Topic: cant grow carrots or parsnips

[gunnerbee]

i can never ever ever grow carrots on my lottie, my ground is black easily dug soil, and easy for anything apart from carrots and parsnips, what do i add? eeven broght a load of sand last year and it still didnt work any help    >:( cheers sarah.

[caroline7758]

I've done ok (not great!) with parsnips but hopeless with carrots. I think both are considered to be some of the hardest things to grow, so you're not alone. There's lots of ideas on here, maybe someone can point you to the links- my daughter is shouting for a lift!

[princescruffster]

A guy at my allotment site grows his carrots and parsnips in tubes.  He part sinks the tube in the ground, then fills each with compost\sand.  He sows 2\3 seeds per tube then thins down to the strongest.  He grows monster carrots this way, so if you have a bit of drainpipe knocking around, it might be worth a go.

[gunnerbee]

that sounds a good idea, i need to go skip dipping!!
i know a man who does his leeks this way and also has great results

[kt.]

Check out this current ongoing thread for carrots ideas.

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,37909.msg377209.html#msg377209

As for parsnips: I started my germination off in toilet roll tubes. Once the root reached the bottom they were transplanted into the ground, 100% germination and good sized edible crop. I also sowed some seed direct in the ground with zero germination. The only thing I will do different next time is ensure the soil is made finer at a deeper level to  prevent the root of the parsnip spreading into triffid formation.

[Eristic]

i need to go skip dipping!!

This is compulsory. Buying things is allowed but frowned apon.

[tonybloke]

carrots need a firm seed base, when I plant mine, insteaad of the usual method of drawing a furrow with a hoe, I just lay down a section of broom handle, press it down to form a furrow, water the furrow , let it drain, plant thinly in this, and then cover with dry (ish) soil, firm in lightly again. This works for me! ;) Rgds, Tony

[powerspade]

The only crop failure I have ever had with carrots was due to one occasion of carrot fly attack. Apart from that I always get a good crop of roots. I use the broom handle method of making the seed drill and I too cover the seed with dry soil, I never water the seed in or sow the seed when rain is forecast. They only take a couple of days to show through and seem to like the idea of having to put down tap roots to search for water, to beat the dreaded carrot fly I found that drawing earth up around the neck of the carrot prevents any attack,

[Suzanne]

I found this link for carrots and root crops http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG0435.html

It noted as optimum pH range between 6 - 6.5 so they like a fairly acidic soil. Do you know whether pH is a problem in the areas you have been trying to grow them?

[flowerlady]

Also ... don't forget to sow your carrots amongst the onions and garlic ... carrot fly DO NOT like this !!  :D  The addition of blue flowers in the trench also confuses them!!

Another tip is to grow them ABOVE their flight path (they do not fly high) !!

Apparantly one can grow carrots in a sand trench!  As my soil is 50/50 rock and soil think I might try this too!  My parsnips looked like rams horns !!  ::) ;D

[lancelotment]

Sarah, is the problem at the germination stage or post germination?  You could always try to pre-germinate your parsnip seeds on wet kitchen roll before sowing.  lance

[jonny211]

I just lay down a section of broom handle, press it down to form a furrow, water the furrow , let it drain, plant thinly in this, and then cover with dry (ish) soil, firm in lightly again. This works for me! ;) Rgds, Tony

I've never heard of this before but it sounds like a genius idea, I've not had much luck with carrots and have had to sow lots of seeds repeatedly before getting a crop.

[flowerlady]

Sarah, is the problem at the germination stage or post germination?  You could always try to pre-germinate your parsnip seeds on wet kitchen roll before sowing.  lance

I do this it works a treat ...  ;D

[theothermarg]

I usually get trouble germinating carrots,the row has big gaps and I have to resow but last year having broke my ankle in march, I couldn,t do much till early may and was astonished  when I got what seemed like 100% of the row take
everyone else on the site complained about theirs so I am trying to hold on a bit this year. also not going to sow a whole row/packet at the same time
ps parsnips did well too,but because I was not used to having to thin them out  they grew in mulirooted monsters
marg

[cornykev]

Mine grow alright, the ends of the rows get resown, but come through all right second sowing, I interplanted with onions last year but still got attacked by the carrot flies, I am growing in tubs this year and meshing the ground carrots.  :-\ ;D ;D ;D

[paulinems]

well we didnt even sow parsnips last year but they still came up, we grew them 2 years ago inbetween asparugus rows  was a bit 2 stony and they all seeded but to many to pick all the seed all the seed that was left reseeded themselvse and grew but not very big parsnips
Pauline

[cleo]

i can never ever ever grow carrots on my lottie, my ground is black easily dug soil, and easy for anything apart from carrots and parsnips.

Sounds odd to me.

Thoughts---with parsnips don`t sow too early,seed packets are not the best for giving sowing times. Another possibility is that you might be sowing them too deeply-just a scratch in the soil is deep enough.

[gunnerbee]

i can never ever ever grow carrots on my lottie, my ground is black easily dug soil, and easy for anything apart from carrots and parsnips.


cleo the reason why i asked this is i wondered if my soil was too rich and not sandy enough

[cleo]

cleo the reason why i asked this is i wondered if my soil was too rich and not sandy enough
 
That ain`t the reason-a rich soil never hurt,I`ve grown carrots and parsnips in heavy clay and now here in silt/gravel.

Sow this year in shallow,and I mean shallow drills,three seeds to a 3 inch station and wait

[mc55]

I filled a bath last year with compost and sand (50:50).  Had excellent germination results, but the greenery all died off during the summer - I suspect the rain could not get through the fleece.  Eventually took the fleece off and carrots started to grow again.  But they still appear to have succumbed to carrot fly, despite being in the bath and are so small it is not funny.