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| What is the closest I can space my carrots? I plan on putting down some seeds this weekend. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by donnabaskets 7b-8 MS (My Page) on Fri, Oct 28, 11 at 23:10
| I lightly sow them in rows and then thin as they go along. At maturity, they probably need about 2 to 3 inches on centers. |
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| and rows? |
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| Alternatively, I plant in blocks, rather than rows so I have a sort of square of carrots: I broadcast seed fairly thickly, then thin a couple of times. IME, there's no getting away from thinning carrots! I suppose they'd be about an inch and a half apart when they're young, after the initial thinning. Too close for big carrots, but I eat/thin them as they mature. |
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| It's not a problem. Plant them 1" apart. You won't eat all you can grow in a 10' row. If you like big ones, you can harvest them as they grow to let the late ones get to 2" diameter if you want. |
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| If you have no weed seeds in your patch, scatter the seed over the whole area and cover with dirt from either the sowing area that has been collected before hand or soil from another source. If you have weeds, sow in rows so you can weed with a hoe between the rows. |
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- Posted by praxxus55712 4 (praxxus55712@gmail.com) on Sat, Oct 29, 11 at 23:53
| I planted mine extremely close to each other and thinned as I went. I planted Scarlet Nantes but they ended up monsterously huge. Experts said not to use a lot of compost....but experts don't grow Nantes over a foot long in deep compost. They weren't tough and woody either. They had the most amazing smell and lasted into the next year. Not bad for one packet of seeds. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Huge carrots!
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- Posted by donnabaskets 7b-8 MS (My Page) on Mon, Oct 31, 11 at 11:01
| Sorry. I plant in blocks so the carrots are spaced two inches apart in all directions after thinning. You can get a whole lot of carrots from very little space. |
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| I just planted two blocks, both about three by three, mixed with radishes. How many carrots can I anticipate? |
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- Posted by missingtheobvious Blue Ridge 7a (My Page) on Thu, Nov 3, 11 at 19:49
| I just planted two blocks, both about three by three, mixed with radishes. How many carrots can I anticipate? That depends how far apart you thin them, and also how many radishes there are. For instance, if you thin them to one carrot growing in each 2" x 2" space, you'll have 36 carrots per square foot. One carrot in every 3" x 3" space, and you'll have 16 carrots per square foot. You have 18 square feet. Think of this as a learning experience. You'll find out the advantages and disadvantages of carrots at different densities. Another factor is how light or heavy your soil is. I've been planting carrots in wide rows since forever. I've got carrots that don't want to be pulled up. I end up needing to use a trowel for some of them. Obviously when they're too close together, digging them doesn't work well. Another problem when they're too close together is trying to pull the weeds. |
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| Boy, I hope I get that many carrots! I planted a mixture of tender sweets and Danvers half-longs. I have some new soil this year and it's hard to say how heavy it is. It seems light right now but I haven't seen it after wet-dry cycles. It's a mixture of topsoil, compost and manure. I also have the raised bed half full of very aged, composted horse manure from last year. I planted some white icicle, French breakfast radish and some kind of larger golden radish that I can't remember. I put the watermelon radishes off by themselves so they would have more space. |
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- Posted by donnabaskets 7b-8 MS (My Page) on Sat, Nov 5, 11 at 16:56
| I'm betting you'll have lots of carrots! Missing is right on with her analysis. Your soil sounds pretty ideal for carrots, and hopefully it will be soft and loose so that you can dig them with your hands. That's how I typically harvest mine. |
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- Posted by spartan-apple (My Page) on Tue, Nov 29, 11 at 10:02
| I purchase one packet of Royal Chantenay carrot seed each year. 300 seeds in the packet. I plant my seed in a block 2' wide x 6' long. I thin the plants twice during the growing season. At harvest time in early November I usually average 4 gallons of carrots. I store them in one gallon ziplock bags in the fridge with some holes poked in the bags to prevent bacterial soft rot if the moisture builds up too much. I used to plant two packets of seed but cut the crop in half as 8 gallons of carrots each fall took up too much space in fridge. |
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