What are your carrot growing tips?

[ponyexpress]

So I pulled some carrots today. The first batch is Bolero. A couple went to seed and all were forked.

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The other ones were Nantes and they look better.

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Too bad I don’t have a grow log that says when I planted these carrots. I think the reason for the forked carrots might be the nitrogen from the compost or the pulling of weeds.

[loulac]

These forked carrots remind me of a gardening mystery that still puzzles me. A first batch of carrots in my garden had nicely germinated but half the line was immediately eaten by snails. 2 weeks after the first sowing I made a second at the same place with the same packet of seeds. When I started digging them out in November I noticed that all the carrots of the second batch were forked when those of the first were straight. Influence of the moon? All opinions will be welcome.

[Paquebot]

Forked carrots were mentioned elsewhere but most cause is too much nitrogen. It often happens if fresh manure of any kind is used. But, it's not the nitrogen that you would find in ordinary fertilizer. Fresh manure contains urea which is a nitrite when plants need nitrate. Manure is the natural form, urea is the synthetic form. Until that urea is transformed to a nitrate, most plants have a problem with it. In the case of carrots, they fork. If you have soil producing forked carrots, do not use anything with nitrogen next year. Problem should go away.

Martin

[Donnyboy]

A tip for those who have trouble spacing carrot seed is to get some dry sand, mix with the seed and sow using something with holes in the top that allow a steady flow of sand, if mixed well allows a more even spread of seed

I also need some carrot growing tips. I seem to have a hard time figuring out the best time to plant carrots in my garden.

I've used the sand/seed method for many years. It works well because the sand is easy to see and the tiny seeds are almost impossible to see, I use a large garlic powder shaker with a snap off lid. I shake the jar until I get an even mix of sand and seed. I mark off an area of prepared soil for planting and then attempt to get an even covering of sand from the shaker. I also plant lettuce seeds, collard greens, and other small seeds the same way. It works well. I sometimes hand spread a 1/4 inch covering of fine soil over the sand to hold it all in place as I gently spray with water. Don't spray enough water to form puddles.

[bower]

Did some thinning and enjoyed the baby carrots for dinner tonight. They are all straight and no sign of rust fly, but a couple had something that looks like potato scab on the lower root, if anyone has seen the like, do you know what it is?

[loulac]

Thinning carrots when they are big enough to be eaten is a discovery to me, I think I’ll make a try. In my garden I mix my seeds with very fine sand to have a sparse growth, then I wait till adult leaves grow before pulling out extra seedlings. I can plant them in empty spaces or an extra line, their growth will be stopped for a week but they will catch up with the first batch later. Waiting for adult leaves is important as snails and slugs will then stop eating them.

[ponyexpress]

People who are using sand for their carrots, I'm assuming that you're using "play sand" instead of construction sand?

I've used the sand/seed method for many years. It works well because the sand is easy to see and the tiny seeds are almost impossible to see, I use a large garlic powder shaker with a snap off lid. I shake the jar until I get an even mix of sand and seed. I mark off an area of prepared soil for planting and then attempt to get an even covering of sand from the shaker.

It sounds like you're covering an area with seeds rather than do a row. Is that right? Do you put any dirt on top of the sand/carrot seed mixture you spreaded?

[loulac]

I take this opportunity to give my technique, Donnyboy will of course give us his.
I take the first sand I can lay hands on and select the finest particles with a strainer with fine mesh. Then I add the seeds in a salt/pepper/seed sprinkler, shake the lot, checking the mix is uniform.
I prepare 4-inch wide lines as I can cover that width with a net to protect them from rust flies. Without this problem I could make beds of any width.
I sow with the sprinkler, cover the seeds with fine soil or mix ( 5 millimeters), pack the seedbed, water the line and cover it with wetbags or ferns, as explained earlier. Seeds can be kept several years without losing their germinating ability.

[Donnyboy]

I do spread about 1/4" of fine soil over the sand and seed to hold it in place and then keep it moist for a week or so. Don't water enough to cause puddling. I use play sand because construction sand seems to have other stuff in it which may not be good for the garden. Some times I plant in straight lines and sometimes, I mark off an area and plant it. You can adjust the flow of sand out of the jar by covering the lid with tape and punching new holes through the tape with a nail. By doing this you can adjust both the number of holes and the size of the holes. Always punch the holes from the inside out and then sand the tape pushed out by sanding lightly with sandpaper. If you don't sand it lightly, sand and seed will stick to the sticky part of the tape which was exposed.

[Paquebot]

Construction sand may have various size grains, play sand is usually small and all the same size. I use that when I don't have to pay much for it. It's generally very small grains. River sand is preferred but nearest source is 50 miles away. Size varies and the grains are round. That converted my hard silty-clay to a lovely loam.

