Carrots and beets won't grow

[lilcee]

I'm trying to grow carrots and beets in my Fall garden. Planted them twice and they won't come up. I've noticed mole trails all around where I planted them Could this be the problem?
I live in North FL

[rainbowgardener]

Moles are carnivores, they only eat bugs, grubs etc. So they wouldn't be eating your seeds. That's not to say if they happen to tunnel right under/ next to your seeds they couldn't be disturbing them too much. Especially right at the beginning when the seeds have just put out the first little roots, if those roots get pulled out of the soil, the seed can just give up and die.

What is the weather like there in N. FLA now? A lot of the cold weather crops like you are talking about don't germinate real well in the heat.

Also seeds are a little bit tricky. They need to not dry out but also not stay too wet. Too wet all the time and they rot and disappear. Too dry and they die. So a little bit damp all the time.

[lilcee]

It's been in the 80's and 90's. Unusually hot for this time of year. Maybe it's too hot?
Our beans and squash are doing real good. Just can't get the carrots and beets to come up.

[rainbowgardener]

Beans and squash like hot; carrots and beets don't. Try again once it cools off a bit!

[Gary350]

The last time I planted carrots the package said to plant in cold weather. It said the seed need 3 weeks of cold weather before they will germinate and grow. I sprinkled my seeds in the snow late February and they came up more than a month later. Only carrots I have good luck with are the Denver half long.

[lilcee]

OK, thanks for your help. I'll try later then

[cynthia_h]

Where in Florida are you?

The planting times may vary by as much as two months from, say, the Georgia state line down to Miami and the Keys. I went to high school in Tampa, more or less halfway down the state, and I think my dad put carrots in the ground in early October, whenever it was the weather changed.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[gixxerific]

Probably too hot.

What Gary said about the shorter variety is something you should look at. Unless you have perfect very loose soil (deeply loose) carrots tend to fork and become misshapen. So if this is a new garden or not extremely loose soil go with the shorter variety's.

[lilcee]

I live in North Florida - Jacksonville. It's been 80's and 90's.
Thanks all for your help. I'll check into the shorter variety and wait til it's cooler.