Trouble with carrots

9 years ago

I've never had much luck growing carrots. I garden in raised beds with good amended soil that the rest of my other vegetable do well in....but not carrots.

I've tried to plant them early, I've tried to plant them late. I've tried them in full sun and partial shade. I always plant them shallow with about 1/4" of soil and a sprinkling of straw or vermiculite to hold in moisture. A few radish seeds tossed in to mark the row.

Once the carrot sprouts, they seem to be happy and grow well until I yank 'em out to eat. My problem is getting them to germinate. (very, very low percentage rate despite several varieties of NEW seed being used.)

This year I tried pre-sprouting them using the paper-towel/baggie method. As soon as I saw tiny little white roots I planted the seed. No luck. Only about 1% has made a living plant. Do you think it's because MT has such low nighttime temps? We are looking at 38 degrees again tonight, and about 65-70 during the day. (note* relatives parsnips, celery, parsley, cilantro and dill are all doing well.)

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Comments (4)

donna_in_sask
9 years ago
I am in 2b and don't have any trouble growing carrots. In fact, we just had two consecutive weeks of rain and cold...I would have thought all the seeds would have rotted but most came up. Maybe your seeds are germinating but then they dry out?

I actually read about someone gluing carrot seeds to a length of toilet paper. He just used a very small dab of glue - that's one way of spacing them without springing for expensive seed tape! When it was time to plant, he just laid the strips down and covered with a layer of soil.
loribee2
9 years ago
Where are you getting your seeds, and what brand?

While growing and sprouting carrots, you need to lightly sprinkle your soil. Not keep it soaked. Just keep that top 1/2" moist. My climate is dry, but I typically go out every other day and give the carrot bed a few sweeps with the hose. I do that until the tops are at least a couple inches high and I think the plants will be fine on just my drip system.

If you're getting poor germination or they're sprouting then not doing anything, I'm thinking it's either too much--or more likely--too little water, the seeds you're buying are poor quality, or you might have something like slugs that mow the new growth over before you see it.
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donnaz5
9 years ago
Sounds like your PH might not be right for carrots..do have your soil tested, then adjust for carrots.
tcstoehr
9 years ago
I planted carrots this year in a new 5x10' raised bed of very soft soil. I had large bare spots where no carrots emerged. Germination was excellent in other areas. I replanted where the bare spots were and had some germination but not good. I have concluded that there is some soil organism feasting on carrot seeds or the vulnerable feeder roots. Quite possibly Symphylans as I know them to be present in my garden, but could be some other culprit. I suspect you have a similar issue but even worse. Raised beds with high organic matter content that are moist all year round can breed large populations of leaf-litter-loving bugs. Some of these bugs also love chewing on young, tender roots when available.
Dealing with below-ground pests is much worse than the ones above ground.