Growing shop bought carrots

[chris]

Looking at the Marshalls catalogue you can buy a packet of Purple Carrots name of Purple Haze FI for £1.75.

Purple haze are orange in the middle. But lovely in taste

[chris]

Ah.. just re-read the RS site, it was the purple skinned ones that are new for this year I believe - sorry!

As snadger says though - I didn't explain very well - I'd expect them to be F1's, for main stream supermarkets - they'd want the uniformity of size and colour, no doubt.

[PAULW]

Could have dreamt this but think shop carrots are apache bred for uniformity and transportability but not for taste.

[Panoply]

Thank you all for your replies and all of the links. That Carrot Museum website looks amazing and I shall be reading it for hours from the looks of things! The link that says at least 16 is greatfully received - much easier to imagine keeping 20ish than 40!

Bit worried about scarletrunner's comment that the produce is washed in chlorine.. doesn't sound good. As per Florence Fennel's suggestion I have emailed Sainsbury's to ask what variety they are, and have had a response saying "we need to investigate your query a little further", so hopefully this isn't just a stock reply and they're actually finding out for me, which would be grand.

I am suspicious that they might be F1s. I'm not sure if the Deep Purple variety that I think it might be is an F1 or not - some websites say it is, some don't. Can a variety be both an F1 and not? Even so, how bad could it be if it is an F1? As far as I understand it you wouldn't get a purple carrot from non-purple parents, so if I do get any seeds they're not going to be too disasterously not what I want, surely?

PaulW - what's apache bred mean?

Does anyone know what will happen if I keep the carrot tops, get roots growing on them and plant them out - will they seed first year as if they are the entire plant, or will they have to regrow their root and wait for another year before they go to seed?

[PAULW]

Apache, bred. pardon my lack of punctuation

[Snadger]

Apache, bred. pardon my lack of punctuation

Didn't realise you had a bit of red indian in you Paul.................

[solway cropper]

Shop bought carrots are washed in chlorine,any seed obtained from them could result in being problematic!

Why would the seed be problematic?

[Kaiya]

Indeed - chlorine might damage the plant's ability to survive to produce seed, but if seed were produced it would't be 'tainted' or anything.

[Two_Sheds]

I tried, unsuccessfully, to grow carrots for seed (following all the proper instructions etc). It didn't work.

~~~~~~

However: we grew some carrots at school for the flowers, so the children could see what an amazing plant the humble carrot turns into when it reproduces.

I forgot to take them out, and they must have self-seeded, because this summer we've been pulling up loads of perfect, tasty carrots: no maggot damage either.
Those ones are just starting to flower, so I'll be leaving them again.


No idea what variety they were, but if they were F1 they wouldn't be the same as their parents anyway.

[chris]

Funny you should mention that TS, none of my carrots - which are not protected what so ever have had any carrot fly (or even slug) damage this year.

[Panoply]

Hey all,

Thought I'd update to say Sainsbury's got back to me and confirmed the variety they use is indeed Deep Purple which is an F1. Very impressed with their customer service!

So, considering they're F1s.. is there any point in me trying to grow them for seed? I went back on the sell by date and got a couple more bags at a reduced price - so I have lots of purple carrots to munch on for the time being at least!

Thanks for all of your help!

[veggiechicken]

I've just had my A&C veg box delivery with a bunch of Purple haze carrots with greenery! I'll just have to root the tops - its an obsession

[Two_Sheds]

the variety they use is indeed Deep Purple

I can't find any UK suppliers of seed

http://www.4seasonsseeds.com.au/Carr...ntreated-Seeds

Whatcom Seed Company - Rainbow Carrot Seeds

How frustrating

is there any point in me trying to grow them for seed?

Have a read of this (if you haven't already)
How To Save Your Own Seed at Home

[BertieFox]

Of course this will work and as long as the roots aren't completely battered and shrivelled, simply replanting them up to the crown should mean growth in the spring. You will have a long wait for them to grow into a tall plant, flower, and then collect the seed.. right until next autumn in fact. I find the seed from carrots quite hard to collect before it either rots on the plant or falls to the ground. The seed will be viable but you could not sow it the same season which means waiting until the following spring, so a two year wait in total for your purple carrots which might not come true. Not sure the saving in cost really makes it worth while as a one off, but you could simply get into a normal cycle of saving your own seed each year by leaving some carrots in the ground and then sowing the result the following year. Most commercial seed is grown and harvested in countries where there is reliable sunshine for getting a dry and good seed though. Growing the odd carrot in a greenhouse or tunnel would get better results of course.

[Tam]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Deep-Purpl...item3a6cdc67aa

These are from the States but end up costing under a fiver.