How warm for carrots to sprout?

[Lorelai]

Thanks for the encouragment. It's just that last year, the carrots never came up. So this year, we're understandably concerned. Is there some sort of trick to carrots? I've never thought of them as a "difficult" veggie, but maybe I'm wrong?

 

[RidgebackRanch]

On the advice from somebody somewhere here, I made inch deep furrows and planted the carrot seeds 1/4" deep leaving about 3/4". Then used burlap to cover and keep moist. Keeping seeds and seedlings moist here in eastern Colorado is the biggest challenge to getting things started.

Result: So many carrot seeds sprouted that they will have to be thinned.

 

[thistlebloom]

I used frost cloth over mine, as suggested by Hattie, and I believe it helped. It's also light enough that I can leave it in place for a little while.

 

[AmyRey]

Covering mine with clear plastic helped tremendously with keeping them damp.

 

[i_am2bz]

I covered mine with a layer of newspaper as someone (hoodat?) suggested & they all (eventually) sprouted. It did take about 2 1/2 weeks for the first batch, which I started in February. When they were about an inch or so tall, I started another batch, which only took about 10 days to sprout, so presumeably they came up quicker because it was warmer (but who know!).

 

[digitS']

Surface moisture is also my most important concern but Lorelai lives in Northwest Washington.

I can imagine the soil surface hammered by spring rain into an impenetrable mass :/! Mud. Cold mud - with very little sun . . . too grim, Lorelai?

I'm wondering if lightening the soil texture with something would aid the seedling in emerging into the light. Many gardeners report planting carrot seed directly on the soil surface and then covering with potting soil. The mix of compost, peat and perlite should be a good deal easier to get thru than what I imagine would be Lorelai's native soil.

And then, the benign climate of your NW Wa! summers can allow those little carrots to grow into the mega-tonnage that they are capable . .

I too have found that carrots can really be an important part of my diet for about half the year. Remember that hole with all the carrots I had last fall? I dug into that yesterday and realized that we'd gotten only thru about half of them! Depending on how well they can now keep in the carport fridge, I'll find out if the other 6 months of my diet can include carrots, in healthy portions!

Steve

 

[Lorelai]

Surface moisture is also my most important concern but Lorelai lives in Northwest Washington.

I can imagine the soil surface hammered by spring rain into an impenetrable mass :/! Mud. Cold mud - with very little sun . . . too grim, Lorelai?

I'm wondering if lightening the soil texture with something would aid the seedling in emerging into the light. Many gardeners report planting carrot seed directly on the soil surface and then covering with potting soil. The mix of compost, peat and perlite should be a good deal easier to get thru than what I imagine would be Lorelai's native soil.

And then, the benign climate of your NW Wa! summers can allow those little carrots to grow into the mega-tonnage that they are capable . .

I too have found that carrots can really be an important part of my diet for about half the year. Remember that hole with all the carrots I had last fall? I dug into that yesterday and realized that we'd gotten only thru about half of them! Depending on how well they can now keep in the carport fridge, I'll find out if the other 6 months of my diet can include carrots, in healthy portions!

Steve

I really appreciate you directing your comments so specifically to my situation. BF has just informed me that he tried planting the seeds in one of our greenhouse beds, the one that's made entirely of "Mel's Mix," from last year's square foot gardening experiment. So, lots of compost, vermiculite, and peat moss. Our native soil, yes, is very much clay, though we've been adding compost from our rabbit poo, which seems to lighten it up somewhat. Do carrots like certain things in the soil, maybe? I think I read on here somewhere that peat moss adds to a soil's acidity? We want to try sowing them again (not in the greenhouse this time, as it's going to be full of tomatoes) very soon. Any suggestions?

 

[vfem]

I had 3 failed plantings... and just got used to failure. We did the shallow trench planting this past Februray and was THRILLED that almost all of them sprouted. We barely thinned everyone and now have good carrots to munch on. The DD planted his batch, and leave it to her to get them going where I had failed!!!

 

[digitS']

Well Laura, you might be in luck with peat moss but I wouldn't use it just by itself because of its weird water repelling/absorbing traits.

If we look at this information from North Carolina (information V's daughter has no doubt read ), we learn that "If the soil has 5% or more organic matter, pH should be 5.2 to 5.7 to avoid problems with minor element deficiencies."

Wow, my garden soil is never going to even approach that level of acidity! Also, I'm sure that nematodes are a major problem with all the forked roots that show up. Nematodes are supposed to like rocky soil and I've got that for 'em!

Steve's digitS
with high(er) pH soil

 

[4grandbabies]

Planted our carrots today. we just prepared the bed, sprinkled seeds , used a hoe to press lightly into the soil, ran out of time, but will probably cover the bed with a floating row cover tomorrow. This is the only way I have the success I desire with carrots.
We chose to plant "Sweetness" variety this year. its supposed to contain extra vit c as well as being tasty, not bitter.