Growing Carrots In Containers
Have you been struggling to grow perfect straight carrots which are not stubby or forked? For many years my attempts to grow carrots have been fraught with failure.
Where I live the soil is of clay despite working it to a fine consistency, it still causes me problems.
Recently I've read some interesting articles on how to grow perfect carrots every time and here I will be sharing with you some of the ideas I've learned.
As I got some free 'Early Nantes 2' seed from a gardening magazine, this is what I will be relying on to bring me success this year.
Carrots do best in fertile, sandy and well-draining soil.
So to re-create this I will be growing my carrots in containers where I can replicate there ideal conditions.
The containers need to have a depth of 30 cm to allow the carrots to grow long and a width of 20 cm to give a good spread.
Mix together 1 third of old potting compost with 1 third of good quality new potting compost and a third of vermiculite.
As Carrot seeds are tiny it is easy to sow too many, mix the seed with sand before sowing and then scatter across the surface of the compost in your container.
Press down lightly and give a light watering.
Carrots take approximately 15 - 20 days to germinate at a temperature of 10 degrees Celsius and above.
Therefore to give carrots a head start you need to grow them in a greenhouse.
If you don't have a greenhouse you can always grow them in the shed or on a kitchen windowsill where they will get plenty of light.
Once the days are warmer the pots can be taken outside to stand Once the seedlings are about 25mm in height, start the thinning out process.
As they are quite delicate at this stage use a pair of tweezers or a small pair of pointed scissors.
Aim to cut the stems of the carrot seedlings just below the surface.
You want to leave plants distributed at 5cm intervals.
Remember also to keep the compost watered to prevent the carrots from drying out.
As your carrots grow ever larger, if you want to avoid green tops sieve some compost over the top of them.
Come early June the Early Nantes should be ready to harvest and touch wood.
All the effort put in during the previous months should pay dividends.
Where I live the soil is of clay despite working it to a fine consistency, it still causes me problems.
Recently I've read some interesting articles on how to grow perfect carrots every time and here I will be sharing with you some of the ideas I've learned.
As I got some free 'Early Nantes 2' seed from a gardening magazine, this is what I will be relying on to bring me success this year.
Carrots do best in fertile, sandy and well-draining soil.
So to re-create this I will be growing my carrots in containers where I can replicate there ideal conditions.
The containers need to have a depth of 30 cm to allow the carrots to grow long and a width of 20 cm to give a good spread.
Mix together 1 third of old potting compost with 1 third of good quality new potting compost and a third of vermiculite.
As Carrot seeds are tiny it is easy to sow too many, mix the seed with sand before sowing and then scatter across the surface of the compost in your container.
Press down lightly and give a light watering.
Carrots take approximately 15 - 20 days to germinate at a temperature of 10 degrees Celsius and above.
Therefore to give carrots a head start you need to grow them in a greenhouse.
If you don't have a greenhouse you can always grow them in the shed or on a kitchen windowsill where they will get plenty of light.
Once the days are warmer the pots can be taken outside to stand Once the seedlings are about 25mm in height, start the thinning out process.
As they are quite delicate at this stage use a pair of tweezers or a small pair of pointed scissors.
Aim to cut the stems of the carrot seedlings just below the surface.
You want to leave plants distributed at 5cm intervals.
Remember also to keep the compost watered to prevent the carrots from drying out.
As your carrots grow ever larger, if you want to avoid green tops sieve some compost over the top of them.
Come early June the Early Nantes should be ready to harvest and touch wood.
All the effort put in during the previous months should pay dividends.
Source...