Topic: Complete carrot flop!

[telboy]

As Merry Tiller said, the weather (this year to be true) has been disastrous for carrots et. al..

I ain't got nothing in except spuds & the main crop ain't up yet. Frosts have been a burden, but I think things are a changin'. I'll be out trying to break down my concrete clay & seed a few things.
Always be patient.

[the_snail]

The only thing I got in are onions and shallots. Holding back with my outdoor sowings of my main vege crops due t o the cold, frosty, changable weather. Hopefully by May 25 the weather would have got its act sorted out and realised it was going to be summer soon. Where has spring gone? I think it has Spring.

When the weather picks up there wil be a sowing bonanza. Hopefully with some nice warm weather and a bit of water everything with germanate within a week and we will be back on scedule.

[osprey480]

My early carrots have also been very patchy. I always grow most of my Autumn King by sowing seed first week of July and always have had very good germination. It is not long before I am pulling small thinings. The carrots fill in as quick as I pull out the small ones. I leave them in the ground over the winter and often have carrots right through the winter and this year pulled the last ones in March. I tend to grow most this way now as my spring germination is often bad.

[Rose.mary]

Thank Goodness! ::) I thought it was me that just could not do carrots being a new to this allotment lark. But I am pleased with salad crops, onions, cabbage, sprouts, broccoli,peas, broad beans, strawberries, both early and main potatoes,(just a little touch of frost on one or two) but my runner beans have not liked the cold even with fleece round them, but I have some more coming on in the cold frame so will try again.
Because I am sharing a plot with somebody else I quickly ran out of space so I have been going round one or two friends on the site asking if I can dig their weeds and use the space just for this year. They thought it was a good idea, better than weeds or carpet.
Rosemary
Oh I forgot the celeriac

[cleo]

Umm-going to open a thread.

[wardy]

Good idea that rose.mary!  I think sometimes a whole plot is too big for some folks and a half would be ideal.  My lotty neighbour was saying to me the other day that her lotty was too much for her but "no-one wants half a plot". Yes they do!!!!!  Some people have no garden at all and would love just a quarter if they could get their hands on one.  I think lotty societies should look at this and let people share plots.  :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

Mine does in a fairly big way, but then the plots are double size with hedges, and not many people manage to cultivate the whole thing anyway.

[Lizard Man]

Our allotment has pretty big plots too - it seems that most of the larger plots are shared. I share my plot and we still haven't quite managed to cultivate it all (though this is due to taking it on as a complete wilderness and we hope to get it completely cultivated by next season).

I am also very glad that my carrot failure is a common problem to many of us. I planted early nantes and samurai and got a very small number germinating. I had put it down to the exceptionally cold weather this spring. My spring onions were also very poor. My runner beans and sweetcorn are also finding germination difficult, though they were sown only a few weeks ago and hopefully the weather is going to pick up (i.e. hopefully I won't have to put the heating on in my house in the evening!). Peas did pretty well though.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Nobody on my site seems to be able to grow carrots successfully; I don't know why. I've tried several times, and they just don't grow.

[Rose.mary]

Went down to the allotment this evening, just before a thunder storm, and guess what? I have 2 carrots coming through under the fleece. Yippee! 8)
Rosemary

[Dirkdigger]

Just checked our second sowing, seems like about 50-60 carrots popping up. Fingers crossed.

[Mothy]

My 1st year also and 1st lot of carrots sown in April were a no-show. Subsequent sowings have all been fine and are well away now. Just the cold spring methinks.  :)

[contessa]

Hi Richards,

Although I live a good way north of Twickenham, I am in Lancashire, I never sow my carrots before about the first week in May, I have tried many times earlier but the soil is too cold in april. I do cover them in fleece until the end of June. We are troubled by carrot root fly and the fleece really does prevent this pest. I have tried Thompson & Morgans 'fly away' for the first time this year but have still put fleece over as the weather has been really bad in our area. Carrots can be sown until the end of June and where you live probably first week in July. Just do as I do sow more in the gaps and you will have a good succession from July through to October.  I love to see my vegtable in full growth and I know fleece doesn't really look very nice, however, it prevents pests, frost and birds destroying my crops, by July its off and I look at my beatyful vegetable garden with anticipation of my first home grown dinner.

Regards Contessa.