Topic: cant grow carrots or parsnips

[kt.]

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 -  Eventually took the fleece off and carrots started to grow again....it is not funny.

I bet you sweated with that fleece on.  Obviously not enough room for you and the carrots.  Only one at a time in future ;D ;D ;D

[mc55]

ah, so that's what we were doing wrong !

[Susiebelle]

funny to read the broom handle tip here as I picked up one of the late great Geoff Hamiltons early books in a charity shop over Christmas and he advocates the method.
2007 was my first success with parsnips and I used the crow bar method making a whole and filling it with used compost, but the tube idea sounds good I think I may try toilet roll tubes this year.

[vaca]

Hello,

I've grown carrots and parsnips on my first year without any problems on heavy clay soil, just did a few furrows, then went along the furrows with a fork to loosen the soil as deep as I could, sowed, covered and watered. Then thinned and had great carrots.

Perhaps you are using old carrot seeds? I read somewhere that they don't keep for more than one season so I buy mine fresh every year. Not sure if this applies to parsnip or not.

Vaca

[mr plasma]

root fly fly close to the ground less than 2 feet or so, to prevent them attacking make a barrier 3 feet high and surround your carrots with a fleece fence no need to cover the top

[Suzanne]

How do they get over the garden hedge in the first place?? ???

[leiden64]

Yeah, I wondered that! Bit like daleks trying to take over the world, but only on the first floor cos they can't get up the stairs.

Fleecing up to 3 feet would surely only work if the soil the carrots are in is already grub free? This year I'm investing in materials to make my own large enviromesh cloches. Got a fantastic crop of carrots last year, but I sowed a row every few weeks to ensure that I was in with a chance. The earlies were poor for germination (too cold), the ones in my raised beds got too shaded and failed and some of the later ones at the allotment were struck by carrot root fly, but there was a good batch in the middle, particularly the sugasnax (?) ones, that did really really well.

Apparently the 'onion trick' only works against carrot root fly if you sprinkle carrot seed and onion seed together when sowing so they grow together mixed in the same row. Growing rows of carrots and onions next to each other isn't s'posed to be so effective.

[Jeannine]

I have  a raised bed 2 feet deep that is filled with a mixture on commercial compost and sand,right to the top, it 's very light. I broadcast my Mokum carrotts, very sparse, rake the soil  a little, water it slightly and leave them, Apart from keeping the surface damp I don't do anything else except pull when ready  and have no problems, same with parsnips except I chitt the seed and plants them in rows.

I could never grow either till I changed to this method.

XX Jeannine

[manicscousers]

that's how we grow ours, jeannine but with leaf mould instead of sand..covered with fleece though, we have lots of problems with carrot root fly  :)
parsnips, prechitted and planted in the same