Carrots never even sprouted

[secuono]

Bought carrot seeds this Spring and planted them. They never sprouted, so put out more. None sprouted again. No frost, no cold and no drowning. Just terrible luck with this batch of seeds or is there a trick to it?

Also...'started' plants always fail, at least 60% by the next day, no matter how I transplant them. Do I really need to start them indoors/green house?

 

[wsmoak]

What exactly did you do with your carrot seeds?

They are tricky, you can't cover them with very much soil, and they want a light, sandy soil, but they cannot be allowed to dry out. A heavy rain (or any rain) will wash them away. Try laying a newspaper over them and keeping it moist, but check it frequently and remove it once they sprout.

You'll have to give more info about your other started plants before we can venture a guess as to what's wrong.

-Wendy

 

[desertlady]

Some carrot seeds can drown . keep the moist often dont overwater. if you stop watering seed sprouts may have dried out.

 

[baymule]

Wah! I can't grow carrots either!!

 

[catjac1975]

They need to be lightly watered daily until they sprout, then kept moist until they are established. I usually harvest in sept-oct, and I already have carrots. Strange summer.

 

[secuono]

Put the different seeds in the trays, once the day came for them to go out, I put them on our porch to get used to wind and then over more for sun and stronger wind. Then planted them, watered and morning they were flopped over and never recovered.

I use peat moss, sand and top soil mix for all my mini raised beds. Most things did great.

Oh, my potatoes yellowed and died in 3 days, also never recovered. They were 2ft over the 1ft soil and suddenly went yellow and died on me.


I tried different things with the carrots. Followed the package instructions, shallow, deep, wetter, more shaded. Just weeds grew since they never even tried. Too late to try yet again?

 

[catjac1975]

Are you saying you started them in trays?

Put the different seeds in the trays, once the day came for them to go out, I put them on our porch to get used to wind and then over more for sun and stronger wind. Then planted them, watered and morning they were flopped over and never recovered.

I use peat moss, sand and top soil mix for all my mini raised beds. Most things did great.

Oh, my potatoes yellowed and died in 3 days, also never recovered. They were 2ft over the 1ft soil and suddenly went yellow and died on me.


I tried different things with the carrots. Followed the package instructions, shallow, deep, wetter, more shaded. Just weeds grew since they never even tried. Too late to try yet again?

 

[plainolebill]

I've taken to using vermiculite for small seeds: carrots, parsley, lettuce, etc. I make light groove in the soil, place the seeds, cover with vermiculite then gently water or mist them. Vermiculite holds water but not so much as to drown the seed, helps them to quickly develop roots.

 

[hoodat]

Put the different seeds in the trays, once the day came for them to go out, I put them on our porch to get used to wind and then over more for sun and stronger wind. Then planted them, watered and morning they were flopped over and never recovered.

I use peat moss, sand and top soil mix for all my mini raised beds. Most things did great.

Oh, my potatoes yellowed and died in 3 days, also never recovered. They were 2ft over the 1ft soil and suddenly went yellow and died on me.


I tried different things with the carrots. Followed the package instructions, shallow, deep, wetter, more shaded. Just weeds grew since they never even tried. Too late to try yet again?

Carrots do not transplant well. It's best to start them right where they will grow. It can be tricky to get them to sprout. The seed does better pressed into the soil than covered with it.
Here's how I do it. Usually I get good results but sometimes, to be honest, there is a complete failure to sprout. Your soil should be worked until it is very fine. Rather than narrow rows I plant carrots in bands about the width of an iron garden rake. Mix your seed with dry sand. That keeps the seeds scattered rather than thin in one spot and too crowded in another. It also helps you stretch your seed so you can plant a bigger bed with less seed. Once your soil has been worked to a fine texture (sugar fine is an old term gardeners used to use). You don't need to work it deeply to this texture. It only needs to be fine at the surface inch or so. Draw your rake lightly in a straight line where you want the carrots to grow. You want shallow rake marks for the seed to fall into. Your soil at this point should be damp but not saturated. Scatter the seed/sand mixture over the bed. Using a wide board or piece of plywood (used lumber is fine.) lay it over the bed and walk on it till it has pressed the seed into the soil, then pick it up, move it a boards width and do that again till the entire bed has been pressed down.
Now comes the tricky part. The surface of the bed must be kept evenly moist without washing the seed around for about two weeks, depending on the temperature. Once the seed has been pressed into the soil it must be kept undisturbed till it has sprouted. A heavy rain at this point can wash out the whole works. If you have a method of applying a fine mist to the bed that is ideal. If not, there are several tricks you can try. Lay down newspaper on top of the bed with a sprinkling of soil to keep it from blowing away and water on top of it instead of directly to the ground. This will keep the ground beneath it damp. You must check once a day after the first five days. When you see the first sprouts, remove the newspaper. If you are in a windy area this won't work. Your newspaper will dry out and blow away. Most nurseries sell what is called a topper for keeping newly planted lawns damp. You can sprinkle a fine layer of this over the seed to help hold the moisture. Some gardeners put a layer of straw down for the same reason. The carrots will sprout and come right up through the loose straw. Just let it rot in place once the carrots have sprouted. Don't pile it too thick or you could smother the carrots; also hay isn't good since it contains too many grass seeds.
Sounds kind of complicated but it isn't if you take it one step at a time. Just remember what you want to achieve.
1. The seed should be pressed into the soil rather than buried.
2. The bed should be kept moist without washing the seed around.
If you can accomplish those two things you should get a good stand of carrots.

 

[secuono]

Carrots I seeded straight into the garden. The leafy greens, tomato and such were in trays.