I have always had trouble with carrots. Poor germination and stunted growth. Any one have any advice? I love fresh carrots and would so love to have a great crop for once.
Trouble with carrots
- Thread starter Meowmie
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My soil is compost. I built it up with lasagna gardening. it is only about 4-5" deep at this point but I think that should let me grow 4" carrots. the best I have gotten is about 3", very thin, and very low germination rate even though I change types of carrots and seed companies. I have such good luck with everything else but these just elude me! The one constant in the seeds is I use ONLY heirloom, non gmo, organic seeds.
I have even tried purple, yellow and every other color of carrots from the past with little success.
I have even tried purple, yellow and every other color of carrots from the past with little success.
Do you water them regularly when they are germinating? What is the ph of your soil? Carrots are funny some times, they will be picky about where they grow and often times don't want a really rich soil. the best luck that I have with them is when I have grown them in soil that was relatively sandy.
Thanks for the advice, Zigs, Becky and firelily. One of the carrots I tried was the stump rooted variety, but I still had low germination and miniscule carrots. Since my soil is still not that deep I will do them again. Glad I held off on the carrot seeds since I wasn't sure what I would do this year. Almost was going to go without.
It never occurred to me my soil might be too rich! I'm adding some sand to it before I plant this year.
It never occurred to me my soil might be too rich! I'm adding some sand to it before I plant this year.
zigs
Cactus Grower, Kent.
Sand is good, Carrots came from a coastal plant that does really well in Sand Dunes, the wild Carrot has a very small red root. Takes about 10 years to breed a usable one from wild stock.
They don't like fresh manure, makes them fork.
They don't like fresh manure, makes them fork.
I'll keep the 
out of it then and add sand. Got a big bucket full in the garage.. it's supposed to be for filling in between the bricks in the driveway but my husband just raided my amazon gift cards out of my amazon acct so I'm taking his sand
Looking forward to a good crop of carrots this year. How much sand do you think I should add to soil that is pure compost (vegetarian compost) We cut down a very large tree some years ago, and after the firewood was hauled off to the neighbors the chips went in the garden, too.
out of it then and add sand. Got a big bucket full in the garage.. it's supposed to be for filling in between the bricks in the driveway but my husband just raided my amazon gift cards out of my amazon acct so I'm taking his sand Looking forward to a good crop of carrots this year. How much sand do you think I should add to soil that is pure compost (vegetarian compost) We cut down a very large tree some years ago, and after the firewood was hauled off to the neighbors the chips went in the garden, too.
Thank you all for your help, I can't wait to get my carrots started this year.
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I have found that the main thing about carrots being spindly and deformed looking is because they are growing too close together and not properly fertilized. They are heavy feeders, even more so than onions, and growing in straight compost will not provide proper nutrition. If planting the stumpy or round varieties your soil depth shouldn't be a problem but before sowing seeds incorporate copious amounts of fertilizer into the soil and after the tops reach 4 inches tall side dress again. And remember carrots are cool weather crops, hot soil will also cause them to become deformed. I live in South Texas with alkaline soils.
I like to plant my carrots BEFORE spring and then let the snow cover them. Where I live a few hard freezes will not hurt the seeds but any touch of dryness WILL!
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Exactly right but how is germination possible when the ground is frozen and/or it is freezing? In your climate when does the soil obtain the proper temperature for germination? My experience has been that germanition for carrots is in soil that is at least 55 degrees F?
This works for me because the carrots germinate just as soon as the conditions are right, and not a day later.
Carrots seedlings love cool and damp, and our springs get the odd warm and dry day. The older the carrots are on that first warmer, dryer day the more seedlings will survive and thrive! Every extra day of life makes the seedlings stronger, and where I live that does count.
Carrot seeds are tough and a few freezes will not bother them, but a newly sprouted seedling is very, very fragile where I live! I need to get it as large as possible before that first warm day, and that means getting them planted BEFORE it was warm enough for germination! That way the seeds germinate as early as possible, so that the seedling is as large as possible before that first warm and sunny spring day.