I pulled up my carrots today after them being in the ground for several months. These were the BEST ones I pulled up, the others had hardly any orange part at all.
What did I do wrong? I also had the same problem with my beets, those didn't form into anything at all, and the leaves above ground looked perfectly healthy.
Sounds like my radishes. I am still struggling with them here so will watch, hoping you get an answer to your problem.
Ground too hard would be my first guess.
Maybe the temps are too high and too much Nitrogen not enough phospherous? The ground being too hard could be an issue too. The soil nutrients are always my first thought when I see that the tops are nice but there is little to no root development.
They were in planter boxes with bagged soil, so I don't think it's a ground hardness issue :(
They were just in the boxes with all my other veggies. Tomatoes grew great, so did cucumbers. Do carrots need a different nutrient balance?
How deep are the planter boxes. Carrots would need more depth than the other two.
I grew a four inch long type this year and they came out great. I grew them in a 10" deep raised bed. I made sure to loosen the soil well first then seeded. Watered well, used some green sand and some fertilizer once in a while. They came out great. Did yours get enough Sun? Water?
What were your temps? Carrots are a cool weather crop. I add phospherous to my soil when I plant root crops. Did you use the same soil for all your crops if so did you add more nutrients. If you want beet tops nitrogen is the way to go but roots crops need high phospherous.
See: http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/scenea765.html AND http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/index.html
Contact your local extension agent's office and/or the master gardener group in your county for additional assistance.
Cornell has great information for home gardeners!
Ms. Jo
I grew the longest carrots when I lived in South Florida where the soil is mostly sand - which we amended with horse manure each year.
My best efforts here with carrots produced stumps like yours. The difference I think is the hard red clay we have here.
I now purchase organic carrots from the supermarket.
Not sure why your beets did poorly. Mine did very well this spring.
Carrots, beetroot and all other root crops like Swedes, parsnips are the same, they need watering at constant intervals and don't like soil to completely dry out.
The other common problem for stunted growth is stony ground, over fertilization and too compacted soil.
To be fare, this year has been a bit hit and miss everywhere due to the climate, too wet, too dry / hot / and too short a season, but I would perhaps as suggested, ask people like your city officer for opinions from your own area as this could pull up other views.
Good luck. WeeNel.
Allieninja,
You might try again using 18-gallon Rubbermaid tubs with drainage holes drilled in the bottoms and sides near the bottoms. You'll have more than enough depth. Use a loose growing medium, like the recommendations above, and keep moderately moist, but not wet. Also, make sure to THIN your seedlings, as overcrowding can stunt your growth in a different way.
I'd say you're soil was too hard for the carrots to push through easily...
Check and see what kind of carrots you planted. Some varieties are short and stubby. A friend on Dave's put me on to Scarlet Nantes. They are a long slender carrot and do well in my raised beds. As for carrots not liking hot weather, I grew carrots all summer and they did well. We had the hottest summer on record in Louisiana.
Jim41,
Were they planted in part shade or direct sun?
Ms. Tommie
My carrots bolted in the hot weather.
Mine too...
Bro Jim41,
Pump up the prayer for Houston! Our carrots aren't scared of the heat, yet!! LOL!
I feel like I might have bolted after this incredible summer too. Now we are looking at a possible freeze.
My carrots were in direct sun. I planted them in March and pulled the last of them in Sept. I've never had a carrot to bolt.
Then it must be the variety you grow.
A lady on dave's from Arizona sent me the original seed I planted. You know how hot it is there. They did so well I ordered seed the next time. Scarlet Nantes is the variety.
Ditto here, what Jim said. I've grown carrots thru the summer with no bolting whatsoever. They tend to slow down during the heat but never die. I plant pretty intensively and seldom mono-cropping so perhaps that helps.
When I made boxed beds several years ago I could finally grow carrots and yep, guilty of not thinning sometimes. However, I sure enjoyed many of the mini- carrots I grew then let others just keep growing. Once they are big enough to eat I start pulling them.
allieninja, "Tomatoes grew great, so did cucumbers. Do carrots need a different nutrient balance?"
