Holy cow, lots of carrots

littlesapphire 8/10/2011, 9:12 pm

So I was looking at the packet of carrot seeds I just got. They're a mini Nantes type called little finger. The packet says (and the internet confirms) to thin them to 1-2 inches apart.

Ok, so we know 3 inches apart is 16 per square.

2 inches apart turns out to be 36 per square.

.........

1 inch apart is Shocked

144 per square? That seems outrageous! Is that right?!

If so, man, I need more of these seeds! I only have enough for half a square!

**Furbalsmom** 8/10/2011, 9:38 pm

littlesapphire, I'll bet you have hundreds of seeds in your carrot seed packet.

Burpees Little Fingers pkt has 1500 seeds and other brands have .5 gr (about 350-500 seeds) or 1 gr (about 750- 1000 seeds)

Some brands instructions for "Little Fingers" say to plant 1 to 2 inches apart and thin to 2 inches apart. (Don't know which brand you have) Because they say they will grow up to one inch in width, I would try for 2 inches apart (36 per sq)

You are absolutely right though, 1 inch apart is 144 per square Shocked

No matter which distance you use, that is a whole lotta carrots in one square.

boffer 8/10/2011, 10:13 pm

'Little Fingers' are one of my 'go to' seed packages when I have a square or two free, that I don't know what to do with in the season long planting scheme. (along with beets and rads)

Take one finger and draw a line down the middle of a square. Take two fingers and draw lines down on either side. Try to plant a seed in each line at about one inch. When the greens are approaching two inches, thin to 1-2 inches.

Your sanity is worth more than a few extra carrots out of a square!

Icemaiden 8/11/2011, 5:37 am

Or you could just sprinkle the seed and then thin afterwards. My mother in law always sowed her carrots like that, one big bed rather than in rows. You could guess from the volume of seed in the packet compared to how many seed it is, and just sprinkle that amount around one square. I think you would go crosseyed trying to place them regularly Shocked

littlesapphire 8/11/2011, 8:12 am

Thanks for the replies, guys! It's good to know that you have some experience with this type of carrot, Boffer; I was hoping someone would! I'm thinking I'll try Boffer's idea of just drawing lines and planting down them. Almost like mini row planting Very Happy

I don't think I'll try to do exactly 144 carrots in one square. That would indeed drive me insane!

AprilakaCCIL 8/11/2011, 1:08 pm

Glad I came upon this thread...I'm ordering me some of them carrots 4-sure! I'm positive I'll be pleased with lots of little carrots. cheers

BackyardBirdGardner 8/11/2011, 3:36 pm

Little Fingers are great! They were my Carrot Week carrot variety.

Granted, they won't all come out perfect. You will get some runts. However, they are super performers as a whole. Here is one square that I tried very hard to plant 16/square by the book......didn't work because I didn't thin well (this turned out to be about 24 carrots). They were yummy!

Holy cow, lots of carrots 6012209508_802d9e5af6

Holy cow, lots of carrots 6012209508_802d9e5af6

I'll be planting more later this summer, too.

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