growing own veggies in bags and pots (Merged)

Slugs are a problem with carrots. Little devils ate all mine last year and I had to sow more seed.

I grow carrots in an old container (it's the steel water tank out of my loft) This keeps the carrots more than 15ins high which avoids the carrot fly which fly lower than this. I keep the soil level below the tank rim and cover the seedlings with a wire mesh for the first few weeks to keep the birds off. Gradually raising the mesh on 4 bricks until the carrot tops are about 5 - 6 ins high. An old hand on our allotment just grows them in the top of and old oil drum and he has excellent results (the git)

ive just put in another few rows of carrots too and they are coming up already

Is it ok to growth them through the winter then? Do you just stick them in the ground? I shall have to give this a go methinks!

Hi.
I sow some every month, but there are a few things with carrots.
Firstly you have to have deep loose soil, or they just don't get big roots.
Secondly you have to either keep carrot fly off using netting [very fine], or by companion planting.
then, during the winter, growing does slow down, but for mine that i sowed in sept last year, they started back up again as soon as spring came and you get early carrots.
The aim is to grow enough during spring and summer to last all winter, and to have some ready for a spring harvest.
One other thing though - and is it a bugbear of mine - all seeds that the major producers supply will be seasonal; i use old heritage seeds, they have different properties to the mass produced ones, in alot of cases is that they will be capable of producing all year round. You have to do your research and buy what is good for your perticular needs. You can get many different types of carrot mass produced; so you would have to have different varieties to cover the different seasons.

But, as i regularly say; try breaking the rules - find ways of extending the growing season by starting off earlier under protection; know the needs of your veg, fertilise regularly and you never know what you can grow.

And yes, i do fertilise container veg; even though the soil is 'new' compost.

I also do start some carrots off in deep pots; just in case the ones in the ground don't make it - then i transplant in deeply dug, loose soil; individually but sometimes in bunches. If the soil is loose enough they push each other out of the way and you can harvest some smaller ones in between, and leave the rest to fill the spaces and to grow for a few months longer.

It's all trial and error, weather, soil, luck based...