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First ever carrot

• Message 1. 

  Posted by annaw1 (U14287763) on Friday, 9th July 2010

  Harvested my first ever home-grown carrot last night and it was a beauty! Ok, it wasn't massive but a good enough size and lovely and sweet. Will sow some more next time I'm up the allotment.
  
  Found them a little trickier to grow than some other veg. Took ages to germinate - is this normal? And had gaps in the rows.
  
  My soil seems quite clay so I added sharp sand to the row before sowing.
  
  Any expert carrot growers got any tips?

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• Message 2

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  Posted by 4smilingcat6 (U14338727) on Saturday, 10th July 2010

  There really is something about home grown carrots isn`t there?.
  
  When I had clay soil(and was 18+ years younger)I pulled out a drill and filled it with sieved compost.
  
  Then sowed three seeds in station about 2/3 inches apart-result a great crop.
  
  I must confess that now I don`t bother and just sow randomly so it`s a case as do what I did not what I do now

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  Posted by annaw1 (U14287763) on Saturday, 10th July 2010

  Thanks smilingcat. Will try that next year mixed with a bit of sand. Thought mine would have trouble as the soil got so hard quite soon after I had dug it all. But they seem to be ok.

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  Posted by doncat (U11203674) on Saturday, 10th July 2010

  I loved my first home grown carrots which we finished a couple of weeks ago. The second pot of them germinated well enough and has loads of foliage but seems to be taking an age to get to any size. We keep trying one every week and they are still really small. I think they are a bit tricky and I had big gaps when they germinated.
  
  My first lot I grew in a big trough with lots of sand added to the compost and they definitely grew better even though the weather wasn't so warm. I sowed some more last week in the same trough so waiting for the third lot to germinate.
  

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  Posted by bookertoo (U3655866) on Saturday, 10th July 2010

  It doesn't matter what it is, the fact of eating what you have sown and grown is a pleasure to be beaten by few others!
  
  Carrots can be funny to grow, and in my humble experience, (I've got none this year for a variety of reasons) gaps in the row is not unusual. They like a soft soil with good drainage and plenty of water - which has been lacking a bit this year.
  
  Enjoy, there are plenty more to come I am sure.

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  Posted by Lizmunstone (U6711031) on Sunday, 11th July 2010

  Glad to hear you are so proud of your carrots. It reminds me of when I first grew them and put them on my son's plate. He ate it and then asked what it was, because he said he could see it looked like a carrot but tasted much nicer!
  
  AAhh - makes it all worth it.

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  Posted by 7magpies (U8108459) on Wednesday, 14th July 2010

  I had trouble with carrot germination this year too. I think it was a combination of cold followed by a lack of rain.
  
  But I kept re-sowing and now have some splendid carrots. There is just nothing like home-grown carrots, is there?
  
  This year I tried some purple carrots. They are beetroot-coloured when raw, but orange inside, and when cooked they change to a purple-tan colour on the outside. I don't find them as sweet when raw as some of the orange varieties, but they have a very good flavour when cooked.

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