Carrots

silverbug 6/22/2010, 12:54 pm

Ok, so, I believe, that as I experienced with my radishes, I will have NO carrots. I have little bitty tops, and the ones that I've accidentally and intentionally pulled to check out, have like NO root system. What the heck????

Lavender Debs 6/22/2010, 1:51 pm

How long have they been going?

milaneyjane 6/22/2010, 5:21 pm

Probably still too early. I am in MN and I planted a LONG time ago and they are just starting to sprout. They are a slow slow slow growing plant.

Shoda 6/22/2010, 5:51 pm

Yes, carrots can take up to a month to sprout -- especially if the soil is cool. And they also take a long time to grow. The source I read said 60-75 days and I think that is after they have sprouted.

How long have they been going?

boffer 6/22/2010, 6:09 pm

Three planting dates:
4/18
5/8
5/24
The April carrots aren't close to being edible yet. Carrots are just slow. If my radishes aren't ready in 40 days-I pull 'em and replant. But I never pull my carrots.

Carrots 100_2318

Icemaiden 6/22/2010, 7:54 pm

And mine look like Boffer's 2nd sowing but went in a week earlier on April 30th - it is cooler here.
Boffer - (if I may ask) how many carrots do you grow in a square foot?

boffer 6/22/2010, 8:02 pm

uh..er..um..well...about double what Mel suggests. 30-32

Icemaiden 6/22/2010, 8:12 pm

well I won't say a word....

boffer 6/22/2010, 8:19 pm

about what? fun veggie

Blackrose 6/22/2010, 9:08 pm

Oh boffer! I'm glad I'm not the only one! It just seemed like such a waste of space to only put 16 carrots in a square. I think I planted about 25.

Carrots Icon_cheers

boffer 6/22/2010, 9:24 pm

Blackrose wrote:...It just seemed like such a waste of space to only put 16 carrots in a square....

I think so too; each year I try adding a few more. This year I planted carrots under the grids as it seemed like wasted space. So far, so good.

This year I used string as a grid in a couple boxes to do my planting, then I took the string off because I knew I wouldn't be planting again in those boxes. But I'm so used to seeing grids now, that it bothers me when I don't see them!

Next year, I'm going to try using carrots as my grid in a couple boxes! fun veggie

The Cat's Other Mother 6/22/2010, 9:25 pm

Carrots take forever, it seems. I put some carrots and onions from seed in a box planter back in early May and they still seem to be doing next to nothing. I guess I'll just be patient... Carrots Icon_rolleyes

Blackrose 6/23/2010, 7:45 am

boffer you're a genius!! Using carrots as a grid is an amazing idea. What a great way to maximize space in the SFG!

Carrots 73140

silverbug 6/23/2010, 12:42 pm

About mid April is when they were planted, and all the tops are tiny little wisps. I'm patient, but seriously, I accidentally grabbed a couple carrot shoots when I tried to pull some weeds, and there was a thread of a root...a tiny thread. NOTHING resembling a carrot system. Two months of growth and basicly NOTHING. I'm leaving what's left there for now. They can deal with the warm weather then? I've never tried carrots myself before.

quiltbea 6/23/2010, 12:46 pm

silverbug...In fact, you can keep your carrots in the ground even when you get your first frost. It makes them sweeter, the same with parsnips.

Blackrose 6/27/2010, 6:11 pm

I decided to carefully dig up one of my carrots the other day to see how they are doing. The seed pack said that they are supposed to reach maturity in 55-60 days. It was day 62 when I dug up what looked like would be the biggest carrot in the square (the greens were the tallest). Well, it looked kind of like a carrot. It was maybe a little less than half an inch in diameter, about an inch and a half long and wasn't even orange. I would say they have a loooooong way to go yet.

Sigh... Carrots Icon_scratch

Chopper 6/27/2010, 6:23 pm

Yeah, I'd love to know where the seed packets get their timing info. Liars. If I listened to them I should have been able to harvest my early girls a full month ago but they are just starting to turn red.

Carrots, for whatever reason are SLOW.

elliephant 6/27/2010, 6:47 pm

boffer wrote:Next year, I'm going to try using carrots as my grid in a couple boxes!

Oh! I like that idea. I may do that over the winter! (Winter being a very relative term down here)

Blackrose 6/27/2010, 7:40 pm

I have a similar issue with my early girls. I have one that is just a little bigger than a cherry tomato and 4 more that are just starting out inside the flower pods.

I'm just so anxious to harvest something other than lettuce. Luckily, my bush beans have some baby beans on them and my eggplant has a little baby eggplant growing on it. I also noticed what I think may be a cucumber starting out on my cucumber plant. I'm getting hopeful for a harvest soon! But I wish they would hurry up and grow already!!! Carrots Icon_lol

Megan 6/27/2010, 8:56 pm

If it makes you feel any better, Blackrose, your beans, cukes, and tomatoes are all ahead of mine. (And I'm sure your eggplant would be too, if I were growing some!) Very Happy

And I have beautiful carrot greens, but when I thinned them the other week, I found that the carrots underneath are pathetic. I am just going to let them go until frost and see if they get anywhere.

quiltbea 6/27/2010, 9:07 pm

Blackrose....I'm amazed that in Canada you are getting cukes and eggplant babies already. I have some blossoms here in Maine, but the only warm-weather crop showing any growth is one Jalapeno pepper.
Here's some carrots that were sown on April 24th, so they are slowwwww.
url=https://servimg.com/view/15016226/157] Carrots 06-23-13

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Blackrose 6/27/2010, 10:52 pm

I was quite surprised about the eggplant too. I didn't grow it from seed though. I bought a starter from the nursery. I just had a blossom drop, but there are 4 more getting ready to bloom. I may go out and pollinate them myself to improve my chances of getting another eggplant.

I'm not entirely sure that I have a cucumber. It's very small, but it looks like a baby cucumber with a flower at the end. This is all new to me. Carrots Icon_smile

Megan, your carrot tops look a lot fuller than mine. I'm actually growing little carrots. I forget right now what the variety is, but they are only supposed to grow about 4" long.

silverbug 6/28/2010, 7:07 am

Yeah, those carrot tops are nice and bushy and full. Mine don't look like that even, though starting to get there. I can't be overly whiney, really. I mean, my garden spot is practically in a forest for how much sun it gets. I do get 6 hours per box, but JUST. So, between sun, not using 5 composts to start myself up, rain, rain, rain (good for the garden, but making moss) I have a pretty good garden. Oooh, and let's not forget the rabbits eating everything down to the bone. The largest producing pea vines were devoured...hehehehe. It's still fun, right?

Shoda 6/28/2010, 5:50 pm

Blackrose,

Your "cucumber" sounds like a female flower. If it gets pollinated, you get a cucumber. If it doesn't, it will drop off. Look for some similar flowers that don't have the mini cucumber at the end.

I haven't tried to pollinate cucumbers but I suspect you would need a very small paint brush.

Megan 6/28/2010, 6:45 pm

These are my two squares of St. Valery carrots. They are supposed to get 10-12" long and 2-3" wide. The greens are big, but no shoulders visible yet and the few I thinned a couple weeks ago were microscopic. The greens sort of flopped forward toward the bottom of the photo after I thinned them.

Carrots Photo%202-742242

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