Growing Carrots?

[Scoot]

Is it best to just sow these straight into the garden (in their final position) or can you sow them into seed trays and then transplant into the garden when they are looking good?

[Lumpy]

It's better to sow them straight into the ground as transplanting them from a seed tray etc will disturb the tap root that will become your carrot. I have had success with sowing them into loo roll tubes then planting the tube outside but I gave up as I found it easier to just sprinkle those horribly small seeds straight outside.
The loo roll method can be useful if you have heavy clay or very stoney soil thouh.

[Kristen]

As Lumpy said they won't transplant - the roots will fork into a thousand fingers because of the disruption to their tap root. I have grown Carrots in Loo rolls and planted out ... but only once! I do do that for Parsnips (heavy clay here) but it was way too much trouble. I grow 50 Parsnips, and they grow nice and fat of course, so one-per-loo-roll (actually I use newspaper pots) is fine. But I grow hundreds of carrots ... not practical.

I make a v-trench and fill it with fine soil (from my compost heap, sieved) with sand added. I grow Carrots at one end of the bed - I have four beds in my crop rotation, carrots are at the same end each time. So over the years the soil in that end of the bed has had sand added each year, and is getting better - maybe one day it will be fine enough that I can grow Carrots without having to make a augmented fine-soil bed for them

[SkyChild]

I'm away to try and grow carrots with my small boy this year, into toilet rolls. Is it worth cutting a kitchen roll in half?

How do you sprinkle the tiny seeds if you are direct sowing?

[Lumpy]

Hello SC - yes cut a kitchen roll in half.
As for the seeds you could always mix them with a bit of sand and then be able to see where you have sprinkled. If you have more than 1 per tube come up just snip the ones you don't want off at soil level.

[Martin H]

If you grow them this way, the actual carrot won't be any longer than the tube you started it off in. So make sure you choose a stump-rooted variety or the boy will be disappointed come harvest time.

[Bigmallly]

I found it great therapy to make some http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ape_77068.html during the cold wet winter months.

[Jay-ell]

Another thread reminded me of the icing bag method which I will have to try out

[beeterforit]

Sowing carrots an easy way

Hi All
For me sowing carrots has always been a challenge so this is what I do
Firstly carrots sown direct has always been the easiest
I use a piece of black guttering 1 Metre longish black to see the seeds
Next drill holes 5mm ish 50mm apart all along and clean with fine sand paper
Place in bed push down a little then put some seeds at 1 end and with a childs paint brush brush a seed in each hole remove then cover and water
It is easy to make and will last years good for radishes as well no seed waste or thining which will entice the root fly

[SkyChild]

If you grow them this way, the actual carrot won't be any longer than the tube you started it off in. So make sure you choose a stump-rooted variety or the boy will be disappointed come harvest time.

Why is that? Even if they are grown in a really deep raised bed?
I think we've got stump-rooted ones anyway so it shouldn't be a problem but now I'm all curious

[Hazel at the Hill]

Hi All
For me sowing carrots has always been a challenge so this is what I do
Firstly carrots sown direct has always been the easiest
I use a piece of black guttering 1 Metre longish black to see the seeds
Next drill holes 5mm ish 50mm apart all along and clean with fine sand paper
Place in bed push down a little then put some seeds at 1 end and with a childs paint brush brush a seed in each hole remove then cover and water
It is easy to make and will last years good for radishes as well no seed waste or thining which will entice the root fly

I like that idea for carrots.

[Martin H]

Why is that? Even if they are grown in a really deep raised bed?
I think we've got stump-rooted ones anyway so it shouldn't be a problem but now I'm all curious

The baby carrot sends down a tap root very soon after germination. It is this that will eventually swell to become the carrot. If you start the plant off in a tube, the tap root hits the bottom and then has to go sideways or branch.

When you plant the carrot out in a deep bed, it may try to resume its downward growth but it will be misshapen and forked.

[Penellype]

I sow my carrots in pots and don't tend to thin them. What I do is pour a few seeds onto my left hand, then pick up pinches of seed between finger and thumb and sprinkle them over wet compost so I can easily see them. I can then be disciplined and make sure that I do only a few small pinches per pot instead of shaking them out of the packet and sowing far too thickly. Once I've got them into the pot I cover them lightly with a little compost, job done.

[TrysHard]

What depth of container do you need for carrots

I have a couple of Stewart 50 cm tubs about a ft deep in old money might be a bit OTT

[Penellype]

My 18" square pots are probably about a foot deep. It rather depends on what sort of carrots you grow - the small round or stump rooted varieties don't need that depth really. Alternatively.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WRXfTz0BiY