Growing Carrots

[jamespm_98]

Can someone tell me the best way to seed and grow carrots. I have trouble getting the plants to survive after they come up from seed. I check my garden and my little carrots come up, when I check back in a few days only a few seem to survive. I went through this last year and had to re-seed numerous times to get enough plants for a crop. I try watering them, but they are so fine they seem to get knocked down. Any suggestions?:/

 

[mtn_penny]

When I water mine I use the Miricle grow sprayer thing and it does knock the tops down but it does not take long for them to pop back up. I even had some this year that I forgot to water for a little while and were pretty wilty and just gave them a good dose of water and they came right out of it.

 

[curly_kate]

Do you mulch after you plant the seeds? I have much better luck when I mulch because the soil doesn't dry out. They have a really hard time sprouting in dry, crusty soil.

 

[miron28]

i jut planted some this year they are doing good i just water them and some of the leaves do hit the ground but they come back up i don't have special ways

 

[lupinfarm]

i only water when we dont get rain for a few days and its hot/sunny out. i also only water with rain barrel water if i can.

 

[digitS']

You can sow the seed with a shallow ditch alongside. Water in the ditch will move by what is sometimes called "capillary action" laterally into the soil where the carrots are growing.

There are plenty of sprinklers that should be able to provide a slow watering that won't be too tough on the plants. Or, set your watering wand on "mist" and stand beside the bed of carrots "until the cows come home " providing them with a fog of water that can't knock the seedlings down.

Carrot seed is slow to germinate and small. That means you can't plant it very deep. Lying just below the surface, it has plenty of time to dry out and . . . die :/!

The planting bed can be covered after sowing with a board or with burlap. You gotta check regularly to see if the seed has germinated so that you can get this material off them. But, the idea is to keep moisture from escaping into the air. For me, it was out of sight, out of mind .

I have very porous soil and had enormous trouble getting carrot seed to germinate - until I discovered pelleted seed. Both Johnny's and Harris Seed sell them. The seed is coated with clay and, for that reason, doesn't dry out easily. I had great success with the pellets, even outside that narrow window sometime around the 1st of May when I could count on some frequent rainstorms and little intense sunshine. In fact, I've successfully sown carrots right through June .

Another technique that has worked for me is cornstarch gel. Alfalfa growers in desert areas often use fluid-seeding. You can make your own version of this by adding one tablespoon cornstarch to every cup of water and bringing this to a boil. Allow the gel to cool, pour into a ziplock bag and head out into your garden with your carrot seed .

Cut the corner off the bag and squeeze the gel into a shallow drill where you want your carrots. Sprinkle the seed on the gel and cover lightly with soil.

The gel has worked just fine for me in my garden soil. I should say that this soil must be about 50% rocks - of all sizes . I seem to have just as good germination rate with the cornstarch gel as with pelleted seed . Without one or the other, growing carrots was really tough.

Steve

 

[vfem]

I am not the person to ask. After 75 days my carrots were smaller then my pinky and skinner then a pen... I was bummed. They tasted like carrots, I was just really NOT happy with them at all. I think my soil had too much sand it in, and I'm going to move the bed I use for them next time!

 

[Purple Strawberry]

I am not the person to ask. After 75 days my carrots were smaller then my pinky and skinner then a pen... I was bummed. They tasted like carrots, I was just really NOT happy with them at all. I think my soil had too much sand it in, and I'm going to move the bed I use for them next time!

I am sooo glad to know I was not the only one.

 

[jamespm_98]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I am going to try re-seeding mine using DigitS advice on putting a small trench beside them for watering. I do mulch mine after they get big enough, but the small little seedlings get lost if I mulch too early.