The dark art of growing CARROTS!!!

[rob39]

Ok I give up, what is the big secret. For 2 years now I've tried to grow carrots without any success. Autum king and early nantes mainly. I live in the S/W of Scotland 10 miles inland from the coast. Soil clayish. So enriched with compost to break it up. This year I've sowed 4 rows of the d@mn things and only 10ish have germinated . So I put some in a large pot of compost in the greenhouse and garden. What do I get, Carrots with the roots begining to come back on themselves. (root growing upwards) Now I'm begining to think I have to dance around trees, sacrifice the neighbours chicken and practice voodoo to grow them
Any advice for next year???

[binley100]

Yeah....give up

seriously I haven't a clue , I'm not the worlds best at carrots . Very hit or miss . I find they take ages to germinate and usually give up and sow something else instead.
I'm sure a carrot expert will be along shortly

[veggiechicken]

Carrots and I don't seem to get along together either. In fact, I've never grown a decent one Little stumpy ones do the best of a bad lot!

[redser]

Feel bad about this but I'm having good success with them. In the ground and buckets. I add some FBB, maybe that helps once they germinate? In the ground I dragged out a little trench and filled it with compost and sowed thickly into that. I have a glass panel that I put over them to protect them a bit and give a bit of heat.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I can only speak about growing in containers. I use something like a Morrisons black bucket with plenty of drainage holes, standard peat in MPC, sow thickly, thin as required, Bobs your auntie.

Colin

[binley100]

How are you at parsnips?.......

[zazen999]

Erm.

I grow fantastic ones, only to have the best ones eaten by carrot fly.

I sow late, make sure there are slug prevention measures [organic pellets, sawdust mulch, coffee grounds - the full works], And I net from sowing to eating. I weed twice, once at about 3 inches growth and once at about a foot's. That's it.

Still get pesky carrot fly though. So this year, what with the slug problems, I didn't bother at all.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Oh I forgot after I have set the seed I roll up my left trouser leg, bare my chest, make a small incision in my finger and as the blood drips on to the compost I chant "grow you bu**ers grow." works for me.

Potty.

[Tripmeup]

I generally have good success with carrotts....

I sow mine in a clay soil in a hollowed out row, sow the seeds and then cover with a handful of compost all along so I know where I sowed them..I cover them with fleece or enviromesh straight away and I think this helps with the germination too (but can't be sure)..I dont really thin them out at all and like Zaz, I might only weed them once, so it is mostly a case of sowing, covering and leaving them to it for a couple of months....

You need to bear in mind too that they can take along time to germinate so patience is needed....

[hamesy]

My first batch of carrots this year didn't go to well and I probably only had a hand full. My second batch have done really well and all I done with them was sow, water and let nature do the rest.

I have got a third lot going, but when I was down the allotment Wednesday evening, I couldn't see any signs of them.

[rob39]

How are you at parsnips?.......

Got a garden full and growing great! just waiting for the first frost, which should be anyday now

[Two_Sheds]

I've just harvested a few (they had some fly damage) ... they like sandy well-drained soil, no feed, and a good amount of watering (I had a brilliant crop last year when we had loads of rain ... but this year I didn't sow most of them until last week, because it's been too cold and too sluggy)

[Leeds_lad]

I always start mine off under one of those mini plastic poly tunnels you can get from garden centres. They germinate in a matter of days. After that they stay under there for a few months until the foliage starts crowding the place out.

[binley100]

Got a garden full and growing great! just waiting for the first frost, which should be anyday now

See I can grow great parsnips too ..........even if my carrots are iffy ......

[westongreenman]

Ok, I'm taking 'enriched with compost' to mean recently? If so, that's part of the problem. Roots, tapering ones, don't like it and will fork,twist,stunt an do all sorts of gymnastics to avoid it. I also have clay soil but enrich with sharp grit and compost then don't grow roots for at least a year in that spot. Then, when the soil is easier and no longer 'ripe' with manure or compost, cut a slit row and fill with seed compost. Sow into that, cover with a cloche or fleece and wait. And wait.And wait then thin when the shoulders touch. Worked for me this year despite the weather. (sorry, mentioned the W word..)