Small,Tasty Carrots...advice please

[dingerbell]

Like so many people, I suffer from having Very heavy soil which hasn't been very successful for carrot growing. I am thinking of preparing a small raised bed specifically for this purpose. What is the ideal soil medium for the production of carrots? Also I want to grow smaller varieties which will be faster to crop and can be planted at intervals . As there is only the 2 of us, huge show bench varieties are not what we want. I have tasted Chantennay and they seem to fit the bill but I'd love to hear your suggestions. Just taken delivery of 1 ton of well rotted farmyard manure and 1 ton of spent mushroom compost. A lot of digging ahead for me.    ;D

[dingerbell]

[gunnerbee]

i can never grow carrots either, although my soil is lovely for other stuff. im going to try and grow some in pots this year, sow a pot every week, so i have an ongoing weekly supply, im going to grow in potting compost as its quite sandy, unless i get any other advise on here!!!!

[Curryandchips]

Sandy loam is reckoned to be the ideal medium for carrots, so I believe, which means I am ideally placed, apart from the shingle beach which lies one inch under my topsoil. However, since you specifically mention small tasty carrots, these are nearly always harvested before the forking takes place, which would explain why my thinnings are never forked, but my maincrops have a high incidence of forked roots.

[supersprout]

Some more recommendations at http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,57/topic,15668.0 :)

[Ricado]

I think carrots like potash for root growth.

I grow in pots over winter inside and use a mix of mp compost and john innes no 3.

Carrot st valery are supposed to be excellent showmans carrots, im not sure on the taste, i grow them for my employer, so dont get to eat them !

Im also trying out the multi coloured carrots, and may try the short fat round ones too, parmex i think.

happy growing :)

[Hyacinth]

Do keep your manure off your carrot patch this year, tho next year they can go on previously manured ground. Believe they like superphosphate as well as potash and sulphate of ammonia (all Bowers 1/2 price currently at my Wyvale :)) but as my quantities are hit & miss, can't give you a formula - just more superp. than the other two seems to work for me. Generally the soil is medium to light. Worth getting out all the stones you can. My soil's heavy clay so I find a built up bed with fresh compost on top works well. I've not found Nantes2 or Early Nantes bitter - ever & cos I live alone, only want them to grow little, anyway, but over an extended period. For the 1st time this year I'm also, thanks to someone here, going to try Chantenay too. Good luck.

[powerspade]

I always have a  good crop of carrots, only once did I get the dreaded carrot fly but I solved that problem by earthing up around their necks the best variety for small finger size carrots I think are "amsterdam  forcing"

[cleo]

Dingerbell-look in the seed catalouges for `stumpy` round varieties. In the days when I had heavy clay I drew a small trench with a dutch hoe and filled it with sieved compost from the heap.

[Hyacinth]

HIYA Stephan  :-*

Yep, forgot to recommend the stumpy ones for a clayish soil.

[busy_lizzie]

We have successfully grown carrots in old dustbins in the past and are going to continue doing that this year.  We have Nantes again and will just move the dustbins to another part of our plot.  We just fill them with light  stoneless compost and they do very well, you don't even need to thin them out.  Ours weren't very big but were sweet and lovely tasting, the only trouble was we didn't do enough so we will grow more this year.  busy_lizzie

[dingerbell]

Thanks everyone (as usual) Looks like I'll be planting Chantennay and early Nantes in a raised bed as per instructions. I'll let you know how they go.

[Mothy]

Sojourner, do you have any heat in your tunnel?

I might try the same trick in an old dustbin in the greenhouse in a few weeks (when it's a bit warmer)!