radishes, beets, and carrots.

DoreenPalmer 6/30/2014, 9:16 am

This is my first year with square foot gardening. I have 2 beds filled with Mel's mix and one of my raised beds just has topsoil with compost in it.
My first attempts with radishes, carrots, and beets in Mel's mix didn't produce much root. The leaves were awesome which I have learned are good for you too. So it wasn't a total loss since I freeze the greens for smoothies.
So I tried radishes in my topsoil and they did really well. Does anyone know if the mel's mix soil is too rich for these root vegetable, or has anyone else had the same experience? The rest of my vegetables in my Mel's mix are doing wonderfully.
Would love to hear from someone.

herblover 6/30/2014, 11:20 am

I have with varying success grown all of them in my SFG. Beets are the one that have had the most mixed success, but radishes and carrots especially have been consistent winners for me. Carrots need loose soil which MM provides.

DoreenPalmer 7/1/2014, 7:30 am

I can't believe that no one else has had this problem. Not much feedback on this forum.

yolos 7/1/2014, 8:40 am

Have you tried a search. We have had numerous discussions over the years on radishes and beets not bulbing properly. Both were discussed this year at some point. Carrots seem to like MM. Not all MM is the same because the compost varies within each garden and each bed in the garden.

DoreenPalmer 7/1/2014, 1:08 pm

yolos wrote:Have you tried a search. We have had numerous discussions over the years on radishes and beets not bulbing properly. Both were discussed this year at some point. Carrots seem to like MM. Not all MM is the same because the compost varies within each garden and each bed in the garden.

thank you for answering, I will do a search.

CapeCoddess 7/1/2014, 3:36 pm

I don't do too well with root veggies. It's hit or miss in my SFG. But like you the greens grow great and I, too, eat them. I always throw in some carrot seeds in just because I'm thinking that one day I'll figure out the secret.

This year I grew beets for the greens and radishes for the yummy radish seed pods, but I got great radishes and it looks like some of the beets are bulbing up.
idk

Either way I win!
CC

Dunkinjean 7/1/2014, 4:26 pm

I usually do well with the carrots.
In the past yrs I also had great success with radishes (only hubby and neighbors eat them) but this year with the short spring (I assume the reason) they did terrible.
This year the beets are slow.
Don't feel you did anything wrong.... Very Happy

DoreenPalmer 7/1/2014, 5:06 pm

I recently posted a question regarding radishes, carrots and I think I mentioned my beets. I finally got some good responses. But I am going to attach a picture to this post. Before I started SFG I had a raised bed with topsoil and compost in it. So this year I got two more raised beds and put Mel's mix in them. Everything else is doing well which I mentioned in my last post. Since my radishes did not turn out well I decided to try them in my topsoil raised beds. As you can see in the picture they turned out like they are supposed to. So it isn't the weather, it has to be something in the soil, maybe like someone said on the other post, too much nitrogen. Maybe if I try them next year there won't be too much of whatever it is that is causing the problem. I am not worried or anything, just curious.
radishes, beets, and carrots. 10364072_4232947998048_704521618055272354_n

radishes, beets, and carrots. 10364072_4232947998048_704521618055272354_n

southern gardener 7/1/2014, 5:25 pm

DoreenPalmer what's in your MM? that might give more insight as to the problem Smile

landarch 7/1/2014, 8:05 pm

Doreen, I think it is hard to beat well amended topsoil. I have some raised beds with amended native Kansas soil and some raised beds with Mels Mix (3rd year with quality, home made compost). Each year it seems like the better yields are from my improved native soil. I have posted pics in the past illustrating the noticeable differences between several crops (beets, onions, etc).

For example, here's a pic of my onion harvest last year...big onions on the left from native soil...smallish onions on the right from Mels Mix.

Marc Iverson 7/1/2014, 8:25 pm

Are they grown in equal conditions otherwise?

Our native soil is basically rock (decomposed granite) with a thin layer of decomposed forest duff, so native soil wouldn't work very well here, especially for root crops. You'd have to amend it so much that you couldn't really call it native soil anymore.

DoreenPalmer 7/1/2014, 8:42 pm

landarch wrote:Doreen, I think it is hard to beat well amended topsoil. I have some raised beds with amended native Kansas soil and some raised beds with Mels Mix (3rd year with quality, home made compost). Each year it seems like the better yields are from my improved native soil. I have posted pics in the past illustrating the noticeable differences between several crops (beets, onions, etc).

For example, here's a pic of my onion harvest last year...big onions on the left from native soil...smallish onions on the right from Mels Mix.

Thank you for sharing this picture. I wish that I would have taken pictures of my radishes that didn't work in MM. Maybe I will try another crop, planting both at the same time then take pictures of both.

DoreenPalmer 7/1/2014, 8:45 pm

southern gardener wrote:DoreenPalmer what's in your MM? that might give more insight as to the problem

I remember buying four different kinds of compost plus using some of my own. I don't remember what they were. I think one of them was cow manure compost. Would that be the reason? I should have kept track of what I used.

landarch 7/1/2014, 10:21 pm

to show you how crazy things can be with gardening, here's a pic this evening of an onion I'm growing by accident...my 4 year old left an onion set setting atop our stone wall and it must have sent down roots between the wall and 4x4 timber...and got just the right amount of rain, nutrients, and wonderful drainage...it's hand's down the best onion I have this year in terms of size.

Marc Iverson 7/2/2014, 1:27 am

Wow, that is really cool. I guess you can't get soil any looser than "no soil at all."

southern gardener 7/2/2014, 1:41 am

landarch wrote:Doreen, I think it is hard to beat well amended topsoil. I have some raised beds with amended native Kansas soil and some raised beds with Mels Mix (3rd year with quality, home made compost). Each year it seems like the better yields are from my improved native soil. I have posted pics in the past illustrating the noticeable differences between several crops (beets, onions, etc).

For example, here's a pic of my onion harvest last year...big onions on the left from native soil...smallish onions on the right from Mels Mix.

wow! those are some beautiful onions! do you remember the variety??
Doreen, it COULD be the reason. I agree with landarch, it seems there is some good stuff in native soil. We experienced the same as Landarch. You can pm me if you'd like more info. Good luck!!

manda99 7/2/2014, 1:57 pm

My first two years of SFG, my radishes didn't bulb. The 3rd year, it suddenly worked. I have no idea why, but my persistence paid off.

landarch 7/2/2014, 6:58 pm

Last year I think I grew an onion named Texas Sweet...this year I am trying one called Candy.

nosmok 7/2/2014, 10:02 pm

Thanks for starting this thread! I have similar experiences in Western TN. This year radishes did much better except for the white icicle variety which just went to seed pods. My Nantes carrots look great in the beds, but very short, deformed, woody roots. I've had no luck with beets, despite trying several varieties and adding more compost. Did get some leeks to grow this year!

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