[themeangreenbean]

For the life of me i don't seem to be able to grow straight carrots.
For the last 4 years i have grown carrots in my tiny patch, each year they are crooked and curly with very little worth eating.
I thought it might be drainage or soil content but last winter i completely dug over the patch to about 3 foot and layered the bottom with horse manure then composted on top. i had great hopes for this years crop but alas they are still coming up culier than pigs tail!

It gets worse because my mums are ram rod straight and lovely to eat...... :?

[crowndale]

There might lie the problem.  Crrots apparantly do better in unmanured soil.  Manure tends to make them fork etc as will stones and the like.  I am growing mine this year in ground that was manured around 12 months ago, lots of sand in it and it's even been sieved to remove all possible obstructions to straight roots.  Haven't harvested them yet mind you but am hoping for better than last year.  I have no idea why manure is bad though, just that it is for carrots and similar crops.

[themeangreenbean]

Thanks for the response, i thought i was doing the right thing by giving them some nourishment! perhaps i'll have to wait another year for a decent carrot.    I hope you have better luck than me.

[wellingtons]

... would be easy to grow ... but they're not.

If you manure the ground, you need to leave it a season before growing carrots.  It's something to do with the nitrogen levels and it encourages them to fork.  But it shouldn't make em curly!

The ground needs to be free from stones and bits, and these are the most likely cause of the kinks in your carrots.  And the firm shouldn't be too well firmed either.

A raised bed might be the answer ... or growing stumpy or round carrots ...  

[GrannieAnnie]

Apparently the show growers grow them in pure sand!  I still get forked and or curly carrots, even though it is not fresh manured, and we don't get stones up here either.

this year I tried growing them in an old bath, with sieved soil and sand mixed in, and fingers crossed, they re looking pretty good, although still the odd fork or curl!!!  Also got some outside in the ground covered with fleece to try to put the carrot fly off.

[WG.]

For the life of me i don't seem to be able to grow straight carrots.
For the last 4 years i have grown carrots in my tiny patch, each year they are crooked and curly with very little worth eating.
I thought it might be drainage or soil content but last winter i completely dug over the patch to about 3 foot and layered the bottom with horse manure then composted on top. i had great hopes for this years crop but alas they are still coming up culier than pigs tail!

I wonder if you are giving them enough room.   Sow very very thinly, aiming for an inch or even a little more between plants.  You can also thin them but do carry away the thinnings to keep the dreaded root fly away.

If the manure is 3ft deep then this won't be causing any problems (nor doing much good).  Are you on a clay soil by any chance?

[themeangreenbean]

I do have clay soil and am working on improving it over time by composting regular and digging over lots. the manure is a small layer at the bottom of the the 3ft dig. I have sown thinnly this year, so i don't think the answer lies there.

[WG.]

I'll go with the clay soil explanation then.  Try sowing some now (under fleece or in a raised bed to thwart the fly).  Perhaps the warmer soil will help them get off to a good start.

[mushroom]

For the life of me i don't seem to be able to grow straight carrots.
For the last 4 years i have grown carrots in my tiny patch, each year they are crooked and curly with very little worth eating.
I thought it might be drainage or soil content but last winter i completely dug over the patch to about 3 foot and layered the bottom with horse manure then composted on top. i had great hopes for this years crop but alas they are still coming up culier than pigs tail!

It gets worse because my mums are ram rod straight and lovely to eat...... :?

i've been advised to sow em in a plastic tube, like say 1 or 2 inch diameter, and grow em in well drained loamy sand

cant say ive tried such advice, but thats the advice i got!

[GrannieAnnie]

You'd need a lot of plastic tubes though for a pound of carrots!!!  And a lot of room.  I tried it with 6 parsnip seeds, half filled a 10 litre tub with sandy soil, then put in 6 2 litre pop bottles with the tops and bottoms cut off, and planted a seed in each one.


Although my other parsnips seem to be doing well at the moment, none of the 'tube' ones even germinated!!!!!!   Just shows you doesn't it???  :?  :?

[DD.]

Straight carrots don't taste any better, they only look better to the uneducated public on Tesco'd shelves!

[GrannieAnnie]

But they do sit better on the plate digger!!  and are easier to wash!    

[ytyynycefn]

"Industrial" mass produced carrots don't all grow straight either - tons and tons of the things are binned because the supermarkets will only take perfectly straight ones.

Mine were varyingly interestingly shaped last year, but I didn't peel them, just scrubbed then with a washing up brush under the tap to wash the dirt off.  They get a rinse from the water butt on site first, mind - no point in lugging the mud home    Even if they were a bit forky, and the mud got stuck in the crevices, once you'd cut them up you could get them clean enough.  Only slightly crunchy  :shock:

And there's no mistaking that rustic, homegrown, gnarly look!    

[Trillium]

What varieties are you growing, Meangreen? On clay soil you can forget about lovely touchons which need sandy loam. I have clay and need to grow the stronger varieties like red core Chantenay and Oxheart (if still available). Seed catalogues should tell you which are best on heavier soils and stick with them until you develop a much sandier, looser soil.  

[DD.]

But they do sit better on the plate digger!!  and are easier to wash!    

Even if they're forked - they can be cut up into carrot shaped bits. If diced, sliced etdc, you have no idea of the original shape and as Mel says, they can be washed after chopping.

I posted this a bit back - it all came from one carrot that was badly forked, but it didn't matter after I'd butchered it!