Carrot Confusion

[Cadalot]

OK I'm sorting out my seed box and looking at Carrots in particular and I'm suffering a little bit of Carrot confusion!

I have two packs of Sugarsnax 54 F1 one from unwins and the other from Mr Fothergill's

SOW

Unwins April - June
Fothergill March - July

HARVEST

Unwins Aug - March
Fothergill June - November



So who is right ?

[bario1]

Neither!

I'd say Fothergill had a more accurate sowing date, while Unwins had a more realistic harvest date... at least for my part of the world!

[veggiechicken]

Snap, Cad! I sorted my carrot box last night
I was looking for the earliest and latest varieties to sow (Jan - Amsterdam 3 (Sprint) MrF & Latest October = Nantes 2 Frubund T&M which can also be sown in Feb))
The seed suppliers rarely agree about sowing and harvesting dates so I always "adjust" them by about a month - sowing a month earlier and a month later than the stated dates.
Some suppliers have more "stretch" in their dates than others

[veggiechicken]

OK I'm sorting out my seed box and looking at Carrots in particular and I'm suffering a little bit of Carrot confusion!

I have two packs of Sugarsnax 54 F1 one from unwins and the other from Mr Fothergill's

SOW

Unwins April - June
Fothergill March - July

HARVEST

Unwins Aug - March
Fothergill June - November

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So who is right ?

Sugarsnax from Kings
SOW - March - July
HARVEST July - October

[Cadalot]

I really must get my head around what companies are part of who because they are likely to be selling the same seed and giving the same advice.

Thompson & Morgan - Sow March - July but Feb - March if in greenhouse or cloche

Marshalls same as Unwin April - June

Dobies same as Fothergill's March - July

DT Brown March - June so a moth shorter than Fothergill's

Chiltern Seeds same as Unwin April - June

[Snoop Puss]

Neither!

I'd say Fothergill had a more accurate sowing date, while Unwins had a more realistic harvest date... at least for my part of the world!

So Unwins treats them as an overwintering (maincrop) variety. That's interesting.

Edited to add this:

Early Nantes*2*Frubund**-*Feb - Oct********* *Apr - Nov

So essentially, they're the only carrot you ever need grow all year round if you're happy with them. Has anyone tried them?

[bario1]

Actually, I've never grown Sugarsnax.... maybe they won't stand over winter?

[Cadalot]

I couldn't get the sow by and harvest list to line up so here is the blog posting, a work in process and I'm still working out what and when Alans Allotment: In My Seed Box - Carrots 2018

[Cadalot]

Also T&M on their page say "Direct sow carrot seeds outdoors from March to July. Early varieties may also be sown from February to March in greenhouse borders or under cloches. Specific autumn sowing carrot varieties can be sown as late as October under cloches for an early crop in spring. Grow Carrots in a weed free, sunny position in fertile, light, well drained soil. Carrots dislike freshly manured soils so seed beds are best prepared in autumn, well in advance of spring sowings."

So do they mean Sugarsnaps 54 F1 as the only one I have seen that can be grown to overwinter is Early Nantes 2 Frubund with a sowing range of February - October

[veggiechicken]

Snoop - Penellype grows Nantes Frubund.

There only seem to be one supplier of Frubund seeds - T&M. 500 seeds = £2.99. Luckily for me, they were 50p in the seed sale.

[Cadalot]

VC I bought far to many carrot varieties in the Wyevale 50p seed sale but who can blame me when I'm getting £34.21 of carrot seeds for £6 or putting it another way 12 packs for the RRP of 2 it's a no brainer.

I'm doing a row of each and seeing which ones I like the best. My plan is to start the shorter varieties off in loo rolls in the greenhouse.

[bario1]

My best carrots always turn out to be 'Rainbow Mix' - I'm assuming they're a mix of at least three varieties, but who knows what those individual varieties actually are?

[Penellype]

So Unwins treats them as an overwintering (maincrop) variety. That's interesting.

Edited to add this:

Early Nantes*2*Frubund**-*Feb - Oct********* *Apr - Nov

So essentially, they're the only carrot you ever need grow all year round if you're happy with them. Has anyone tried them?

I always grow Nantes Frubund. They are reliable and cold tolerant, make decent sized good flavoured carrots, and you can have carrots for most of the year. Do not expect carrots in a few weeks - that is a fantasy unless you like them very, very small. If you let them dry out too much some of them will bolt.

I have done the following, all with some success:
Sow maincrop carrots in pots in March - April. Ready to eat as small carrots in late June and by September expect decent sized roots providing you haven't sown them too thickly. These will stand over winter and are likely to start becoming tough and woody as they start to regrow in March. When frost is forecast I make sure I bring a pot into the garage so that I can still harvest if the ground is frozen.
Carrots sown in pots in May are smaller, even when left to grow over winter and I see little point in doing this as they still start growing in March.
Carrots can be sown in an unheated greenhouse in September to produce finger sized roots by the following May.
I've also grown these indoors under lights then on the windowsill in 9 inch tall 5.5 inch square pots, sowing in January and harvesting in May-June.
Most of my pots are about a foot deep and are either 18 inch square pots of 30 litre buckets. I did once grow these in an old water butt and a few of those carrots grew really big.

So really the only time you will struggle to have carrots to eat if you sow in March-April, September (greenhouse) and January (indoors) is late March to early May.

[Penellype]

Also T&M on their page say "Direct sow carrot seeds outdoors from March to July. Early varieties may also be sown from February to March in greenhouse borders or under cloches. Specific autumn sowing carrot varieties can be sown as late as October under cloches for an early crop in spring. Grow Carrots in a weed free, sunny position in fertile, light, well drained soil. Carrots dislike freshly manured soils so seed beds are best prepared in autumn, well in advance of spring sowings."

So do they mean Sugarsnaps 54 F1 as the only one I have seen that can be grown to overwinter is Early Nantes 2 Frubund with a sowing range of February - October

Other cold tolerant varieties I've tried are Eskimo (T&M) and Marion (Marshalls), both of which did well. Eskimo is apparently the one the farmers grow to harvest in winter - they cover the rows with straw to stop the ground freezing and harvest them for the shops all through the winter. Both varieties are decent carrots.