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Funny Carrots (last years crop)

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  • #1

    Funny Carrots (last years crop)

    Last year our carrots came up looking really funny.

    We didn't really pick them as baby carrots.

    We also thinned them by 'moving', rather than just 'removing'.

    I read that this may have happened due to irregular watering - but we did try to keep this regular.

    Also that the soil may have been too firm, or gritty causing the carrots to split/divide their growth.

    Would welcome any advice as to how we can prevent this - not that it really matters that much - they take longer to prepare, but we were eating them into February and they tasted fine!

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  • #2
    Manure will cause carrots to fork, as will stoney soil. You can grow them in sand or really sandy compost.
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    • #3
      I grow my carrots in containers. I riddle MPC and mix in some sharp sand 60/40. This seems to work OK.

      Colin
      Potty by name Potty by nature.

      By appointment of VeggieChicken Member of the Nutters club.


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      • #4
        Originally posted by MrC View Post

        We also thinned them by 'moving', rather than just 'removing'.
        I'm curious about that ~ do you mean you transplanted them?


        (if you did, this disturbs the tap root - which is what a carrot/parsnip is - and will have caused the deformity)
        All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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        • #5
          I'd go with the 'the soil is too rich' aspect as the main cause -( as well as the above possibilities)
          "Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

          Location....Normandy France

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          • #6
            How to prevent it:

            My carrot and p*****p patch is the only one I religiously dig over, to loosen the soil, add home made compost to a foot deep, remove any large stones, sow as many as you actually want in that patch, sow in a block not a row, and cover with very fine netting from sowing to harvest. Weed twice, once when the seedlings are about 3 inches high and once when they are about 8 inches high, and do this weeding late in the evening and cover them back up as soon as you have done it!

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            • #7
              Zaz, do you make a frame of sorts or just drape the netting over them?
              the fates lead him who will;him who won't they drag.

              Happiness is not having what you want,but wanting what you have.xx

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              • #8
                I use canes with knobs on [sometimes yoghurt pots, sometime tennis balls] at each corner and then just drape and weigh down with bricks, stones, water filled milk bottles etc. I do have a couple of u shaped canes as well. And if it's a big patch, the blue tube fitted over short canes. Anything really.
                Last edited by zazen999; 07-04-2012, 08:41 AM.

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                • #9
                  ^ ^ ^ Thank you. x
                  the fates lead him who will;him who won't they drag.

                  Happiness is not having what you want,but wanting what you have.xx

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                  • #10
                    I use fleece instead of netting. Seems to hold the moisture in a bit more as well as the inviting smell ( to any passing carrot fly)
                    "Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

                    Location....Normandy France

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                    • #11
                      Whatever I use, the carrot fly still gets in

                      Later sowings have fared better, and the quick/early ones have less damage than the Purple Haze and Autumn King. I pulled loads of carrots this year, but virtually all are unusable

                      I think I'll do fewer, better. I'm going to grow them at school in a raised bed with voile stapled over the top. Possibly no weeding (the beds are fairly weed-free now anyway)
                      All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Two_Sheds View Post
                        I'm curious about that ~ do you mean you transplanted them?
                        Yep (well my better half did)!

                        So - riddle, mix in some sharp sand and don't transplant them seems to be the main pointers for this year!

                        Thanks all

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