carrots

[PLUMPUDDING]

If you grow carrots in containers grow an early type like Nantes, not Autumn King which is a late, large carrot more for keeping over winter.
Also sow them very thinly so they have plenty of room. I usually sprinkle a few in a tub in the greenhouse for an early crop.

I've been very pleased with Artemis pelleted seed from Moles seeds in a raised bed as you can plant them spaced a couple of inches apart and don't need to thin them. I always cover them with enviromesh as the carrot fly ruin them if I don't. I've tried the 20 inch barrier, strong scented companion plants and everything else in the past, and none of them work at keeping them fly free, so now keep them covered and have a perfect crop.

[Ricard with an H]

Also sow them very thinly so they have plenty of room. I usually sprinkle a few in a tub in the greenhouse for an early crop.

I'm still working on this.

I've been very pleased with Artemis pelleted seed from Moles seeds in a raised bed as you can plant them spaced a couple of inches apart and don't need to thin them.

Ahhh, the answer, are they tasty ?

It-is worth the effort of getting things how you want them, and it is an individual thing. I just went to the plot, pulled two carrots and a bunch of kale as sides for my dinner. Fantastic.

[PLUMPUDDING]

Yes Richard, I pulled a couple to see how large they were and had them for dinner. They were lovely. Didn't pick any more as they weren't fully grown - slim 6" and nice and straight. There are probably varieties with better flavour, thinking of Beta III, but compared to shop bought ones Artemis are excellent.

[Ricard with an H]

I shouldn't be but I am very disappointed with my carrots this season, I hoped the couple I boiled for dinner last night might be better but no. At least they didn't taste of paraffin.

Maybe they need another few weeks though the Nantes carrots tasted nice when they were tiny.

I can't grow more because I won't waste the ones I have and I still have two eight foot rows and the thinnings of a third row.

If the seed merchants take the initiative to write nice descriptions of their tasty products why not describe the not-so-nice as, " Bland and uninspiring".

[Daveswife]

I did something similar last autumn - about this time of year, I guess (August) - when I set carrot seeds in a large tub. Good germination, but as the weather turned colder I lifted the tub into the greenhouse. Watered erratically, in other words forgot about it for some weeks, but persevered and pulled some little carrots to thin them out. Small, pale, but very tasty.

Then come February I remembered them again and they had grown quite a bit and were beautiful. Not huge, but better than anything we grow direct in the garden.

Cannot remember what variety I used and to some extent I think it probably doesn't matter a lot under these circumstances.

If you have another tub or bucket available why not set some more seeds. Leave the tub out until the weather gets cooler, then put it somewhere protected, greenhouse if you have one, car port, or just against the house wall. I will do similar and then come Christmas time we can exchange messages and compare results. I am in Nottingham, by the way

Having had a disappointing experience this year with potatoes grown in tubs, I am determined to grow something successful in a tub! (Even if I do have to wait until February for a decent crop).

[Colin Miles]

For my early carrots this year I grew Ideal Red and although it was not a big crop the taste was markedly better than the shop bought carrots we had the following week after finishing them. And unfortunately I lost most of my second batch of carrots to slugs - wasn't able to look after them at the time.

[Ricard with an H]

After all the excitement of producing clean carrots todays pulled carrots had holes in them with little black worms 15 mm long and as thick as a sewing needle. Presumably these come out of the earth rather than via fyling insects ?

[Ricard with an H]

And I'm still getting forking carrots. (That's a forked shaped carrot)

I thought it stones and/or the presence of compost material that made the carrots go into funny shapes. I de-stoned the complete row with a Rotosieve where I sowed carrot though tiny stones remain.

[Elaine]

We grow Nantes carrots in those black flower buckets you can buy from the supermarket at 8 for £1 (Morrisons) and always do pretty well with them.

We use multipurpose compost, keep them well watered and the carrots are fly free and tasty. It took us a while to get the amount of seeds right though, as we always sowed far too many in the bucket and had to thin them out drastically.

This year they have been infested by a tiny green caterpillar...I got up one morning and did my usual check of things and found the carrot foliage was just stalks! The caterpillars were curled up on the compost. I've no idea what they are, presumably a micro moth of some sort.

[Ricard with an H]

Proud as a new dad 47 years ago. This type of carrot is getting fatter rather than longer when you leave it in the ground.

I'm not quite sure how dinner is planned for this evening but it is going to include this small collection.

[ken]

Just to join in, very late in the day...As I've said before, we are restricted here to growing either in raised beds filled with bought compost, or in pots. This year I've grown a main crop carrot called Manchester. I've had to water the bed regularly through this dry summer, but the carrots have been very large and clean. Rather as other people have said about other varieties, however, we found the flavour a bit weak. And I agree with Ric(h)ard - finding a commercial, peat free compost that holds water decently isn't easy. I've started adding coir, which seems to help.

[Motherwoman]

I'm growing Nantes and they are pulling up nicely at about 5-6" long, no fly thank goodness and a good flavour. I grow in stoney ground and they do fork a bit, but it causes amusement at the dinner table....

[BarbaraE]

Daveswife, I shall try that. I'd never thought of growing carrots in a greenhouse, but I shall sow what seeds I have left, and see what happens. Life is always full of surprises.

[Ricard with an H]

I made a couple of half-hearted questions on the issue of leaving carrots in the ground though I didn't ask if the carrot foliage gives me a sign when I need to lift them.

What about over-winter carrots outside but under enviromesh to slow the wind down ? I don't trust marketing people to do anything other than sell rather than provide accurate and reasonable outcomes for their claims. The free winter salad seeds I had last year from the "Grow-It" magazine all did very well and more than I expected so they're not all out to get me to waste my money.

So what about over-winter carrots ? the foliage on my "Chantenay" is very tall, about two foot if they managed to stand straight. Just a shower of lovely rain on the enviromesh and the carrot foliage and they're all on the floor.

[WestHamRon]

I'm not a very good carrot grower but I think they would get a bit woody if left in the ground.
I was told to store them in slightly damp spent compost or simply sand.
Sadly I never grew enough to see if it worked.
As to your second point, I don't think the foliage will ever tell you when to lift, they'll happily keep growing away.
You need to disturb the soil around the carrot and look to see the size of the shoulders.
Hopefully someoe who knows what they're talking about will be along soon.