Carrots for Christmas?

lilyjune

Hi All,

I am new to the board and have been eagerly reading these last few days having for the first time this summer grown some lettuces, perpetual spinach and tomatoes.

I've really enjoyed it all and would like to turn my hand to something else without having to wait until next year... I'm not sure if I imagined it but I'm sure I read somewhere that I could have carrots for Christmas if I sowed now? Or do I need a special type of carrot? Have no clue really so any advice greatly appreciated.

They would have to be in tubs and my garden is a terrace in London so probably milder than a lot of the country?

Lotus-eater

I've been reading about this recently. I haven't done it myself, but as I understand it, you sow autumn type carrots now. Where you are, you could probably sow any type.

nepeta

I find that Autumn King is good. I sow in April, then leave them in the ground all winter and just pull as required. Always have homegrown carrots for Christmas Dinner!

miltonskeen

My carrots went in 2 weeks ago. No seedlings yet but the winter spinach has germinated in the soil, as has the winter lettuce. The torrential downpours over the last 2 days should help get the soil nice and wet, but careful not to let the seedlings drown!

rlatarche

Autumn King 2 seeds sown now will germinate and make good progress before the cold weather kicks in, make sure your soil is in good condition and the soil is relatively stone free otherwise the carrots will fork. Nice trick is to create a deep "V" with your spade and fill is with fine soil or compost and sow your seeds in the middle of the V. Covering lightly. As said before make sure you keep the carrots damp otherwise they might split if left to dry out.

lilyjune

Thanks for your responses - I'm off to find some Autumn King seeds this weekend.

I have a conservatory which I was thinking of using to germinate the seeds and then I can transplant them outside into the tubs? Or would I be better to sow them outside too so they are acclimatised straight away?

Am I okay to use normal tub and container multi-purpose compost or should I try and get something different?

rlatarche

because of the temp at the moment you will have a very good germination rate if you direct sow. A lot of plants don't like being moved once they've laid down some roots, so save yourself some hassle and just direct sow. I used normal seed compost and my carrots were about 200mm long and about 25mm wide, straight as an arrow. Little tip though - when you sow your seeds, sow them quite thin, then leave them to grow and only start to thin them out when the carrots are at a size where you get a little baby carrot. that way nothing gets thrown!

dlt123

hi
i have two lots of carrots growing in pots, some that i planted in may and they will be ready in oct, however when i thined them out i did it as soon as the seedling appeared so i had waste how do i know when to thin them out as i have another lots of carrots growing that are about 1inch in height and will be ready for christmas but how do i know when they need thinning out so that i still get a baby carrot.

also i find if your growing in pots round carrots are amazing as you dont need to such a big pot.

wssla00

I have a couple of quick varieties growing in pots at the mo. That way I can move them through to the greenhouse should I need to. Atlas has popped right up as had another variety that I remember is more red in colour but can't remember the variety.

lilyjune

I'm going to go and see what I can get this weekend. I don't know of any proper garden centres close by so I'll have to make do with what I can get in the garden section of a well known hardware store. Hopefully, they do Autumn King but I'll keep an eye out for Atlas as well.

Thanks for the suggestions - I've never done this before so I really appreciate the advice!:beer: