Okay- I planted my first group of carrot seeds on april 23. They went straight into the garden (brand new raised bed) and none of them came up. We got quite a bit of rain about a week ago- What could I have done wrong. My Gardening MN book said it was a good time to start them- could it have been too cold? I'm a new veggie gardner this year- so I doubt it is the seeds- they are Johhny's from this year, Sugarsnax and Early Nelson. The bed was prepped last year with about 1/3 sand, 1/3 peat and rest topsoil. Tilled just before I put the seeds in too. Any ideas?
Carrots- a no show
Carrots take a looooooong time to germinate. I would give up just yet.
Tombaak is right on the money. Carrots are very slow to germinate. Cold does not bother them. Heat does but that should not be a problem in your location. There are other considerations like planting them too deep, soil dying out , but most likely they just need time to do their thing.
I grow fall carrots down here--90% of the germination issues are quite different from yours; but, I concur with Farmerdill about not letting them dry out. Just give them a quick shot with the hose hand held sprayer. Damp is good enough, And they are one of the slowest veggies to germinate, but nothing like the taste!
Debbie
This message was edited May 7, 2006 3:26 PM
I grew a carrot once.
I've tried all the tricks: planting them with radishes to break the soil for them, planting them during the rainy season, keeping them constantly moist until they germinate (it's been 2 months and counting), growing them in a raised bed, growing short varieties - and they still don't grow for me.
This trick worked very well for me. Water well, sow the carrot seeds and sprinkle soil over them, then cover with a lightweight board. Check every couple of days and voila, carrot seedlings. They stay moist and protected under the board, so germinate well.
My carrot problem is a little different. My germination was fine. It took awhile but I kept the soil moist as advised above.
I think the problem was in the thinning. I got really nice tops. I pulled some yesterday and they look like the are too close together. I spaced them about every 6 inches but I think I put in too many seeds.
Some of them were an inch or too long. I replanted the stronger ones in an emptier bed.
Can they be transplanted like this?
What is the best way to space and thin the seeds?
Thanks
BB
They don't transplant well, but you can get interesting shapes when you break the tap root. I plant 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep and attempt to sow them approximately one inch apart. Under ideal conditions I will thin by pulling half of them for baby carrots. Carrot seeds are very small, so unless one is using pelleted seed, conditions are rarely ideal. In which case I thin the seedlings when they get thier first true leaves to about 1 inch apart. After that when they get about little finger size I will pull every other carrot for baby carrots, leaving the others two inches or so apart to grow full size. Of course I am not growing huge show carrots.
Thanks for all your advice. We got a bunch of rain, but I will continue to keep moist and HOPE. Otherwise I'll try again. I may have planted them too deeply as well, I will pay close attention to my next try. Thanks for all the input.
We ALWAYS thin carrots with scissors at soil level. This keeps the neighbor carrot's roots from damage.
Thanks
We'll see what happens but I'll give it a better shot with the fall planting
i been thinkin bout carrots for a time, wanna grow them, lots of em. My best current theory is using an automatic misting controller and using kelp extract in the water to speed germination. just bought the controller, already have a fertilizer injector, gona set up a bed as soon as i can get it done, working on putting in water lines now to supply spring water to the new garden i just got cleared of trees.
RuebenT:
Can you explain a little more about your watering system? I want to build a well but neeed to wait a few before I can incur the expense. I do have a spring closer to my beds than my house is. (I using about 300 foot of hose now) and I would like to take advantage of the free water source that's right there.
D-Mail me if you'd like.
BB
My carrots are lolly-gagging around, too, though I finally see a few sprigs showing up. I was about convinced there's be a no show after the squirrel debacle. I am getting ALOT of walnut tree starts from the the nuts they buried, though. Sheesh - always something...
I am happy to report that my carrots are finally coming up as well.
Thansks to you guys telling me to just be patient!
Yipeee!