Carrot problems?

I sowed some carrot seeds on the first day of carrot week and am only seeing a few sprout up so far. Should I sow some more in the bed? It could be the seeds, I bought them from Aldi so don't know how good a quality they will be. The sprouts coming up are very, very small still. I only have two kinds of compost/fertilizer in them, but the other squares are doing really well. I have black forest compost and seabird guano in them all. I am planning to get some mushroom compost and maybe some local compost that is free. I also have a worm bin going but it will be a while before I can get any castings from it. Any advice appreciated as always!

My carrots are always slow coming up. I sowed carrots the same week and I've just got a few, just breaking ground with their bits of green in the last few days. It did the same last year, but I got good carrots by the end of the season.
Be more patient.

My Carrot Week plantings are the saddest things you've ever seen right now. They are just getting to an inch in height. I went back and looked at those that were planted on 3/30 and 3/17 and they all look a bit small still. Variety makes a difference, too.

Don't panic. They'll get there.

The more folks I talk to or hear from the more likely it seems the unusually cool start thru the midwest is the biggest culprit for slow and poor garden starts. Carrots are not the best at an extra early start so in our area carrot week mite have been in that extra early time frame this year but they should soon make up the lost ground when it gets up to average seasonal soil temps.

Don't worry about them yet jy! I planted my nantes 4-16-11 and I just now have some 1/4" sprouts. We are having an uncommonly late, wet, cooooool, &#@*# spring and everything is slooooooooooooow.

TC

My problem is that I forgot all about carrots.

Is it too late to plant the seeds?

Kelejan wrote:My problem is that I forgot all about carrots.

Is it too late to plant the seeds?

I don't think it is too late Kelejan. You can do two or three plantings of carrots each year to prolong the harvest. If you can find some space for them, that is. I know you said in one thread that you were out of space. Could you possibly plant them in with the radishes or something that you are going to harvest early and then give the carrots room to mature? Or try a couple of containers with just carrots?

Gwynn

I think it will have to be containers, Gwynne.

Can one transplant carrots? I think I will try that vermiculite method, I have some containers almost ready and it will be fun to try. I know carrot seeds take a long timeto germinate but with the warmer weather perhaps I will get lucky.

I have never tried transplanting carrots, but I think BBG did. Hey, it's only seeds. Why not try it and see what happens. That is the fun thing about gardening.

Oh and my carrots that I planted for carrot week are just now starting to sprout. I think it was just too cold for them. They are about 1/4 inch high.

Gwynn

Thanks everyone, I will just try to be patient. It has been unseasonably cold here in STL, with a couple of really hot days in between. Can I sow more carrot seed in the same area, or will that be too many? I may try another variety in a different spot. Can I grow potatoes and carrots together?

From the Philippine garden. Carrots started in cardboard egg cartons ready to transplant. Rip off the bottoms and plant the whole cell. I'll update when I get a report.



Kay

Kelejan wrote:Is it too late to plant the seeds?

I don't think it's ever too late to plant carrots. Well, I wouldn't plant them near Christmas in the northern hemisphere, but I think you know what I was getting at.

Page 257 of Mel's book....Continual Harvest Schedule...

He plants them starting 3 weeks before frost up to 11 weeks before fall frost. And, he plants them every two weeks in between those dates right through summer.

I don't know that I would go into that kind of staggering with carrots anymore because they keep so well in the ground. I would likely dedicate a few squares to them and just mass plant the squares and harvest as I needed them throughout the growing season. But, that's me. To be fair to Mel, he is maximizing space and harvesting times to remain as efficient as possible per his system. I'm not trying to prove to you that I can get a small town's worth of 3 season veggies out of a 4x4 box like he is. (And, I'm glad he is proving that.....it helps us in more ways than are clearly visible.)

I have transplanted them. They survive just fine if you use vermiculite cups. I don't know about transplanting from any kind of soil mixture because I haven't done so. But, the carrot pics I posted in a harvest thread were started and transplanted from vermiculite cups back in early March. It's a bit early to harvest them, but I saw a huge crown and the kids were begging me. So, I gave in. I got a couple of 2 inch carrots and told the kids that's why they need more time. Not that the kids care...lol. They wanted carrots.

Happy Gardening!

wouldnt hurt ta try. mine took over two weeks to even pop outta the mm mainly cause of the fact sence mine are tabletop boxs the wind blowing under them has kepted the soil cool not leting the seeds germanate. sence its rained here for 2 days streaght i pray the sun comes out tomorrow and warms them up so i see more than a speck of green here an there


boog

walshevak wrote:From the Philippine garden. Carrots started in cardboard egg cartons ready to transplant. Rip off the bottoms and plant the whole cell. I'll update when I get a report.



Kay

I cant wait to see how they do. I love recycling things for garden use. Minimum transplant stress some body was use their head :idea: