Growing carrots for the first time

[Gemma]

I purchased the seeds last year but never got around to actually putting them in dirt so I thought I'd do it this year. They are supposedly a variety specially developed for pots, but after reading a few of your comments, I now wonder if I should plant flowers in those pots instead!

 

[Tjohn]

I've planted carrots in raised beds and bags for two years now, and never had a problem with them. Just give them lots of compost and keep the dirt loose (not compacted) and you should be able to grow them easily. If they are up a little higher, they won't get bugs!

 

[Purrfluff]

I've planted carrots in raised beds and bags for two years now, and never had a problem with them. Just give them lots of compost and keep the dirt loose (not compacted) and you should be able to grow them easily. If they are up a little higher, they won't get bugs!

What about thinning? What I ran into is that each carrot puts up multiple stalks (much like beets). So I coudn't tell one plant for another. I never managed to successfully thin them. And that lack of thinning caused the carrots to be too close together and therefore never get any size.

 

[Gemma]

Gemma, peat moss and perlite isn't soil. .

Might not be good for carrots, I don't know yet, but potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, and everything else I grew so far did just fine.
I grow my vegetables in pots and I like that this mixture is very light even wet, it has fertilizer mixed in when I buy it, and I do mix in compost the following years

 

[marlingardener]

Gemma, I didn't mean to rain on your parade with my suggestion about perlite and peat moss. If it works for you, go for it! I bet you have a bumper crop of gorgeous carrots.

 

[Tjohn]

What about thinning? What I ran into is that each carrot puts up multiple stalks (much like beets). So I coudn't tell one plant for another. I never managed to successfully thin them. And that lack of thinning caused the carrots to be too close together and therefore never get any size.

Pelleted seed causes this, as the pellets contain several seeds in one. Each carrot only puts up one top, so if you pull out all but the one you want to keep, it will be fine.

 

[Gemma]

Pelleted seed causes this, as the pellets contain several seeds in one. Each carrot only puts up one top, .....

I'm glad you cleared that up

 

[Purrfluff]

Pelleted seed causes this, as the pellets contain several seeds in one. Each carrot only puts up one top, so if you pull out all but the one you want to keep, it will be fine.

Wait. There's more than one seed per pellet? Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of pelleted seed?

To be clear, this is the first year I will be using pelleted seed. All the other carrots I've planted have been from regular seed.

The problem is that I can't tell what top belongs to what carrot. With something like cabbage it's pretty easy. Each seedling sends up one central stalk and you can thin with relative ease.

Carrots seem kind of the opposite. I can't figure out which leaf stalk belongs to what carrot. Perhaps I am a moron in not being able to figure it out.

 

[Tjohn]

Wait. There's more than one seed per pellet? Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of pelleted seed?

To be clear, this is the first year I will be using pelleted seed. All the other carrots I've planted have been from regular seed.

The problem is that I can't tell what top belongs to what carrot. With something like cabbage it's pretty easy. Each seedling sends up one central stalk and you can thin with relative ease.

Carrots seem kind of the opposite. I can't figure out which leaf stalk belongs to what carrot. Perhaps I am a moron in not being able to figure it out.

Just choose one leaf and follow it all the way to the ground. You will see the area where several leaves are coming from the same spot, pull that and you will be thinning the carrots.There may be several leaves, but you can see the carrot top where they all begin.

 

[Purrfluff]

I'll give that a shot, thank you. I put in both pelleted and regular carrot seed. We'll see if there's any germination difference. Assuming I get germination at all.