Carrots

gsxr1

I added Manure to my big pots a few weeks ago to try and get better results than last year.

I was getting bent twisty horrible carrots. Two years in a row.

I have kept the old compost and just added a shovel of the manure.

I have sowed today and covered the pots with a cap.

Has anyone got any tip to stop the twistys this time around?

chucken1

Dont laugh I planted mine last year in toilet roll inserts...kept them straight. But theres nothing wrong with a bendy twisty carrot

dardevle

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just a few reasons for twisty carrots:

soil is too heavy..when the root meets resistance such as clay soil- it changes direction ( path of least resistance)
or
the soil is too nutrient rich...too much fertiliser will lead to twisted carrots and forking of the roots.. so amend the soil if its too heavy ( add sand and organic matter) and don't use fresh manure....make sure the soil is worked down to the depth you want the carrots to finish up ( at least 10").

finally if the carrots are twisted around each other it is usually a result of not thinning out enough.



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fodda

http://www.grow-your-own.ie/carrots.html

Sandy soil, no stones and bendy carrots taste just the same.

Antiquo

gsxr1 wrote: »

I added Manure to my big pots a few weeks ago to try and get better results than last year.

I was getting bent twisty horrible carrots. Two years in a row.

I have kept the old compost and just added a shovel of the manure.

I have sowed today and covered the pots with a cap.

Has anyone got any tip to stop the twistys this time around?

chucken1 wrote: »

Dont laugh I planted mine last year in toilet roll inserts...kept them straight. But theres nothing wrong with a bendy twisty carrot

Too true bendy ones straight (excuse the pun) out of the garden taste just as nice as straight ones.

dardevle wrote: »

...



just a few reasons for twisty carrots:

soil is too heavy..when the root meets resistance such as clay soil- it changes direction ( path of least resistance)
or
the soil is too nutrient rich...too much fertiliser will lead to twisted carrots and forking of the roots.. so amend the soil if its too heavy ( add sand and organic matter) and don't use fresh manure....make sure the soil is worked down to the depth you want the carrots to finish up ( at least 10").

finally if the carrots are twisted around each other it is usually a result of not thinning out enough.



....

You have the answers in the posts above too much nutrient, soil resistance, thinning.

My grandad used to show vegetables and thes old guys knew how to grow veg i'll tell ya. We used to double dig every two years (for all veg) plenty of composted well rotted manure but not for the carrot bed in rotation.

Then we would mix up by sieving soil a bucket of fine mix soil. Get an old broken spade handle sharpen the end and you have what is technically called a dibber.
When the bed was prepared we would dib a hole and fill with the seived soil. Sow carrots into the hole then carrots would be straight and long. I could tell you more but the grandad would come back and haunt me.

As I said this was for the show and produced about thirty carrots from a patch you could get 100's from. So to get similar results cut a "V" trench and fill it with sieved soil sow onto the top of this and carrots should be long and straight - jobs OXO.

P.S. I don't usually thin till the thinnings are big enough to chuck on a plate waste not an all that.

redser7

I grew carrots in containers last year and they were a great success.
Carrots do not like too much nutrients especially something as rich as manure, it is the worst thing you could do. They also need very light medium to grow in so they can grow down straight. Get these 2 things wrong and they will twist and fork.
I used a deep pot (minimum the length of the carrot, say 10 inches or more) and simply filled it with multipurpose compost. Thin the seedlings when they are 2 or 3 inches tall. Just leave a little more space than the diameter of a carrot between the seedlings. Don't let the compost dry out but it is important not to over-water either. Just an occasional deep watering during dry spells. I also placed a mesh covering over the pot until the seedlings hit it to stop kids, cats, birds, pests.
I would start again if I was you with multipurpose compost.

gsxr1

I have sowed already in a manured mix.

Last year I was fertailzing with tomato food . Maybe to much.

They are in a big pot which drains .

I thinking I should leave them now and not feed them again.? Or should I start again.

compost is a little thick. Could I mix in some building sand?

fodda

If it were me at this time so early i would start again. What will you loose a few euro?

If you read that article in www.grow-your-own.ie/carrots.html you will see it refers to making your own soil as they must do on islands like the Aran islands, and they use sand. Plant lots of onions around your carrots to hide their smell from the carrot fly.

