A raised bed, with nice, light soil just might cure your curse :)

We put in a raised bed last year, and I was able to grow beautiful carrots. I don't know if I had a carrot "curse" before that because I never attempted them in my rocky, clay dirt.

Are you keeping your bed consistantly moist? Crusting will kill a germinating carrot seed for some reason... I've had past success by putting a moist sheet over the bed for a few days and then removing it once most had germinated.

WSing has eliminated that need though. I got a short variety that I can harvest from the jug!

I am carrot cursed (I think the curse pertains to most root veggies)too. I tried growing them for a few years and gave up. At best, I got a carrot that has two inches long and thinner than a pencil! These were suppose to be regular sized carrots too. At one point, I dug out a furrow; filled it with all new dirt and still got pathetic-ness. I have been able to grow radishes the past couple years. I was able to grow potatoes the first time I planted them and haven't had luck with them every since. I grew onions well the first time I tried too. I am trying onions again this year. You are not alone!

Booberry, we do have the same curse.

I have a raised bed garden, deep peaty soil ilke they showed on the Victory Garden. I grow tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, greens of all kinds, potatoes, beans, cabbages, basil, and leeks. I did okay with my first year of potatoes and have grown green onions, and I hope to have potatoes again this year.

But I have never seen a carrot seed so much as sprout for me. I've never seen a raddish get any bigger than a piece of grass in my garden. And globe onions or beets, they don't even bother to sprout. I've never gotten garlic or shallots to grow either. Even with new dirt, even with small carrot varieties, they won't so much as give me the time of day.

But, I won't give up. I am going to get hubby to put the seeds in this year. There is more than one way to beat a curse!

Tansy Moon,

This won't help a carrot or radish curse, but here is a link to Seed Savers' garlic planting guide: http://www.seedsavers.org/Pdf/garlicplantingguide.pdf .

I have rocky, clay soil in zone 5 WI. I can't grow carrots or radishes worth a darn, either. :( I have had luck with the garlic using Seed Savers' garlic guide and putting my compost at the bottom of the garlic trenches.

If you want garlic, I hope this link is helpful! (I also hope the link works! If not, Seed Savers' website is www.seedsavers.org. Click on "Garlic" on the left-hand side and then the Planting Garlic Guide link is at the top of the Garlic page.)

Regards,
Nora Belle

Oh, you have a raised bed ... just ignore my advice then :)

What brand of seeds do you use? Maybe it's the seed company's fault. That's all I got.

I tried several times last year to grow chives, which are supposed to be easy, with no luck. I'm giving it another shot this year.

Count me in with the cursed too! Can't grow carrots, radishes, or beans to save my life. I was able to grow radishes last year in a plastic storage container but in my raised beds? Forget about it.

Today I sowed some carrot seeds (again!) in one of my raised beds. We'd just had over an 1.5 inches of rain last night and this morning so the soil is wet. Then I took cardboard and pegged that down on top of them. I will pull it up and check every few days I guess.

There has to be some way to break the curse...I guess keep on trying is the best way to finally meet with success?

Michelle

I was looking through a veggie gardening book at Barnes and Noble today. The author mentioned the "cantankerous carrots." His suggestion, in a raised bed, was to sow the seeds, make sure the soil is very moist, and cover the seeds with a large board (wood? cardboard?)for 7-10 days until the seeds germinate. Check under the board every couple days, like Michelle above is doing, and water to keep the soil moist. Once they germinate and begin to create the root system, the board can come up. I don't know if this will help lift the curse. :) I thought clay soil was my biggest problem for carrots. I'm scared to even attempt them at this point. They seemed so easy, but not so! :)

Cheers,
Nora Belle

I seem to have good luck withjcarrots and beets so far...cukes, otoh, last year..not good at all.

My soil is quite heavy, verging on the clay/silt side of soil, but doesn't seem to bother the carrots or beets any at all.

I do raised beds of a sort also and double dug last year down 12-18"

I say go raised bed. They grow like wild! I put mine in last year and had so many carrots. Funny thing is, they are still some out there growing. Even through the winter we had here.

Thank you all for the great suggestions!

We already have the raised bed and still can't get carrots, or a lot of other root crops. The plants just don't like me, and I've tried seeds from different suppliers.

I ordered some Pink Chinese garlic this year and still have high hopes.

I will definitely try the compost and board ideas--because I'm not ready to give up on the idea of fresh carrots either.

I too have a carrot curse (I do fine with beets and radishes though) I think it all has to do with moisture. We get no rain from now until October. That means we are very dry and we warm up quick. So the only time I had success with carrots was when I remembered to water at least once a day, sometimes two times. I think I will try the board method though and see if that helps.
I think too that they are very tasty to the buggy critters. I have in the past gotten very excited when I saw germination, only to come out a couple of days later to find not a sprout in site. They are so slow to germinate and soooo slow to begin growing that they need super care. I often wonder why I keep trying when a bag of carrots is so cheap! but I course have a bed right now where I am hoping to see germination soon!

My mom added coffee grounds to her raised bed, mixed well, and grew beautiful carrots. I guess it has to do with helping the soil texture as well as "something good" for the carrots. Her carrots were huge and very tastey. Good luck!! LC Grace

No carrot curse, but for sure a curse with cabbage. (I know how hard can that be.)It grows, but gets fungus or worms. So frustrating. Oh I also have an onion curse. It never matures for me. I have tried everything. Any advice on these two items. For the record I always plant my carrots in the deepest part of my raised bed and make sure it is free of rocks or other debris, it seems to work okay. I also just sow the seeds and ignore them. So crazy I can grow these but not cabbage.

I don't have a carrot curse. I canned 20 qts this year, but for the life of me, I cannot grow parsnips. They are my dh's favorite vegi, and I have never had any to germinate. I know the seed is not viable for long, but I buy fresh seed every year, and I sow it just like my carrots, but no luck. Can any body tell me what I need to do differently? Thanks. Janet

Someone once told me to plant carrots in papertowel tubes. I collected all year, filled with seed starter soil, lined them up in a container and germinated them in the greenhouse. Dug a HUGE hole and planted the tubes in the garden after they germinated. First and ONLY year I got carrots. Too much work for me.

If you are over the wine and key curse, just celebrate that. The carrot thing - who cares. Sounds like a plan to me.

If you have problems with lots of root veggies, your soil needs phosphorus. P is poorly available in acid soils, so adding lime helps, but to bump up the P, add bone meal now, or triple phosphate in the spring. I just harvested radishes that are 4" long and 1"+ in diameter.

Annebert that is it...We added lime in our soil this year and was able to grow carrots radishes and beets.

I had a farmer tell me this spring. Nothing but food crops all around me in this neck of the woods.

Plant carrots and radishes together in the same trench. When the radishes mature it leaves room for the carrots to grow. You can save valuable garden space growing this way. Just a tip..... Barb

ps Fiance bought those carrot and radish strips this year. he was being lazy but heck they worked.

I garden in community plots and build raised garden every spring. Bring my frames, put lots of dry leaves and fresh manure early April. It gets composted fairly fast and I plant my radishes when it is still cold.Carrots go in litlle later when weather warms up.
For those of you who has trouble growing radishes and carrots I would recommend soaking seeds overnight, then mixing them up with some sand. Water garden beds very well, make small rows in the soil and distribute that sand as evenly as possible. Cover up lightly and get a misting bottle out there at least once a day. Do not water with anything but gentle mist. You will see germination in few days providing weather conditions.