Keeping
carrots on the straight and narrow
Carrots have
a reputation for being difficult to germinate, and producing misshapen,
branching roots.
 Carrots are
some of the best crops to grow in the backyard veggie patch. The
flavour of freshly harvested carrots is so vastly superior to the
shop-bought varieties that once you've grown your own you'll wonder
why you ever bothered with those tough, woody, plastic-bagged orange
pegs that dare to call themselves carrots.
Carrots really hate being
transplanted, so they're best grown from seed sown directly into
the garden bed in rows that are about 20-30 cm apart. Yates has
six carrot varieties to choose from in its seed range: Baby, Early
Chantenay, Egmont Gold, Express Hybrid, Manchester Table and Topweight.
Germinating
carrots
Carrots have a reputation for being difficult to germinate, but
garden lore abounds with hints for successful carrot germination.
Some you might like to try are:
-
Sow radish seeds
among the carrots. These will emerge first and break the soil
surface for the slower-germinating carrots. They will also
be ready to harvest well before the carrots are mature.
-
Press carrot seeds
into the soil surface. Cover with sieved cypress needles or
mushroom compost.
-
Dissolve a pinch
of epsom salts in water and pour over the rows.
-
Float seeds in
kerosene for 2 minutes. Pull straight out and drain.
-
Mix seeds with
dried tea leaves before sowing. This repels ants and keeps seeds
moist.
-
After sowing, rake
soil into a 2 to 5 cm high ridge over the row. Rake excess away
after a week (the theory is that the extra soil will improve
moisture levels around the seed).
Crooked carrots
The number one frustration that is likely to confront novice carrot
growers occurs when, after weeks and weeks of care, they begin their
harvest and find that instead of long, slender tapering carrots,
they've produced misshapen, branched roots that fork into a whole
lot of different directions. To avoid this problem try to:
-
Grow carrots in
soil that is deep, even and well-drained. Hard, lumpy or gravelly
soil will encourage each root to fork in many directions.
-
Grow carrots in
soil that has been well fertilised for a previous crop. Pockets
of fresh manure or fertiliser will encourage roots to branch.
-
Grow short varieties
(like Yates Baby).
-
Grow carrots in
long pots or containers (champion carrot growers often sow their
prizewinning roots into terracotta drainpipes or plastic tubes.)
In warm and temperate areas, carrot sowing can start now, and new
sowings can be made every few weeks.
In cool climates, it's
best to wait until spring has well and truly arrived, because carrots
react badly to cool temperatures in their early stages of growth.
Reproduced
with permission from NZOOM Home and Garden content,
from the previous
website of 
The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH
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