"rainbow" carrot mix. Some disappointment however...

So i tried my hand at carrots this year, my choice was a "Rainbow Mix" seed package, which contained "Nutri Red", "Purple Dragon", "White Kuttiger", and "Solar Yellow". Here are a couple of photos, they grew better than i expected for the most part, however i notice some of them have the "Forking", so i assume i used too lumpy of garden medium (potting mix), either that or it was getting too dry too quickly, i live in a part of the country that suffered those nasty couple of weeks of 100F+ temperatures, and i would water one day, and by the time i get back home from my day that container i grew it in (old square vintage wash tub with holes in the bottom) would be totally dry all over again, thankfully its not that bad now that the heatwave is gone. Another disappointment is how spicy / bitter these varieties seem to taste, all except for the yellow one. Just curious if i did something wrong that made them taste so strongly--they are almost unpleasant to eat (for my tastes anyway). Would love to hear someone else's experience with these varieties?

I tried those last year. What a let down. Mine were planted in raised beds with very good soil. Beautiful top but alot to be said for the carrot itself. From now on I will stick with just good old orange carrots. Sometimes the fancy stuff is not worth the time or expence. Good luck if you try again.

Carrots like lots and lots of soft soil with lots and lots of compost. I have to grow the shorter varieties because we have hard clay and the shorter varieties do better in that type of soil, no matter how much compost I add.

Txtea: good to hear it was not all just my bad planning, It was the big "Heirloom" tag that drew me into getting these, lol. Which of the orange varieties do you like best? My washtub had at least 8 to 10 inches deep full of soil, is that deep enough?

I grow heirlooms and go for the shorter varieties. I don't have my list with me right now, but when I get home, I can see which ones I've had success with.

My carrots take on a taste like "lighter fluid?" smells, if that makes sense. Any ideas?

Gymgirl: you just described the taste exactly like i was trying to do, now i have not noticed a smell on mine, but the taste was not what i wanted

jmc, spring time i use sugarsnax in the fall to winter over merida, the winter have been real good for me.

I have grown both Danvers half long and Little Fingers with good success. This year I tried Chantenay Red Cored and had great success, but I didn't like the taste. They tasted "green" even after harvesting at the appropriate time.

You guys all use soil to plant in? no straw type mediums? and those types do taste wierd-not half of which is the heat they grow in, Danvers is a good Texas carrot,

Kitt,
My carrots grew in a bed filled with peat mixed with Black Kow Composted Cow Manure. The carrots had a "chemical" taste. I grew beets and turnips in the same blend, and they tasted fine. It was just the carrots.

Tell us more about the medium you grow your carrots in.

It isnt the medium giving em the flavor, but the straw beds like you would grow potatoes in allow the roots to grow freely-carrots like loamy types of sand, I wouldn't have used peat in the cow tho, I would have added maybe a looser sand that doesn't turn to concrete when dry. Am trying to remember-the taste fades after a bit of age? shake head- less fertilizers? probably the cow was rich for the carrot which is a weed...isn't there something in carrots that makes a base for like pyrethrins? not my forte, not enuff time to go research today, I am not much help, but I have picked up carrrots to deliver to places like C Soup, and Gerbrs, so I know our Edinburgh Valley grows them as well as those loamy Calif soils that have the tiny carrots come out so sweet- temps are critical on carrots too, the temps can turn em woody in a heartbeat.

i used regular potting mix in the large washtub i grew them in, used a foliage spray on Fertilizer called "Spray N' Grow", its fish based, and man can you smell it when you open the bottle, lol