[BabyStar]

Spent a few back-breaking hours in the garden this weekend preparing and de-stoning my carrot patch. Along comes hubby and sprinkles pellet chicken poo over it and digs it in. Is this plot knackered for root veg now? It wasn't a great deal that went in but I am worried that I won't be able to use it now   

[mumofstig]

It'll be fine 

[DD.]

Chicken manure pellets soon expand to a soft mush when they get wet. It's the big lumps of cow or horse poo that are the problems.

[Kleftiwallah]

And the newness of the pooh.   Don't forget to thin them out.    Cheers,     Tony.

[DD.]

I have never thinned carrots!

[BabyStar]

Relief-- thank you! Should I leave it a certain amount of time before putting the seeds in?

I didn't thin my carrots last year, I didn't get enough appearing to warrant doing it!

[DD.]

The ground's too cold here to achieve good germination. I wait until April. Sorry - it's that word "wait" again!

[Ivor Backache]

I have never thinned carrots!

Nor me since I switched my carrots into pots. Sieve the stones out, I use chicken pellets in the soil, then fill a supermarket cut flower pot and sow. Space the seeds out and restrict to a dozen. Do one a week for continuity. Keep covered to stop the fly.
I have started one off now in a coldframe. The beauty is you can move them.
I still have 8 pots to empty, but they are starting to grow again. Empty into a wheelbarow add a bit of home compost and pellets and start the process all over again. Simples.

[BabyStar]

The packet says to sow them in February, would it be best to wait till a bit later? I wanted to sow about three rows two weeks apart so they're not all ready at once.

You can grow them in pots? That would have been so much easier; on my poor old aching body as well!

Can you grow most things in pots or large containers? We have a fair amount of space in the garden but always looking to plant more and more different things so am worried I'm going to run out!

[JayG]

I used to grow them in an old chimney pot, which just about kept them carrot fly free without protection, but obviously even though I didn't thin them I didn't get a monster crop.

I think DD has already answered your question about waiting before sowing to achieve better germination - most seed packets are rather optimisitic about earliest and latest sowing dates, which in any case won't apply equally to all parts of the UK.

Most things can be grown in pots, but some are pretty impractical (eg large brassicas) and all will need more attention to watering and feeding than in open ground.

[DD.]

Simples.

3 x Different varieties, 32 ft row each.

3 x Different maturity dates

No watering after germination - that's simples!

Edited as I made a botch of the quote initially.

[AlistairMcLennan]

DD,

You have used that word again lol

I am learning that the word "wait" needs to be stencilled into every part of my veg patch including greenhouse.  It funny how when we have a little bit of warm weather, we want to plant everything possible :-)

[BabyStar]

We felt we got off to a late start last year, planting in April. Maybe not then?!
Our gardening neighbour has told us nothing needs to go in yet but we've caught him planting stuff already and seen some onions he has in (although they look massive already, could they be left over from last year?). We think he is worried about the competition! Last year he did some guerilla gardening, I came back one day and he'd used half our space up planting his leftovers! Bless him, I think he was only trying to help us out, but fours rows of cabbage-- bleurgh!

[Trillium]

I never seed my carrots until early May, and that's directly outside. A chap I know doesn't seed his until early July when most carrot fly damage is finished and the flies are gone. For cool fall months, he row covers his carrots so they can keep growing until December.