[Anton]

This is my year of bolting vegetables.
These are early carrots I planted a couple of months ago and tonight I spotted two peculiar weeds only to discover they were carrots that had bolted. When I pulled them up they had long thin white roots! Will the others start to do the same do you think?

Anton

[Snoop]

I had something similar last year with some Spanish Black carrots - bolting and very woody thin white roots. I was worried, like you, that the whole lot would go the same way. In the end, I pulled out the 'bolted' ones but left the others going and they turned out well. I thought in my case that it could have been to do with sowing the seed too closely (I scattered rather than sowed in rows). Another possibility is that Spanish Black are not F1 hybrid and it could be that some of the seed was not 'proper' Spanish Black. I don't know if that might apply to you as well.

In any case, if I were you, I'd give the ground a good soaking and pull out the bolted ones as and when they appear and let the rest carry on.

[Anton]

Thanks for your reply.

Anton

[Salmo]

If carrots bolt it is usually the fault of the seed producer. Often there are one or two which can be weeded out.

[Aunt Sally]

This us the information that the RHS have on their site

Some biennial crops (which grow in the first year, flower in the second) such as onions, leeks, carrot and beetroot can initiate flowers in the first year. This is due to unsettled weather conditions early in the season and usually occurs after a prolonged cold spell, often during the propagation phase. Cold nights, hot days and late frosts may also contribute to premature initiation of flowering.

[Anton]

Thanks, sounds like the weather conditions we have had here.

Anton