I grew great carrots the first time i ever tried in ground that had been grass for maybe 100 years without any manure at all, they werent perfect but the strong scent and taste from them was something i had never known as i can only ever remember eating shop carrots.

gsxr1

So I took the advise and took the rich manured soil out of the big planter.


I went of in the van and got a couple of buckets of top soil from a nearby builing site. Was from a field that had grass for the last 10 years.


I got it home and started to prepare it. I used a bit of chicken wire mesh doubled up as a sive. Worked great. Got all the stones and old roots out.


I added a spade full of compost from the stuff I removed to give it a bit of nutrient and 2 scoops of sand .



I added a thin layer of compost to sow the seeds in again and spinkiled soild over them to cover.

Light watering and thats it. Im not going to go near it now other than watering. Might have some normal carrots this time. Hopefully

fodda

Make sure the soil is nice and deep at least 12" as it will settle and you should get some good carrots

dardevle

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looks like your on the right track now....the beauty of having them in pots is that since the female carrot fly is vertically challenged ( does not fly above 60cm) all you need do is elevate your pots above this height to eliminate the threat.;)



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fodda

dardevle wrote: »

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looks like your on the right track now....the beauty of having them in pots is that since the female carrot fly is vertically challenged ( does not fly above 60cm) all you need do is elevate your pots above this height to eliminate the threat.;)



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I thought about trying this but what's to stop the fly landing on the legs of the table or stand and walking up to the carrots?:)

dardevle

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as far as i can remember its not by choice that they don't fly high - more of an altitude type thing where they can't go that high...either walking or flying..which would make sense because as many of the growers that i know surround there carrots with a fence as put a net completely over them.


....either way i would consider it the acme of bad luck to get a carrot fly infestation by hitchiker:D


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Vanhalla

Is it not too early to be growing carrots!
Didnt grow mine until april last year

dardevle

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bit early yet for in ground sowing - unless you have a polytunnel or cloche i would wait a while longer.... since the op is sowing them in pots it means he has full control over conditions and can take them indoors if weather turns again.



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gsxr1

What I am doing is keeping them next to the wall of the house and have a bit of plywood to cover the top of the big pot to keep the ground frost of them.

It worked last year as I had a good germination rate.

Cicero

What's the chances of germination of any seeds sown last Sunday....?...have had ground frost here every night since...:rolleyes:...my bad and it's early days but just wondering, veg seeds in general, would they have a chance at all or is it back to square 1?

Antiquo

Cicero wrote: »

What's the chances of germination of any seeds sown last Sunday....?...have had ground frost here every night since...:rolleyes:...my bad and it's early days but just wondering, veg seeds in general, would they have a chance at all or is it back to square 1?

Seeds are perfectly safe as they are underground. Anyway most seeds applicable to be sown at this time of year are frost resistant when they appear above ground so no you are fine.

gsxr1

Antiquo wrote: »

Seeds are perfectly safe as they are underground. Anyway most seeds applicable to be sown at this time of year are frost resistant when they appear above ground so no you are fine.

True. This time last year I planted out both carrots and peas .

The peas where a great success . The carrots where a bit twisty , but i dont put that down to the weather.

Plus I if you keep the pots next to the warm wall of you home and cover them, it prevents the ground frost from forming. I have been working outside for the last week on nights on the railway, and the -4 forcasted never got that cold. more like 1 degree.

John Mason

we have decided to give carrots a shot this year.

just back from the shops with 2 big plastic storage containers. going to drill some drainage holes in them.

but my questions is should i start the seeds inside and them plant them outside? or just wait until the weather gets a bit warmer ?

gsxr1

irishbird wrote: »

we have decided to give carrots a shot this year.

just back from the shops with 2 big plastic storage containers. going to drill some drainage holes in them.

but my questions is should i start the seeds inside and them plant them outside? or just wait until the weather gets a bit warmer ?

do both. there are 100s of seeds in a packet.

John Mason

thanks for that.

jeeze, this is going to be a lot of work. have a raised flowerbed which i want rid of, so decided to fill the storage containers with the extra soil. its good soil but full of stones and roots, so i took a trip to aldi today and got myself a garden sieve.

i have 2 97 ltr tubs to fill, it could be this time next year before i get to plant my carrots :rolleyes:

redser7

Heard on the radio this morning that there is another arctic cold snap on the way this week (-5). There might even be snow. So maybe hang on with the sowing for a bit