Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: gaz.grace on January 30, 2009, 08:04
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Hi . sorry for sounding stupid . im new to all this , just got an allotment & im wondering if you can start carrots off in a tray / propergator ,then plant out when sprouted ??
and is there a tool you use to sow your seeds the right distance apart . i tried and wind blew them all over ..
many thanks
gaz
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Hi gaz & welcome.
When did you try this & how tall were they? I won't be sowing carrots until April.
I just sow thinly, directly into the ground. Some do start them off first, so you'll have to ask them about that.
They don't like a lot of root disturbance when transplanting, so you have to be very careful. If the wind blew them over, sounds like they were too big for transplanting, or did they just collapse, maybe?
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Hi Gaz and welcome :)
I've never tried it myself but like Dave says you have to be pretty careful when you do.
There is a gadget to sow seeds the right depth and distance but it's only suitable for the open plot.
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Hi .
I have just put them in a propergator my idea was to start them off so when i do plant them i can plant them right space apart.. I put some seeds in but they where parsnips and the seeds blew every where .thats why i was wondering if there was a tool for it ..
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Ahh gotcha, it's a little early yet to be honest Gaz, most of us are sitting on our hands as it where to resist the temptation, I'd hang on sowing much for now. You could start some broad beans off or peas they are pretty hardy and won't need going in the propergator :)
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ok .. i was just going off back of the packets said feb , which it nearly is so i thought a propergator to start them.. suppose i have loads to learn :blush:
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Don't be tempted to put everything in a propagator gaz.
The only thing I use is a polythene bag and then only for things that will ulitimately going in the greenhouse.
Stuff for outside I'd never use more than a cold greenhouse or cold frame to start them off.
Don't forget also that transplanting sets the seedling back & very often directly sown stuff will catch up.
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with regards to the seeds blowing all over, try mixing them with sand as it helps to weigh them down and you can see the seeds much more easily- makes it a lot easier sowing them thinly.
I grow my carrots in containers, so I can just sow them straight in there and thin out when appropriate, if you are itching to get growing, try some in a bucket/container for your first fresh carrots. Ive got some on the go now :D
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with regards to the seeds blowing all over, try mixing them with sand as it helps to weigh them down and you can see the seeds much more easily- makes it a lot easier sowing them thinly.
I grow my carrots in containers, so I can just sow them straight in there and thin out when appropriate, if you are itching to get growing, try some in a bucket/container for your first fresh carrots. Ive got some on the go now :D
What sort of carrots do you have in the bucket peapod?
Also where is your bucket inside or out?
Thanks Karenxx
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hi Karen
Buckets are inside an unheated GH and off the top of my head I think they are early nantes 2 (Ive binned the packets!) they are going great guns though
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Thanks, I have some early nantes 5 might try them in the greenhouse
Thanks again xxx :D
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Transplanting carrots is risky if you want straight deep roots. Maybe OK if you are growing short rooted sorts.
Wait for the soil to warm up and sow them in the ground mid March onwards. Make a furrow, dribble water along it, sow seeds between finger and thumb as thin as you can, cover lightly with dry soil, tamp down firmly with the back of a rake. Do not water again.
If you have been light fingered enough they do not really need thinning. Carrots are edible at all stages and the first pencil thick thinnings in salads are one of the delights of growing you own. Obviously if you have thick clumps some will need removing.
Some people sow carrots in a broad band 4 inches wide. Easier to sow thinly but weeding has to be done by hand and not by hoe.
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cheers for all your advice every one .. will leave it till later to sow them..
oh and if any one can tell me ... if you plant strawberrys from seed this year when will they crop (grow good enough to eat ) . would it be this yr or next ... or is it worth buying them already started as i have seen them on a few web sites ..
thanks for all your advice ;)
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Hi gaz welcome im new to all this to i have heard that you can buy carrots on a tape so there is no need to thin them out also you could start them off in some guttering then make a trench in your bed to slide them into tape cost a little more and as for just seed sprinkle them thinly and take them as baby ones .cover them up to carrot fly,
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get yourself one of these
http://www.garden4less.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=EA-M
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Back in my first year of gardening I didn't understand the term 'thinning carrots'. I assumed I could simply pull out sprouted ones and move them to a less crowded area. Doesn't work. Got lovely green shoots and almost no edible root. I'd put it more strongly to say that carrots detest being moved unless in an existing container which will be buried in the ground with no disturbance whatsoever. And if you start them off so early they simply sulk in cold soil. they really do need warm soil to grow properly so be patient and wait.
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Some of the varieties say you'll get a light crop this year - you sow them in early spring, IIRC. You might want to buy a few plants of a different variety anyway so you stagger your harvest, and it'll top up a light year too. In my experience, car boot sales often have lots of strawberries (at least in rural areas) as small growers sell off surplus plants and runners.
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thanks for all your advice .. :D.
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Dug these carrots today.
They were sown using the the "direct into the ground, sow thinly when warm" ,method.
(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c182/G4IAR/Untitled-2750x1000.jpg)
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8) they the over wintering ones we all tried ? :lol:
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Don't be silly, I ate those ages ago!
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They are very shiny carrots DD!
After last year's non-carrot-event I will be trying them in an old dustbin this year! Fingers crossed....
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They are very shiny carrots DD!
They had a fresh lick of varnish especially for the photo!
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they look really nice and the fork does too ...
:tongue2:
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One of them did 4 of us for dinner, along with parsnips & sprouts all minding their own business on the plot, until I went along this morning!
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i cant wait to get going .. save some money too ov veg bills all going well :D
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Is that what you call 'Forked carrots'?? ??? :unsure: :D
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I did make a comment about that in my blog!