I don't believe it was your depth of soil nor your hardness of soil. If you used a potting mix I'm sure that was plenty "soft" enough for your carrots. When you mentioned your beets didn't do well either it tells me you may want to add some phosphorus and/or potassium to your feeding. Root crops need a bit more than tomatoes and cukes in those areas. Also, the double roots/forking I see in your pic is indicative of either erratic watering or adding too much fertilizer at a later stage of growth, like you would see if using Miracle Gro or the like.
Don't give up. And yes, try some of the shorter growing carrots if you like, there are many out there, and early maturing also.
Shoe
Keys that work for me, are deeply worked soil after fertilizing it, so fertilizer is through out the planting depth. regular water, and I grow mine in beds, and broadcast rather than rows. then thin as they develop. I mulch the edges of the raised beds with straw so the bed stays damp consistently between watering but not swampy/
My carrot plantings are also rock free, has taken awhile to get all the stones out orf all my beds that i rotate carrots through. I also move the bed every year, and it is about 4-5 years before a bed has carrots a second time.
I also get doubled or forked carrots often. Usually my radishes go to seed before they bulb up if planted in spring. Here in zone 4b/5a I plant hardy root crops in fall. We've had three snows and my radishes, carrots, swiss chard and turnips couldn't care less. It's December and I'm still picking cilantro and spinach that I can't grow in spring.
I replanted carrots the first of September. As usual they are way to thick. I pulled a couple to see if they were growing. They are about four inchs long and as big as a nickle at the top. Time to start thinning and eating.
Do ya'll think it's too late to plant carrots here in my Zone 9a? I need 100 days.
If I sowed some seeds this weekend, 100 days would put me somewhere at the 1st weekend in April. I think I might have time, especially since I'm only growing short varieties like Danver's and Nantes Half-Longs, which I can harvest at 4-7" long.
Ok. Thanks, ya'll..
I grew short 'n sweets last Fall (~70 DTM) and it took them about 110 days to mature. I would say 75% of my crop turned out well, so I would second what Shoe and others have said about the phosphorus & potassium. I did not feed my carrots appropriately but they ended up having very lush tops (yeah, I may have used fish emulsion once or twice, but I was already feeding my brassicas, ok?)
I would go for it, Linda. Oh, and the seeds take forever to germinate.
i read in a companion planting website that if you plant carrots with tomatoes (which i think you are saying that you did) it stunts the growth of the carrots. they like each other and carrots compliment the tomatoes. try planting them away from the tomato as well as with and see if you get a difference.
model railroading
poor thing. i used to plant tomato in our backyard.
Is there any truth that beans put nitrigen into the soil. So I planted pole beans in Oct. with my carrot seeds. And what I got, were beans that were making just when the weather got cold. My beans are barely surviving, but my carrots are thrieving. I'm eating carrots, but of course the bean plants are slowing dying, so the beans were my cover crop & partner for my carrots.
This I got from a Companion Planting site I frequent, I hope it Helps...
"BEANS: All bean enrich the soil with nitrogen fixed form the air, improving the conditions for whatever crop you plant after the beans are finished. In general they are good company for carrots, celery, chards, corn, eggplant, peas, potatoes, brassicas, beets, radish, strawberry and cucumbers. Beans are great for heavy nitrogen users like corn and grain plants because the nitrogren used up by the corn and grains are replaced at the end of the season when the bean plants die back. French Haricot beans, sweet corn and melons are a good combo."
Peas ALSO fix nitrogen. All legumes do.
I gave my carrots a good thinning today. I had a bunch six inchs long and about the size of a quarter. I think I will have to thin again in a few weeks before I get them down to the level they ought to be. Well pleased with them.
When I get my three raised beds built this weekend, I will sow carrot seeds...and beets...and turnips....
How good the fresh carrots taste. If everyone could just fresh carrots once, they would never buy anothe bunch from a store.
You are right about fresh carrots compared to store bought.
We sell tons of carrots at our Farmers Market stand. They are in the ground until shortly before they go to market.
Very seldom do we bring any home, they all go.
We use Sugar Snax & Bolero, both from Johnny's Seeds.
I was wondering if anyone grew Strawberries, I would ask on the Strawberry site of this Humongous Site That I love, DG's, but I have made a few friend's I think, and I trust your Judgement.
My wife loves Strawberry's and I've never grown them before, so I'd like to surprise her, I'm in a 7a climate so it's different, curious about the seed and any special amendment's.
Happy Holiday's
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