Martin

[ponyexpress]

Where would you get river sand? From an actual river that you obtain yourself? Or do you buy it somewhere?

Looking at some photos, it looks like I planted carrots around May 17th. Bolero is 75 days. As of today, that will be 71 days. But some of my Bolero has bolted. It's a storage carrot and I wonder if I should have planted it for the fall/winter which means late summer, not middle spring?

[ponyexpress]

Oh, I did place a seed order from Jung Seed to get sugarsnax carrots among other stuff.

[worth1]

Did some thinning and enjoyed the baby carrots for dinner tonight. They are all straight and no sign of rust fly, but a couple had something that looks like potato scab on the lower root, if anyone has seen the like, do you know what it is?

https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www ... _sfGsYzzk5

[bower]

[mention]worth1[/mention] that is a fantastic resource! Tx much for the link.
The stuff on my carrots is definitely scab, and should be no surprise since scab is endemic here on potatoes. It's really minor on the carrot and not a big worry. ( I saw some on carrots in another of my garlic bed rotations, but potatoes grown later in that bed had no major scab issues.)

OTOH the pix of persistent diseases in that OMAFRA ink are a definite match for stuff I've seen on bought carrots. Some things you do not want to risk in your compost, one is rust fly which could hatch out, but I will take a careful read of those carrot diseases before I go adding any of them to the environment.
Just the fact alone that there's no rust fly here is reason for me to do battle with any other reason not to grow. I still have to experiment with barriers, baits or other methods for the Carrot Seedling Mowing Beast, but I don't want to create any other major problem on site.

[Paquebot]

Pony, Bolero is one that I recommended when I was with the community gardens. It's a good one for heavy soils. Yaya was another that did well there. Sugarsnax is a great one but needs very loose soil, as previously mentioned. Supposed to get to 12" but will grow longer than that.

My river sand comes right from the Wisconsin River near Spring Green. When I had cars, always some 5-gallon pails and a shovel in the trunk. They were for manure, sand, or woods soil. Then bought a Ranger pickup and could haul 21 pails. Did make one trip just for sand.

Martin

[ponyexpress]

Sugarsnax is a great one but needs very loose soil, as previously mentioned. Supposed to get to 12" but will grow longer than that.

The bed I'm using is brand-new with sifted compost. So I'm hoping that it's very "loose". We'll see.

[Paquebot]

Pony, good that you were able to order Sugarsnax from Jung's. I was hoping to stock up on that one during their "Dollar Days". I live 8 blocks from one of their garden centers. It is like walking into a seed catalog. (I can also order anything from Shumway, Totally Tomatoes, and Vermont Bean without S&H charges.) Due to tremendous gardening interest this year, almost all vegetable seeds had to be returned to Randolph to cover sales. Even so, I note that a lot of varieties are out of stock.

Martin

[ponyexpress]

Pony, good that you were able to order Sugarsnax from Jung's. I was hoping to stock up on that one during their "Dollar Days". I live 8 blocks from one of their garden centers. It is like walking into a seed catalog. (I can also order anything from Shumway, Totally Tomatoes, and Vermont Bean without S&H charges.) Due to tremendous gardening interest this year, almost all vegetable seeds had to be returned to Randolph to cover sales. Even so, I note that a lot of varieties are out of stock.

Looks like their Dollar Days run from Oct through Dec 31 based on past years. I just followed them on FB so hopefully I'll see when they have it this year. One neat thing about Jung's is that they carry unusual vegetables: Autumn Star Kalette (15 seeds for $8.90!!) and Aspabroc Hybrid Baby Broccoli. Those were also part of my order.

I do like to find places with free shipping. I'll check out the places you mentioned. High Mowing is a place that has free shipping if you buy $10 or more.

[loulac]

I do like to find places with free shipping

Free shipping can be a trade catch : one should check the actual price of the seeds. Shipping to France costs $2.10. Asking for $5 is a reasonable common rate. Ordering 5 or more packets with a $5 shipping is most of the time cheaper than free shipping. What annoys me most is that some sellers wait till the last minute to say they don’t ship to Europe and make you waste your time.

[ponyexpress]

Free shipping can be a trade catch : one should check the actual price of the seeds. Shipping to France costs $2.10. Asking for $5 is a reasonable common rate. Ordering 5 or more packets with a $5 shipping is most of the time cheaper than free shipping. What annoys me most is that some sellers wait till the last minute to say they don’t ship to Europe and make you waste your time.

I agree that you have to think about the total cost. Another factor is the quantity of seeds. Some sites only give you 10-20 seeds but another site might give you a lot more.