I'm thinking of growing some carrots in an old metal dustbin I've got, to try to avoid the dreaded carrot-fly. How much depth of soil/compost do they need, and what would you put in th bottom? I was thinking of chunks of polystyrene.
don't see why not, some of the gardeners from the big dig did theirs in old water butts..we put polystyrene in the bottom of the sweet pea pots..good drainage :)
oh, yes, our carrots are in a raised bed..2 feet high but it is on soil so, if they need to grow down further, they can ;D
It depends on the variety Caroline one foot would be enough for some of the smaller ones... I reckon 18" to 2' for Autumn King and deeper for exhibition carrots like St Valery...
;D
Hows about carrots in drain pipes? I think I've heard rumbles about that before, and I can get quiet a bit of drainpipe for diddly?
If it's plastic yes.. put a cut in along the length so that you can get the carrots out!!
;D
I grow carrots in galvanized dustbins. Put about a foot of rocks or rubble in the bottom ( not polystyrene the bins will be too light and might blow over). Top up with compost and once you have sown the seed tie a bit of fleece or plastic sheeting over the top to keep everything cosy till they germinate.
Thanks for that tip, Larkspur- my site is quite windy.
all depends on the size of the variety and so the depth only needs to be as big as that plus a bit more, else you'll be wasting compost - any boxes, containers, diy concoctions, bowls, window boxes, tubs will do as long as they are deep enough for the chosen carrot
The idea of using a bin is that carrot fly apparently don't fly above 2ft.
what I do is place my containers on top of compost bins, tables, anything that has a height to it to avoid this but sowing in the ground and fleecing straight away will work just as well