do you just lay the burlap over the area you put the seeds? then it help retain moisture?

How will you take off the burlap without uprooting your seedlings?

It may also be difficult come harvest time, to check the diameter of the carrot root tops, or to harvest only some. It's an interesting concept though. I use a thin layer of finely mulched straw, around 1/8-1/4" thick. The seedlings easily penetrate the mulch, and moisture is retained quite well for such a thin layer. I was overloaded this year with my carrot crop, having just about 100% success. Mind you, carrots are one of few crops I am having luck with this year, with the heat, drought, and excessive insect invasion.

Joe

I just scatter seeds, sprinkle a fine layer of soil and water.

I tried burlap for the first time too and was very pleased with the results. I saved quite a bit of water this way as the soil dries out far too quickly here. Now that they have germinated, I have put up wire hoops and covered them with row cover fabric, to help break some of the heat. I hope to try the same method again on the next sowing of carrots.

Too funny! I'm in the same boat. First year growing them, and we are getting ready for experimental carrot patch 6 and 7! I finally started putting a very fine layer of grass clippings on, just enough to cover the soil. They push through that easily.After thinning, I use more clippings around the individual plants. This has worked very well so far. I too fear the burlap will pull them up when you try to remove it.

2nd the dried grass clippings, but if you don't have lawn or have used herbicides on them use another fabric (old tshirts, old sheet, old drapes etc.) to keep them moist after planting, but remove after germination

Yes, I created furrows where I planted, put in the seeds, covered with a thin layer of soil and then with a layer of burlap. Held it on place with a couple rocks. It didn't lay flush to the soil because the soil was uneven, with the ridges of the furrows holding the burlap up a bit (just an inch or so, but enough) So when I pulled it off (the weather turned cooler) it didn't disturb them at all. They are about 1/2 inch tall now. I now plan to leave them open to the weather from here on in.

The burlap did, indeed, retain more moisture. The interesting thing is that not only did the burlap group germinate better, but they grew faster too -- which is counterintuitive because they were in shade.

At any rate, I'm hopeful. Will try the grass clipping or hay mulch once they get a little bigger. I'm growing them for the winter, so in late fall I'll cover with manure, soil, and hay bales. Then I can kick the bale over, dig, and flip the bale back as long as there isn't too much deep snow around.

I never did start my carrots and radishes (my little garden helper baled on me multiple times, she was the one who wanted to plant carrots), but have a new concrete-block raised bed with nice deep soil/composted manure mixture DH built so I could throw in some leftover Sweet 100's, so will start the carrots there. I was going to cover the drip hose with burlap and hay anyway - could just go with burlap and them pull it off and do hay later. By the time the carrots are ready to pull, the tomatoes will be done so won't have to worry about disturbing the roots. Worth a try - thanks for the tip!

BTW, I have used burlap as mulch (most of my raised beds are burlap covered with hay), and also used to cover a pile of chicken manure/litter. It reduces the weeds, but some stuff still manages to grow through it - including volunteer tomatoes in the manure pile. But I found when I was transplanting my tomatoes and peppers, the weeds that did germinate through it came up like ripping off a bandage when I pulled it up, and the ones that managed to grow underneath were pale and pulled easily.

Just seeded them - watered, seeded, sprinkled a fine layer of soil (enough to cover the radish seeds) then sprinkled with watering can. Covered with burlap but unless I cut the burlap bags it's 4 layers (bag folded once)! Too thick? Do carrots and radishes need light to germinate, is that why they say fine layer of soil? I can pull off the burlap and just put down 1 layer of newspaper (weight with rocks) and/or hay instead. Thanks

Just seeded them - watered, seeded, sprinkled a fine layer of soil (enough to cover the radish seeds) then sprinkled with watering can. Covered with burlap but unless I cut the burlap bags it's 4 layers (bag folded once)! Too thick? Do carrots and radishes need light to germinate, is that why they say fine layer of soil? I can pull off the burlap and just put down 1 layer of newspaper (weight with rocks) and/or hay instead. Thanks

Carrots don't need light to germinate, not sure of radishes. I just started a bunch of carrots recently and they were kept on top of my fridge where no sun light goes until they germinated.

One of the main reasons from what I understand/read, that so many (tiny) seeds are planted so shallow is because they don't have as much of an energy store, if you plant them too deep they'll die before they can break through the surface.

I think the only reason you give them a small layer of soil is because the seeds are so fine, that you'll lose them. You only need to provide lots of moisture until they germinate.

Radishes require no special treatment.

Cardboard works great to help with germination, and you do not have to use furrows. Cover the seeds with 1/4" or so of fine soil, soak the ground, and cover with the cardboard. A couple of rocks will keep it in place. Remove the cardboard every couple days to water, and watch for the seedlings to emerge. Mine were up in about 7 days. Remove the cardboard when you see the first ones. You can use a board as well, but the cardboard will also warm the soil underneath if the weather is cool.. I did get #'s 6 and 7 in the ground yesterday, but since it's hot now, I just used the grass clippings.