Help with carrots

[2granmas]

Hi Everyone, Any advice re sowing/germinating carrots. We have now sown 3 lots 1st row..nothing.. 2nd row a few little green shoots that disappeared 2 nights later..3rd row up and looking good then gone a week later..help whats happening??

[zazen999]

Slugs. They can make it look like they aren't germinating they get them so fast.

[2granmas]

Trying to be organic so pellets are out,beer traps do they work??

[Two_Sheds]

Beer traps do work, but will drown good insects like ground beetles. Put twigs in them so beetles can climb out, and don't have the lip of the cup at ground level, raise it a cm or two.

btw, you can get organic slug pellets

[zazen999]

Trying to be organic so pellets are out,beer traps do they work??

As T-S mentions - use the organic ones.

They are fab

[Patchninja]

I use those. It's the only think we do use in the garden in terms of pesticide or herbicide. I can't bear to see all my hard work end up in a slug! Monsieur P tried to grow lettuce last year without, and gave me revolting, lacey things!

[womble]

I've been having problems with my parsnip and carrot seedlings this year as well. Some of it may be down to slugs, but I think most is the weather, if you look very carefully you might find collapsed seedlings on the soil, but they are almost invisible.

[Florence Fennel]

I too thought the slugs had got my carrots because there was no sign of anything after about 4 weeks! Then lo and behold they have appeared now the ground has warmed up.

[Two_Sheds]

I've been having problems with my parsnip and carrot seedlings ... I think most is the weather, if you look very carefully you might find collapsed seedlings on the soil

My parsnips were very slow to appear (from chitted seed) and I thought they'd failed. However, I weeded the area t'other day and there they were, growing happily. They've had no water apart from the initial wetting of the drill they were sown into (topped with a mulch of dry soil and a living mulch of weeds)

Carrots the same. I've now weeded the beds and in doing so removed their living mulch, so I have watered.

Dry soil is a bonus inasmuch as it deters slugs. I haven't had much damage at all this year

[womble]

Tbh I haven't had any slug damage since the last rain we had, I think that was 2006.
But I was still getting parsnips and carrots falling over and dying, I sowed a ridiculous amount of carrots, because the seeds are 2 or 3 or more years old, the first long flush fell over and died, the 2nd has been fine and growing nicely.
I'm down to 2 parsnips out of 30 pre germinated. Going to go to town, buy some more seed today and resow.

[Florence Fennel]

I'm sowing my parsnipsdirect this weekend and keeping everything crossed!

[Skotch]

Hi there. I'm not sure if this will help or confuse. About a month ago I thought I had prepared the ground really well to sow pa****ps and carrots. 2 weeks later and nothing was showing at all. The chap on the neighbouring plot looked at the ground and said that he was about to sow his and would I like to see what he did. Dutifully I watched as he pulled through a drill in the ground - no digging or pre-preparation. He then went off and rummaged in his shed and came out with a bucket full of sand which he sprinkled along the drill. He then watered this drill and sowed his seeds and then very gently just sprinkled a bit of soil over the top and gently tamped it down with the edge of his rake.

I did the same over the area I had previously sown my carrot and pa****p seeds. I went to water things last night, and lo and behold, the best germination of both I've ever had!!! My neighbours drills also looked bountifull. His reasoning was that all the seedlings need is some really soft ground which doesn't form a pan

Hope that does help.

[Marge]

I have been having no end of trouble trying to grow carrots this year at a garden club I volunteer at.

Last year we did it wrong sowing the carrot seed in a compost tray and transplanting into pots, and then ending up with weird shaped orange things! So this year I decided to do things 'properly' and sowed the carrots seeds in a tyre in sand (with a little compost mixed in), and took great care over them.

Three weeks later nothing! I will be checking things out later today in the hope of seeing the odd green shoot ... wish me luck

[crazii_c]

my carrots this year germinated fine, but are really slow at growing and i dont know why. i can only put it down to the weather. im hoping my 2nd lot wont be as slow.

[Two_Sheds]

He then watered this drill and sowed his seeds and then very gently just sprinkled a bit of soil over the top

I do the same, except I use MPC as a topper over the seeds (my soil caps and the carrots can't break through)