Thinning out the carrots. They're "Rodelika", late and good for storing. I honestly believed for a long time I wouldn't be getting any as they are really just that sluggish at first, and even after the tops shoot up they don't try to push their shoulders out of the ground. They'll still going to thicken as carrots in my neck of woods do (Finland; august is too early for real harvest) and while I expect the taste to really start maturing in September-October, the smell is already pretty good!
I have a heavy clay soil, but I had double dug and amended it, kept a thin garden fleece over them until now to keep pests out, and Rodelika should be especially tolerant of heavier soils.
It's my second year growing carrot and for next summer I'm going to try autumn sowing, definitely Rodelika again!
by Ancient-Patient-2075
3 Comments
Sorry for the long post, it would have saved me a lot of needless worry to know all this. Last year I grew s Nantes variety and it behaved entirely differently.
Nice!
Nice carrots! A trick we’ve used in the past to help carrots sprout in clay soil is to sow some radish seeds along with the carrot seeds. The radishes sprout quickly and grow fast, breaking the soil. By the time you harvest the radishes, your carrots will be coming along in the loosened soil.