How do YOU plant carrots??

[gixxerific]

Stella a dibble is just a tool used to put a hole in the soil for planting seeds, bulbs.

[The Bearded Farmer]

Lots of good ideas... I'm going to look for some sort of hand seeder.

[nes]

Veseys has them: http://www.veseys.com/

[digitS']

I thot sum1 would mention my problem - getting good germination and actually having some carrot seedlings to thin . .

My garden soil drains very, very fast. Once the interminable spring rains stop and we get to sunshine - the dampness disappears out of the top inch of soil in about 30 minutes . . . Since carrot seed resides in the top 1/4" of soil, I'm sure I've killed thousands of tiny carrot seedlings by not maintaining good soil moisture levels.

I could cover the soil surface and the underlying carrot seed with a board or burlap. But, that would mean that I'd need to look under the covering on a regular basis - over what seems like a carrot seed's required 3-week germination schedule . . . see above regarding seedling murder .

There were a couple of solutions:

One that gets you to "Applestar's seed balls" quickly is just to order pelletted seed. I've ordered pelletted carrot seed from both Johnny's and Harris in years past. They don't always have the varieties that I am interested in trying but - those clay pellets go a long way to holding needed moisture against the seed.

Nes mentioned the "the wallpaper paste method." I'm not sure what Vanessa is referring to - probably the gluing of the seed to paper. I've done that using one tablespoon of cornstarch to one cup of water and bringing that to a boil. Cooled this gel to room temperature before I glued seed to strips of paper towels.

Howsomeever . . . the paper towels were a bit tedious to try to get underground what with wind and everything. So, I just carried the cornstarch mixture out into the garden in a ziplock bag, cut the corner out of the bag and dribbled the gel into the soil. Then, I sprinkled the carrot seed on the line of gel. It really does just a good a job of holding moisture on those seeds during the weeks it takes for them to germinate.

Now back to seed sprinkling techniques . . .

Steve

[estorms]

Carrots are just a lot of work. Pick a cool day, take your time and just enjoy it. I had beautiful carrots in a raised bed last year. I planted, thinned and weeded. When they were about six inches high, a deer ate them all in one night. I'm moving that raised bed into the fenced area of my garden this year.

[nes]

Nes mentioned the "the wallpaper paste method." I'm not sure what Vanessa is referring to - probably the gluing of the seed to paper...

Nope, I meant your second method - sort of.

You mix the seeds in with a fungicide-free wallpaper paste (and I'm sure you could use a home-made substitute); then you place the whole thing in a ziplock bag and cut off the corner (so like a pasty piping bag) and use this to get the seeds into the ground .

I've read about this in books, but I bet there is an online explanation somewhere.

[GardenGnome]

Here's one this isn't the one I was talking about
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-5479-hand-seed-sower.aspx

[GardenGnome]

here's the one but I kinda like the one I posted first maybe ill get one.
I just use a bowl and tweezers.
http://www.yardlover.com/luster-leaf-mi ... CFYQgwgwAA

[applestar]

Nes, one time I tried that -- and I used the cornstarch and water paste/gel -- the gel would squeeze out everywhere BUT where I wanted to it to go, and the seeds -- oh, the seeds! They all kind of huddled together in the opposite corner from the hole no matter how I squeezed the bag, then when they finaly lined up at the hole, they would either clog the hole and not come out, or come out all of a sudden in an unconteolled spurt, and, and....

[Dillbert]

really fresh carrots are a real treat - so I'm up for the 'work'

I don't even attempt rows - I do multiple 2x2 patches - cat food can with hole punched in one half - 6d nail as I recall... you can 'carry' the seed on the unpunched side then with a little practice sprinkle them randomly.

the 'trick' is to make the patch small enough you can easily reach the whole thing.

I used a big sheet of wrapping paper to 'perfect' the size for the holes and my 'sprinkle technique'

it does require a fine seed bed tho - light rake over and it's done.

as they sprout / grow I thin them by eating . . .

[stella1751]

here's the one but I kinda like the one I posted first maybe ill get one.
I just use a bowl and tweezers.
http://www.yardlover.com/luster-leaf-mi ... CFYQgwgwAA

This looks like what my sister described! I like your idea of a bowl and tweezers. I think that is what I will try this year.

[digitS']

. . . You mix the seeds in with a fungicide-free wallpaper paste (and I'm sure you could use a home-made substitute); then you place the whole thing in a ziplock bag and cut off the corner (so like a pasty piping bag) and use this to get the seeds into the ground .

I've read about this in books, but I bet there is an online explanation somewhere.

Wow, that's interesting! I'd have to be comfortable about what's in wallpaper paste but it sounds like it would be much like the cornstarch gel scheme.

I actually adapted the idea from Colorado State University's information on fluid seeding.. I tried what they suggested with pre-sprouting the seed, using carrot and lettuce seed. The carrot seed was almost a total bust!! The lettuce seed, pre-sprouted, worked fine but - who cares?! Lettuce seed germinates quickly and I never have trouble with it! It was the carrots, and to a lesser extent the parsnips, where I needed some help.

Using fluid seeding for alfalfa seed, is not uncommon. That's another tiny seed that's hard to handle but, I'm not going to recommend fluid seeding to avoid thinning. Putting the lettuce seed in the bag with the gel just resulted in "drips" of lettuce coming up after a few days. There wasn't really anyway to have drips with just 1 seed each.

Steve

[The Bearded Farmer]

That cat food can idea is great. I can really picture that working even if I do stick to rows. I will seed more carrots this weekend like this and report back.

That is basically the same idea as a mini hand seeder just less fancy!

[TaoistImmortal]

My method is to start all my carrots indoors. I plant 4 seeds per peat pot starter. With Scarlet Nantes carrots I usually have around 90%+ germination rate. They grow under a little grow light that I put together with some CFL's. When they are around an inch or so tall out of the soil, I plant them outside. No thinning necessary! They seem to grow just fine right next to each other. Plus I usually get one cool one per year where two carrots spiral around each other into the ground...the kids love those!

[nes]

Nes, one time I tried that -- and I used the cornstarch and water paste/gel -- the gel would squeeze out everywhere BUT where I wanted to it to go, and the seeds -- oh, the seeds! They all kind of huddled together in the opposite corner from the hole no matter how I squeezed the bag, then when they finaly lined up at the hole, they would either clog the hole and not come out, or come out all of a sudden in an unconteolled spurt, and, and....

Exactly why I haven't tried it yet .
Think it would be pretty hard to get the carrots seeds to spread evenly in the gel. There must either be a trick to it, or something in the wallpaper paste that holds them in suspension better.
(This method is listed in all my organic gardening books, so I would assume the wallpaper paste is harmless)