Let's talk about Carrots !

[veggiechicken]

I struggle growing carrots and I'm probably not the only one.
Can you help me please?
What varieties do you grow, where and when?
In fact anything that might help me achieve my ambition to grow a perfect carrot (or even two).
Thank you!
PS, its raining and I've been sorting seeds. I have at least 30 different varieties - averaging about 300 seeds in each. Maybe I need to grow 9000 perfect carrots, not just 2

[lottie dolly]

i had good carrots last year,the only difference's were,they were grown at home in soil that had been well dug about and lots of stones taken out,plus i did wide drills aprox 6in wide,and spread the seeds further apart,i have come to the conclusion that,seed to thick,will not grow as well as spread out,as 1 will restrict the growth of the other,i was lucky no beasties on them until the weather changed to autumn.
the allotment soil is clay,i plan to try again this year down there,but will add some sand into the ground,i grew nants and norfolk giants,the latter were really nice taste,but do not seem to weather the winter in the ground,i think it also depends on soil,weather,do not let them dry out,or they split

[Penellype]

I've had much better results in containers than in open ground, where I find the carrots tend to be unevenly shaped, sometimes split and damaged by slugs. You can get a surprising number of really nice carrots from an 18 inch square pot a foot deep if you sow the seed thinly, keep it well watered and cover it with insect mesh.

Varieties I like are Nantes Frubund Fastcrop, Eskimo and Marion (all nantes types). All of these are cold tolerant - I'm still eating mine.

[Martin H]

Here's a picture of how I did mine last year. I used old compost for them to grow through my stony clay and covered them with netting for the entire season. It worked fine.



More details here: https://haddersm.wordpress.com/18-carrots/

[Nicos]

We have fairly sandy acidic soil and do pretty well with carrots.

I scratch a drill about 1" wide, sprinkle one continuous row of seeds,lightly nudge the top layer back over them 1/4" thick...then cover with fleece.
Rows are about 8" apart.

I usually sow about 3 rows and then onions, chives,shallots near them to deter the dreaded carrot root fly.

Maybe the fleece is the secret...keeps in moisture to help the seeds germinate?...and keeps the soil warmer especially at night?

I usually sow in March when there's a bit of heat from the sun when there's no cold wind blowing! ( fair weather gardener!!!! )

Check every week or so...n bobs yr auntie!

Never remove fleece apart from checking and maybe resprinkling any bald patches.

[Lisasbolt]

I do not think i am even going to bother this year, root veg is my hardest, it is far to dry and i have to be so careful on the amount i water. So no carrots or parsnips for me, they are very bland the ones i do get, to be honest i do like carrots and parsnips but do not eat them very often.

[Jungle Jane]

I grow them in a large pot because I've heard carrot fly,fly low,I've never had a problem with carrot fly but I use flyaway seed variety too. I use compost with some sand mixed in & cover my pot with one of those recycle bags with a few air holes,keeps the atmosphere a bit moist,then take it off when they've germinated. I usually sow in April but I need to try & sow a pot a month of carrots,parsnips & peas April to July.

[cptncrackoff]

I lost all of my early carrots to the fly last year..even the fly resistant varieties..

I then sowed a late batch of Autumn King on sept 1st, the conditions all seemed to come together, and by mid November...


Avoided the fly totally!

[Nannysally99]

I grow my carrots in a container and don't have any problems apart from they don't grow very long as the container is not too deep.
Also grew winter carrots last season and have decided that the best way is just early ones. Much better taste.
Carrots are quite reasonably priced in winter, and I don't buy many
Variety is Nantaise 2 on seed tape from Lids

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Yeah! Let's!

It is one thing I can never grow, well to what ya would class as decent carrot!

I am not giving in!

The plan this coming year, I did set up what I call "Grow Boxes" for this said purpose!



So am I gunna half empty em, fill with fine sand, bore an hole or holes as the exibition guys do! I will not be defeated!

I will grow a decent carrot!

[Lumpy]

I have 2 wooden ex pallet boxes I grow mine in.

Two thirds MPC and one third sand.

Works a treat.

Nantes 5 - Eskimo - Artemis - Romance and as a treat Paris Market Atlas which will be shoved (sorry gently sown) amongst the flower beds.

[jonny the plant pot]

Atomic red in one of my raised beds with two thirds grit sand and one third compost soaked in pigs blood .
This is what my mate did last year with astonishing results so I've prepared a raised bed to do the same this year.

[jackarmy]

I really feel like a stuck record now lol but

I can only grow in pots at the moment and carrots is one thing i want to try, not a lot, just enough

and i really enjoy this fellahs videos, check out his growing in seaweed and leaves only , really impressive, anyway. He is here if you are interested, this was his last pot of carrots last year, impressive yes ?.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kn4e8dHjNk

[veggiechicken]

Thanks everyone. Very helpful - but don't stop

Here's a really nutty idea (maybe!)
Does anyone grow their carrots in a permanent plot?
Just wondering whether I could set aside a bed for carrots, pull what I wanted to eat and leave the rest to set seed the following year - and keep them going in perpetuity?
Any thoughts?

[4390evans]

I grow nantes (something like that) I grew them in a containter and some in the ground, both were canny but container ones were bigger. Mostly sand than compost, very fine.

Gonna do the same this year