I mean they're polite and well-behaved, but they don't taste sweet. They're a little on the bitter side.
I'll pull one up and post a picture tonight or tomorrow, but the tops are a good 12-15" tall and healthy-looking, and the carrots are ~1" in diameter at the top and about ~5" long.
So everything seems right except the taste.
Are they too young? Should I let them sit awhile? Fertilize? Did I plant at the wrong time (sown 5/21/11 in Los Angeles)?
- TheWaterbug
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- rainbowgardener
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Two ingredients determine a carrot's flavour: sugars and terpenoids (volatile compounds that impart the carrot flavour). Some varieties are naturally high in terpenoids, which make the carrots taste bitter or soapy. Because terpenoids develop earlier than sugars, a carrot that is harvested too young might taste bitter. https://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/cultivation.html
But large old carrots that have been in the ground too long can get bitter too, as can under- watered carrots (too little water that is, not hydroponic!). If you keep the tops on them for long after pulling them, that will add bitterness.
Also, and being in LA, this may be your issue, excessive temps especially over a long period of time, makes them more bitter. You can work against this by keeping them well watered and mulched, keeps the soil cooler.
Carrots are cool weather crops. In LA, you will do better if you plant more carrot seed in Sept to grow through the fall/winter. Your fall/winter grown carrots are likely to taste a lot better than your summer grown ones did.
But large old carrots that have been in the ground too long can get bitter too, as can under- watered carrots (too little water that is, not hydroponic!). If you keep the tops on them for long after pulling them, that will add bitterness.
Also, and being in LA, this may be your issue, excessive temps especially over a long period of time, makes them more bitter. You can work against this by keeping them well watered and mulched, keeps the soil cooler.
Carrots are cool weather crops. In LA, you will do better if you plant more carrot seed in Sept to grow through the fall/winter. Your fall/winter grown carrots are likely to taste a lot better than your summer grown ones did.
- TheWaterbug
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I'm guessing it's the heat, because I'm right around 90 days right now, so I don't think they're immature or really old, and their on a drip system, so the soil's been constantly moist since sowing.rainbowgardener wrote:Also, and being in LA, this may be your issue, excessive temps especially over a long period of time, makes them more bitter. You can work against this by keeping them well watered and mulched, keeps the soil cooler.
Carrots are cool weather crops. In LA, you will do better if you plant more carrot seed in Sept to grow through the fall/winter. Your fall/winter grown carrots are likely to taste a lot better than your summer grown ones did.
I just purchased a pack of [url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032G6NFK]Little Finger seeds[/url], so I'll see how those do.
If my present carrot patch is too bitter for us to eat I'll just pull them up and feed them to the neighbors' horses. They're not picky
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- TheWaterbug
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I pulled a couple more this weekend, and they were woody. One of them was split straight down the middle and full of bugs. So I don't think they're immature.
The kids have been pulling them to feed to the neighbors' horses, so they'll all be gone in a week or so anyway, and then I'm going to plant some Little Fingers in some properly dug soil.
And I'm going to use a row cover to keep the !$%%@#$@$ critters away this time.
The kids have been pulling them to feed to the neighbors' horses, so they'll all be gone in a week or so anyway, and then I'm going to plant some Little Fingers in some properly dug soil.
And I'm going to use a row cover to keep the !$%%@#$@$ critters away this time.