Carrot question

13 years ago

Any chance there is a way to tell if the carrots in this picture are baby carrots or regular?

This is the first time I've planted carrots of any kind. Of course, the tag I put in just says "carrots" (real helpful). I thought I might have planted baby carrots. They are only a few inches long.

Any way to tell? Should I just eat them and see how they taste???

Thanks for any advice!

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Comments (5)

hepatica_z7
13 years ago
I believe the Nantes types of carrots are short like these, although they are not baby carrots. Many home garden varieties are Nantes type. Yours look mature, although we lack a way to see scale in the picture (like a hand, or coin.) The ones you are used to from the grocery are a variety that grows long and thin like that and needs very loose, deep soil. No matter how long a time you let them grow, other varieties will not get long.

How do they taste?

Hepatica
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bsntech
13 years ago
That makes a good standing point for a question I have as well -

When do you know when to pick carrots? If you leave them in the ground too long, do they lose their sugar?

I planted Sugarsnax and Burpee A#1 carrots this year and I haven't picked them yet. Last year they were already out of the ground. They have been in the ground for over 120 days now.

Here is a link that might be useful: BsnTech Gardening Blog
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I plant carrots in mid January this year, in my high tunnels. I covered the ground with row cover and kept them moist. They came up really nice. Here is a picture from April 6th. They are about knee high now and are getting ready to pull. I usually plant the shorter season carrots, Napoli, Nelson, Yaya, Mokum. I have had good luck with theses. I also planted another planting in early February. They are doing well too. To plant carrots in the fall, I plant mine in late July 25-August 5th. I did plant a late planting in September, but they overwintered and took off in January/Feb. I would recommend the earlier planting date. I overwinter carrots in my high tunnels all winter. I try to have carrots from September to June. You could be successful with low tunnels. Winter carrots are the sweetest treats ever! I would plant Napoli for these winter carrots. Jay
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Carrots do not transplant well, at all. I would re-sow for a fall crop if you want more.
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I had never been able to grow good carrots in the ground, so last year I drilled holes in the bottom of a 5 gal. bucket, filled it with ProMix, and sowed the seeds directly. When I had to thin the seedlings, I added the cut greens to salads. I got such nice carrots that this year I'm planning to sow several buckets of carrots. I may also try to plant successive crops and add some worm castings to the mix. One of the nice things about growing veggies in containers is that you can move them around, even though a 5 gal. bucket can be pretty heavy after it's been watered. Good growing to you! Constance in NJ Rich wrote: The containers should be fairly deep and not the oval/dish type shape, more like a bucket 2 gallons or more would work fine. When sowing you can over sow to ensure good germination then cut back to allow about two or three inches in between carrots. You will get mixed messages on transplanting, some have no problems but others will tell you they grow deformed, I start them in the container I don't transplant.
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Comments (19)
Yes I use an Earthway Seeder to plant everything. They are about $100 new, you can find them uses, just make sure the red or black seed box isn't warped. It is not good for them to sit in the sun. Get the extra plates. I like the regular carrot plate. In my opinion the light carrot plate doesn't seed them heavy enough. I don't thin, the carrots, but I have pulled some out while weeding. Here is my new planting that planted this week. Here is a link that might be useful: Starting carrots in the Heat
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hoodat
13 years ago
Possibly you aren't thinning enough. If carrots are crowded together they will not grow to full size.
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scully931
Original Author
13 years ago
Oh, I am DEFINATELY guilty of not thinning enough. The entire packet of seeds grew, which I wasn't expecting. I only planted half... at first. Then there was an overzeleous neighbor and a tiller involved. :-/ Then I had to plant the second half. Oh my... well, I'll know better about them next year.

They don't taste bad though! :-P Thanks for the info!
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curt_grow
13 years ago
As far as leaving carrots in the ground when I was a kid we left the carrots in the ground until just about freeze up. Then they were harvested and put in sand in the cellar for use during the winter. So I have eaten carrots from baby's we thinned to full grown or very late matured. I could not really tell a great difference in the taste. Maybe the late fall after frost carrots were the sweetest. Btw we planted all carrots as soon as we could work the ground in spring and used them all season long as they grew Large enough to eat.

Curt~#
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Carrot question

Comments (5)

hepatica_z7

bsntech

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scully931
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Carrot question

Comments (5)

hepatica_z7

bsntech

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hoodat

scully931Original Author

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scully931
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