How long do carrots take to germinate?

[robfosters]

Planted some Amsterdam Sprint (baby carrots) the same time as some little gems. Little Gems are showing but no sign of the carrots.

This is the first time I have grown them so am unsure. Do they take longer to show? How long normally?

[reetnproper]

Don't know about Amsterdam Sprints but in my experience (limited though it is) lettuces take literally a few days to show their faces (4-6 days in most varieties I've grown) where as carrots take longer. I'm sure someone more experienced will be along soon to clarify matters.

Reet
x

[Two_Sheds]

Carrots can be iffy. They like warm soil, which it is by now, certainly.

More likely is that slugs have grazed them off as they appeared, or your soil has capped (gone hard and crusty) so the carrot leaf can't break through. Try again, this time topping off your drill with MPC instead of soil

[robfosters]

I planted them in a big pot of MPC. No sign of slugs anywhere near my crop. Doubt it's hardness either as it's been raining cats and dogs these last few days.

[Two_Sheds]

They may just be slow then

[Jardiniere]

mine take forever, the ones i put in early were useless they just couldnt get through the dry crust, so my rows are patchy. Persevere.

[Snadger]

About 8 days for mine!

[selsey.steve]

I grow my carrots in pots which live on a bench so that carrot root fly can't get to them. (Carrot root fly have a maximum operational altitude of about 36 inches!). The year before last I had sporadic germination despite having no soil capping etc. Last year I tried 'shallow planting', that is planting the seeds at a depth which they might naturally achieve. For carrots this is about 1/16" at the most.
I pre-wet the pots and then, with the aid of a pair of tweezers (daft, I know, but it pays dividends) I place two seeds just under the surface of the potting soil/ compost mix in the pot. I use cling film to seal the top of the pot to retain moisture and remove it only when the seedlings break surface in about 10-14 days. I remove the weaker seedling (if it has emerged) from each station and grow on with the pots on the bench out of reach of the carrot flies. I get a crop of 9 or 10 good carrots out of each pot.
Results are shown in the photos.

[Creemteez]

lovely specimens, SS!

[Germinater]

Wow ss great carrots if mine turn out anything like those il be well chuffed..I germinate all mine in the gh they seemed to grow very well and almost all germinated witch was annoying as I put 5 seeds in every drill s.so I wasted loads of dead thing them down to two in every drill atleast that way when they get big enuff to eat I can pull one from each drill and leave the other one left to mature .or atleast that's wots supposed to happen ..

[Aberdeenplotter]

That is so much nonsense about carrot fly not operating above 36 inches. Leave your carrots uncovered at your peril. Exhibition carrot growers growing in 40 gallon drums still get carrotfly. I can personally testify to that.

[Florence Fennel]

Smashing carrots SS, well done. I had a sowing last year that never appeared, I think the slugs got them before I'd seen them. Just be patient and if they don't appear, sow some more!

[Two_Sheds]

(Carrot root fly have a maximum operational altitude of about 36 inches!).

It's true that they fly low over the ground, however gusts of wind can and do blow them up and over any barrier you may have

[sall2009]

Planted some Amsterdam Sprint (baby carrots) the same time as some little gems. Little Gems are showing but no sign of the carrots.

This is the first time I have grown them so am unsure. Do they take longer to show? How long normally?

I planted my first lot in mid – late April and they took around 6 weeks to show any sign of life.

I have grown two more lots since then and they are germinating within 3 weeks now. I think carrots need a higher temperature throughout the day and night to germinate.

[selsey.steve]

That is so much nonsense about carrot fly not operating above 36 inches. Leave your carrots uncovered at your peril. Exhibition carrot growers growing in 40 gallon drums still get carrotfly. I can personally testify to that.

"Protect vulnerable crops by surrounding them with 60cm (2ft) high barriers made of clear polythene to exclude the low-flying female flies" from Carrot fly / Royal Horticultural Society.