Never grown carrots - so help needed please :)

[vikkib]

Was that the nice Mr Flowerdew on GQT? I'm sure I've read that in his book.
It's got to be worth a try.

I've got some buckets of riddled compost that I'm going to mix with some sand and sow carrots in that.

It wasn't the strange haired Mr F!

It was a chap that was a guest on the panel, I don't think I' heard him on there before... I've no chance of remembering his name though... awful with names!

[Veggielot]

I wouldn't worry to much about your soil unless you want to your carrots in a show. If it particular bad soil try a short variety otherwise just remove as many stones as you can, you will end up with some odd looking carrots but who cares they taste great.

[ancee]

Thanks for the advice guys Rustylady, I wanted to put compost in the toilet roll tubes, then fill my trough with compost too, 'planting' the tubes into the top so that they had a longer root run as the trough is not very deep.

[rustylady]

Thanks for the advice guys Rustylady, I wanted to put compost in the toilet roll tubes, then fill my trough with compost too, 'planting' the tubes into the top so that they had a longer root run as the trough is not very deep.

Trouble with doing that is that the toilet rolls would act as a wick drawing moisture out of the compost. Could you not just use a deeper trough or pots?

[Normans Mum]

Never had any luck at all with carrots. Last year I thought I'd cracked it... sowed short rooted ones in a container filled with compost. Loads of top growth, but hardle any carrot at all ! I know they were meant to be short, but not THAT short !!

[Noosner]

Am having some success with carrots this year for the first time ever. Only thing is, one carrot is getting much bigger than the others, with a huge thick hairy stalk. Oo-er. No idea what this means and whether I should pull it out. Any advice gratefully received!

[MrsCordial]

Noosner I have one doing this too but have just written it off and left it to go to seed for the birds. It's from F1 seeds so I'm assuming there's no point trying to save the seed to plant next year. No more F1 seeds for me, heritage all the way I think - famous last words...

[darcyvuqua]

My carrots have been in over three months dug and dug the ground to remove stones added 5 bags of compost and there still only 3 inches tall I'm baffled I sowed some about a month to 6 weeks ago and there already the same size??

[esbo]

I have few carrots in, 4 to be precise they are 7-10 inches tall.
Seem to be a little sow but they are not in the sunniest spot, they seem healthy and disease and pest free.

[Noosner]

Noosner I have one doing this too but have just written it off and left it to go to seed for the birds. It's from F1 seeds so I'm assuming there's no point trying to save the seed to plant next year. No more F1 seeds for me, heritage all the way I think - famous last words...

Thanks a lot MrsC. So you reckon it's going to seed? Does one going to seed encourage the others to do so as well? I might pull mine up. Mine are heritage seeds, Nantes (meant to be early but aren't) and Long Lisse de Meaux.

[MrsCordial]

I've not heard that one going to seed encourages the others, but I'm still in the shallows of veg gardening knowledge so wouldn't like to say really. Put it like this, none of the others has done that. Once this one suddenly turned into the Incredible Hulk overnight I just left it to do what it fancied.

[Samurailord]

I have three varieties of carrots in.

Autumn King are about 6 inches tall, Chantonay Red Cored are about the same and Paris Market are only about three inches tall.

I tested one of the Autumn King last week - the carrot was less then an inch long and perhaps 3mm wide.

Tasted ok, but not very filling

Andy

[Noosner]

I've not heard that one going to seed encourages the others, but I'm still in the shallows of veg gardening knowledge so wouldn't like to say really. Put it like this, none of the others has done that. Once this one suddenly turned into the Incredible Hulk overnight I just left it to do what it fancied.

Thanks, Mrs C, that's reassuring. I ended up pulling mine yesterday, plus another that was also looking hefty. I tried eating them and there was an outer ring that was crisp and carroty, but the middle had gone yellow and sort of fibrous and did not taste good. The root was lovely and straight though! I am a carrot novice and have never managed over the past 4 years to even get them to this stage, so it's all grist to the mill. Good luck with yours!

[MrsCordial]

I find it so hard to know when to pick carrots. I've just planted loads more today, three different varieties, with the 'help' of my 4 yr old *sigh* God knows where the seeds really ended up, but I'm not convinced it was under my plastic milk bottle cloches.

[Two_Sheds]

one carrot is getting much bigger than the others, with a huge thick hairy stalk.

Yes, that one is going to flower (and seed). Pull it out or let it produce seed

It's from F1 seeds so I'm assuming there's no point trying to save the seed

I leave the school carrots to go to seed every year (mostly because they do it in the school holidays when I'm not there to pull them up). They have produced lots of very good, free, carrots for us.

I find it so hard to know when to pick carrots

The easiest way is to brush the soil away from the shoulders and see how big it is. It's worth pulling when it's at least an inch in diameter.
If smaller, put the soil back and leave it to grow a bit more