Er, What do i do now?

[Jason Cartwright]

Hi,

I have some strawberry plants on the go and they're coming on slowly.
I also have some carrots on the go and they look like they're just showing.
I know what i'm going to do with them when they get big enough to move.
My problem is the tomato plants my stepson wanted to grow. He wanted one of them tomato pots from Asda and already there are 2 seedlings and they are about 3 inches tall and the 1st 2 leaves have curled slightly.
What do i do with them now?
I was going to get a grow bag and put them in there but with the weather being the way it is i didn't know if they will be alright out there and they can't stay where they are because they are in in my stepsons attic bedroom (It's the only room in the house that gets really good sunlight (the other plants are in there too))

Thanks

J

[WendyC]

Strawberry plants and carrots would be ok outside now but would probably need either covering at night or bringing indoors at night for a week or two to get them hardened off (used to cooler growing conditions). Carrots can't really be transplanted or the roots will fork. If they are in a pot you could transplant the whole potful into a bigger pot but I wouldn't try moving them individually as you will inevitably damage the root tip.
Tomatoes aren't hardy and can't go outside until after the last frost. Probably end May / early June. I wouldn't worry about the seed leaves curling. If the seedlings look like they are getting too long and leggy you can repot them deeper so the seed leaves are touching the compost. They need to have as much light as you can but not too warm. If you have somewhere like a greenhouse they could go out during the day but I'd still watch the over night temperatures.

[Two_Sheds]

I also have some carrots on the go ...I know what i'm going to do with them when they get big enough to move.

Move them? Where are they? What have you sowed them in?

My problem is the tomato plants

They can't go outside until after your last frost date (mid to late May, in most places).
Until then, you need to keep them at least 10c day & night, with as much light as poss

[Jason Cartwright]

[QUOTE=Two_Sheds;963532]Move them? Where are they? What have you sowed them in?

I've sown them in seed pots under a propagator top.

[Two_Sheds]

^ you can't transplant carrots. You need to sow them in their final places

[chris]

The majority of root crops need to be sown direct, like TS says Jason - parsnips, carrots, etc. Moving them can damage the taproot causing them to split/fork and create odd shaped roots. More often than not these are unusable for human consumption anyway, as they're so difficult to clean/prepare

[Two_Sheds]

Growing in stony soil causes the twisting and forking too

[kathyd]

I've never really understood why a weird shaped carrot can't be eaten - why are they 'unsuitable for human consumption'? I don't peel my carrots as a rule, and surely they can be scrubbed like any other carrot? Or does the forking produce some chemical reaction which is bad for us or something?

[Kaiya]

As Chris said it's just that they are hard to clean - nooks and crankies. Similar to why you should cut leeks before washing them - eating soil isn't ideal (listeria primarily I believe).

[singleseeder]

ooops... checks self for listeria

[singleseeder]

.... and son (30) who used to eat earthworms without washing and peeling .... the worms, not himself.

[veggiechicken]

.... and son (30) who used to eat earthworms without washing and peeling .... the worms, not himself.

If you peeled earthworms wouldn't you get down to the earth in their middles. Your son was very sensible not too!!

[chris]

I've never really understood why a weird shaped carrot can't be eaten - why are they 'unsuitable for human consumption'? I don't peel my carrots as a rule, and surely they can be scrubbed like any other carrot? Or does the forking produce some chemical reaction which is bad for us or something?

Well, they are I guess, if you don't mind eating a bit of soil with them I've had one shaped almost like a star before - I couldn't get in to clean it. I ate some of it, but the majority was discarded. My wording wasn't the best - if you can't eat them give them to veggiechicken -her dogs love carrots

I meant that the nooks and crannies can't be cleaned - apologies

[veggiechicken]

Since I rarely manage to grow a conventionally shaped root vegetable in my stony ground, I'd say, scrub, rub or soak off as much earth as you can, lop off any really deformed bits that you can't clean up (not because they're poisonous) and eat the rest.
Chris is correct, my dogs love raw carrots and welcome any unwanted veggies in whatever shape or state of cleanliness!

[RedThorn]

Jason, with the carrots, I'd just be inclined to sow more in the final position, nothing wrong with misshapen carrots, but the mess you'll get later when they grown, unless you've loads of space, and can afford the space for the experiment, I'd not bother with them. Or of you really want to, put them in big-ish pots now before the tap roots start twisting in the seed pots you've got then in.