Thinning out carrots

[Julian123]

Hi folks,

So I need to thin out my carrots.
Shall I just do that now and chuck the seedlings away or can I wait a bit so when I thin them I will have lots of baby carrots to eat?

Thanks.

[bario1]

I'd do it now, imo if you wait till they're bigger, pulling one out will disturb the one next to it enough to make it fork/split. I have heard you can just snip the ones you don't want off at ground level with scissors, but I've never tried it.

[ESBkevin]

Do it late evening for best avoidence of carrot fly. Disturbing them increases the scent attracting the little beggers, so just before dusk means they are not airbourn and by morning all will be back to normal. Dispose of the unwanted carrots in a manor that also won't attract carrot fly ;-)
I typically water in the row just after to resettle the soil around the remaining Carrots.
We all have our own methods, mine is just this wierd.

[burnie]

I don't thin mine as I scatter the seed in a block rather than in rows, I pick small ones out to eat them as I work around the garden, don't bother washing them, just wipe them on my clothes(this last act endears me to SWMBO no end...…….!!)

[Small pumpkin]

Hi folks,

So I need to thin out my carrots.
Shall I just do that now and chuck the seedlings away or can I wait a bit so when I thin them I will have lots of baby carrots to eat?

Thanks.

Just to be awkward I do both. When the seedlings are between 1 & 2 inches I do a little thinning of the really densely Populated bits. Just pinch them off at ground level. Then I thin again later for baby carrots.

[Bren In Pots]

I sow my carrots in buckets just a sprinkle so I don't really have to thin them. Any that are close together sort of push each other apart.

[Vince G]

All good tips given here already, to summarise:

Definitely thin them out
With any luck you'll get a few baby carrots to eat whole
Thin late evening or on a very still day to avoid attracting carrot fly
Water after thinning to re-settle remaining plants that might have been disturbed
Brush soil over top of roots to avoid greening (tastes the same, it's just they're a bit unsightly)

[Julian123]

Thanks all,

Very helpful.

[casejones]

I block plant my carrots but plant seed at final spacing and replant were any seed do not germinate; so no thinning for me.