Carrots anyone?

[bellahpereira]

Hello! This year I attempted to plant my first batch of carrots and although they were pretty nice, they were not what I was expecting. They turned out really small, and with a weird green core. I'm not sure if these results had anything to do with the fact that the seeds were non-GMO. I figure I probably did not give them enough room to grow..

Has anyone else planted carrots before? Whether GMO or non-GMO, any help would be appreciated

 

[SpringBreeze]

Hi! I haven't planted carrots before. But I have read somewhere that carrots develop green cores from being exposed to sunlight while they are growing. Did the green part taste bitter or off?

Your soil could be the problem. Carrots expand as they grow and they need softer soil to do so. But I could be wrong. I am no expert.

On a side note, organic carrots can look really different than the typical non-organic carrots we buy in grocery stores. I know I'm used to bright orange carrots. But if you google "organic carrots" under "Images", you'll see they come in a variety of colors and sizes. Some are really thick and some skinny. I wasn't aware all of this until I watched a video that had a girl holding up organic carrots grown in Canada. They were thick and of a brownish color. They also didn't have that smooth, straight stalk look typical carrots have.

 

[Jed]

There are many varieties of carrots and you may have grown a small type. Other reasons for small carrots is poor soil or too much clay.
Here's some links I found that may help you out.

http://www.backyard-vegetable-gardening.com/carrot-varieties.html
http://www.backyard-vegetable-gardening.com/planting-carrots.html
http://www.backyard-vegetable-gardening.com/growing-carrots.html

 

[lovinglife]

I plan on making a small raised bed for carrots, I know my soil is just a little hard for carrots, so will add a lot of sand and organic matter to my raised beds, hoping that helps my carrot harvest in the future.

 

[bellahpereira]

Hi! I haven't planted carrots before. But I have read somewhere that carrots develop green cores from being exposed to sunlight while they are growing. Did the green part taste bitter or off?

Your soil could be the problem. Carrots expand as they grow and they need softer soil to do so. But I could be wrong. I am no expert.

On a side note, organic carrots can look really different than the typical non-organic carrots we buy in grocery stores. I know I'm used to bright orange carrots. But if you google "organic carrots" under "Images", you'll see they come in a variety of colors and sizes. Some are really thick and some skinny. I wasn't aware all of this until I watched a video that had a girl holding up organic carrots grown in Canada. They were thick and of a brownish color. They also didn't have that smooth, straight stalk look typical carrots have.

Hi! The green parts didn't really taste bitter but they didn't taste too good either, lol. And yes, I thought that my soil might be part of the problem - I noticed that most of my carrots really did not expand as much as they probably could have. For next year, I'm going to take out all the soil and replace it and see if it helps their growth. My carrots were still orange but very weird looking

 

[bellahpereira]

I plan on making a small raised bed for carrots, I know my soil is just a little hard for carrots, so will add a lot of sand and organic matter to my raised beds, hoping that helps my carrot harvest in the future.

I tried to pile my soil to make a pseudo-raised bed for my carrots. It didn't seem to work too well for me as they kept leaning off the sides, but it might have just been my soil. I'm not sure about adding the sand to the soil, I haven't heard of that before. I'm usually just told to replace the soil if I feel that it gets to be too hard for my harvest. But I'd love to know how your raised beds go! Maybe I'll make some for next year

 

[Jed]

I tried to pile my soil to make a pseudo-raised bed for my carrots. It didn't seem to work too well for me as they kept leaning off the sides, but it might have just been my soil. I'm not sure about adding the sand to the soil, I haven't heard of that before. I'm usually just told to replace the soil if I feel that it gets to be too hard for my harvest. But I'd love to know how your raised beds go! Maybe I'll make some for next year

Carrots prefer a light sandy soil. It's also important not to make the soil too rich, that is, don't dig in manure .If the soil has been prepared well, no further fertilising is required as they are growing.To germinate your carrot seed, broadcast them over the garden bed in a bucket, mixed with a few handfuls of any kind of sand. This helps distribute them and also partially covers the seed. If you sow on warm/hot days, you will need to water lightly two or three times a day until they germinate.
A trick you can do is cover the sown seed with old carpet and wet well and then check every day. Once germinated remove the carpet.

 

[lovinglife]

Great tip with the carpet! I will try that next year.

 

[bellahpereira]

Carrots prefer a light sandy soil. It's also important not to make the soil too rich, that is, don't dig in manure .If the soil has been prepared well, no further fertilising is required as they are growing.To germinate your carrot seed, broadcast them over the garden bed in a bucket, mixed with a few handfuls of any kind of sand. This helps distribute them and also partially covers the seed. If you sow on warm/hot days, you will need to water lightly two or three times a day until they germinate.
A trick you can do is cover the sown seed with old carpet and wet well and then check every day. Once germinated remove the carpet.

The carpet is a great idea! I'm going to try that next year, it seems like it might work well. I fertilized them once signs of new growth appeared and then once every two weeks as directed on the package of the fertilizer. I might try to fertilize them less next year, but I feel like they might need the fertilization as they probably don't get too much sun sometimes.

 

[Jed]

The carpet is a great idea! I'm going to try that next year, it seems like it might work well. I fertilized them once signs of new growth appeared and then once every two weeks as directed on the package of the fertilizer. I might try to fertilize them less next year, but I feel like they might need the fertilization as they probably don't get too much sun sometimes.

Watering with a liquid fertilizer is fine but you don't want to over do it. There are liquid seaweed concentrates available. Carrots prefer full sun and fertilizing wont necessarily help because of the lack of it. you sound very dedicated and will know doubt, do well in your garden.

 

[Tam]

I have raised beds with carrots in them and they do really well. As for the size of them do you thin them out? I thin my carrots out and use the little ones for snacks and I also pickle them. They taste so good.

 

[ButterCup]

Well, this was my first year with container gardening. I planted 2 kinds of carrots (scarlet nantes + red cored chantenay). Of course I planted everything late this year and still have carrots growing. My carrots are perfectly shaped but were not bright orange in color. Upon reading on the internet, someone said if the soil is over 80 degrees and also wet (can't control mother nature) that will have an effect on the color of your carrots. So perhaps the elevated containers with the carrots were a bit too warm. I may have to do them in the ground next season.

 

[sharp square]

I had a very good winter crop of carrots this year. Want to make sure that when you plant your carrot seeds to not over clutter the area. Once they begin to grow you will also need to sacrifice some of the plants to allow rest to have the proper room needed to grow to full size. Also check into the variety your using and proper fertilizing options.

 

[dconklin]

I have not tried carrots here because our soil is not really a good fit and we have a lot of rocks in the soil. Rocks can cause a problem with them growing too. I do remember my mom having a few problems with them when I was a kid too because the soil was not soft enough and too many rocks.

Raised beds with a soft soil will hopefully help with this problem, let us know how it turns out! I may have to use huge potters to plant them if we were to try them with purchased soil.