Please help me with these carrots!

[ydolem11]

I've never grown carrots before, so I don't know enough about their growing cycle to know if they're done and this is it or if I keep waiting, they'll magically get bigger... Although I knew the container wasn't big enough for the type of carrot I planted (can't remember the name, but they're supposed to get up to 9 inches long), but I definitely wasn't expecting such tiny things (I would have been happy with like 2 - 3 inches)...

I planted them a little over 2 months ago, so they should be nearing maturity. They did have some rough times growing though. I think I was over-watering them early on and I lost well over half of the initial sprouts. They just were weak and the leaves turned brown and they either died or I thinned them because they were on their way out anyway.

The tiny carrots that I have pulled so far are sweet and delicious even though they'd be better suited for a mouse family...

Any information would be super helpful. I'm wondering if I should leave them and see if they grow more, or pull them and try something else (like a bigger pot, for starters).

Thanks!

 

[Corzhens]

I'm sorry if I cannot help you with your problem. We used to plant some carrots and were able to harvest some good and bad - big ones with good color and small ones with bad color. My husband said that carrots need enough sunlight and good soil, that means no stones and lots of fertilzer.

 

[Chuck]

For starters the soil is much too wet. The soil must be able to drain (whats' with the plastic bag in the pot?) They need to be thinned a little too. I don't know what the temperature is where you live but carrots are a cool weather crop and like temperatures at night around 55F and daytime temps around 75F. Also, it looks as if the sun will have to be almost directly overhead for them to get any sun. Raise the soil level in the pot to almost the top edge.What did you fertilize with? Pull them up and start over

 

[Kansas Terri]

I would let them grow a while longer, and the soil also looks too wet.

I have noticed that carrots may take longer to produce when conditions are not ideal, and from what you have said about over-watering when they were young the conditions have not been ideal. My carrots often bear late because my garden dries out too quickly and yours may be late because your pot was not dry enough.

 

[majorcatfish]

looked at the San Pedro Sula weather just now...would love to be there right now....
sorry to say it's to hot right now to be growing carrots there, being so close to the equator i am sure you really don't get a true cold season.
let me guess navy base?

yes @Chuck is right carrots love well drained soil and cooler weather, but you might trying to growing them on the shady side of your house and if you dont have a shady side try starting over and place them under shade cloth...
hope this helps....

 

[ydolem11]

Thanks! It was definitely a failed experiment... I knew conditions weren't ideal, but I was still hoping for the best. I have since gotten permission to plant in an area of the school where there's a lot of shade, so I might try that and see how it goes. Otherwise, I'll just give up on carrots altogether since there are plenty of other warm-weather plants that I can grow here. I've got tomatoes

 

[Chuck]

Thanks! It was definitely a failed experiment... I knew conditions weren't ideal, but I was still hoping for the best. I have since gotten permission to plant in an area of the school where there's a lot of shade, so I might try that and see how it goes. Otherwise, I'll just give up on carrots altogether since there are plenty of other warm-weather plants that I can grow here. I've got tomatoes

Carrots need sunlight just like every thing else. Stick with plants that like hot weather and lots of sunshine like peppers, tomatoes, okra, corn, beans, peas, herbs, melons, squash etc. I do not know of any vegetables that thrive in shade

 

[ydolem11]

I'll probably just go for it to use up the rest of the seeds if nothing else... I've got peppers and tomatoes growing along that strip but where there's more sunlight for them, as well as some sunflowers and a watermelon plant. The weeds definitely thrive along there, though...

 

[Chuck]

I'll probably just go for it to use up the rest of the seeds if nothing else... I've got peppers and tomatoes growing along that strip but where there's more sunlight for them, as well as some sunflowers and a watermelon plant. The weeds definitely thrive along there, though...

Pull up those weeds, put them in a bucket of water for a couple of weeks and then pour on the plants

 

[majorcatfish]

did word my post poorly... if you can a place them in an area that can shield the carrots from direct sunlight in the mid day you might get better results... shade cloth works great to keep the area you're growing in just a couple degrees cooler and lessen the full force of the sun..

grew lettuce here in the middle of the summer 90*+ where they only received filtered sunlight and they did quite well.

 

[IcyBC]

My mom isn't a gardener but she loves to experiment growing things. One year, she planted carrots by just put the root-top carrot in the ground, and surprisingly there was one carrot from that. I am just amazed and admired what she does some time!

Good luck with the rest of your carrot seeds!

 

[ydolem11]

Thanks! I'll definitely have to keep these suggestions in mind when I do work up the courage to start again with carrots! One of my students brought me a packet of radish seeds, so we're going to try those first.