cloches and leaving them open and zilch! have considered trying to get them to sprout indoors on damp kitchen towl but could be fiddly.

Any advice much appreciated

Just a thought... if you are going to germinate indoors... Would fluid sowing work? I ask because I have a book that says you use fluid sowing with fiddly seeds and then they get a stronger and quicker start. Only thing is, that's not actually going to help with the slug thing. Could you use one of those module thingys that have the long deep spaces so encourage root growth and then transplant? (This idea going on the basis that the bigger the seedling the better its chances.) Or would this stop the plants from growing large enough roots?

(I'm sorry if this isn't relevant. I just thought it might help to solve the mystery)

[helanuels]

Nothing wrong with the seed then.
It will be slugs, eating the carrots as soon as they emerge. You don't see the slugs, so you assume the seeds didn't germinate.

I found this on the Nemaslug site:

If your seeds do not seem to have germinated, it is possible that slugs have devoured the emerging seedlings underground

Slugs, Nemaslug nematode pest control - nemasysinfo.co.uk

Make interesting reading. Hx

[Two_Sheds]

Could you use one of those module thingys that have the long deep spaces so encourage root growth and then transplant?

Some of us use loo rolls, some of us sow into a wet drill and then cover with multi-purpose instead of soil (helps to prevent capping)

[taff]

I sowed some about 4 or 5 weeks ago, it was a last attempt, the third time of sowing.
Nothing happened.
I got a bit miffed about it, so I put some chard seedlings in to have some sort of harvest in there, lo and behold, a week later the d*** carrots have shown up.
I give up.