carrots and beets in containers

[dtizme]

Just curious what you guys think about this. How many carrots and beets could I grow in 3 gallon ice cream containers. the containers are 10 inch diameter and 12 inch deep. More of an experiment than anything this year. I planted 5 containers with carrots and 2 with beets. Any input is appreciated.

[applestar]

What variety carrots? I suspect the shorter type roots would grow better in a container?

[dtizme]

They are red cored chartaney. A shorter variety

[imafan26]

Three gallon containers won't grow a lot maybe 4 would be max.

[dtizme]

I'll thin them out to that or close to that and see what happens. thanks for the input.

[jacobalepra]

I know you are trying ice cream containers but maybe look into pallet garden. Pull everyother board up fill with dirt and plant in rows! It also works great for lettuce too.

[imafan26]

True bigger containers are better. They don't dry out as fast. Deeper is better too. You can get free containers if you know where to look. styrofoam containers that fish vendors use to send fish to market are great containers. they are easy to make holes in and are insulated in the the heat. Styrofoam coolers work too, but they are not as cheap as they used to be. 55 gallon drums and 5 gallon buckets also make good containers. Pallets as mentioned need a little bit of tweaking but can probably be gotten for free. If you can find really old tires that are not steel belted they make good planters as do old bathtubs, wheel barrels and other found objects. For the three gallon containers, I would rather plant herbs instead since many herbs are very adaptable to containers.

[mattie g]

I think your main problem will be the lack of surface area to plant in.

I grow carrots in two planters that probably run about 25"L x 8"W x 8"D, and I get about 15 carrots or so from two rows in each planter. They're a little tightly spaced, but there isn't much other choice since my garden space is limited. I just make sure to keep them watered and lightly fertilized as needed.

[imafan26]

I grew carrots more as a novelty. They don't produce enough for me for a yearly supply, and they are relatively cheap to buy. I prefer to grow things that are relatively easier for me to grow, that I like to eat, relatively expensive to buy, and taste better fresh.

Carrots are not easy for me to grow since my temperature is above 80 for most of the year, and market carrots are relatively cheap and frankly less bitter than the ones I grew.

[mattie g]

I grew carrots more as a novelty. They don't produce enough for me for a yearly supply, and they are relatively cheap to buy. I prefer to grow things that are relatively easier for me to grow, that I like to eat, relatively expensive to buy, and taste better fresh.

Carrots are not easy for me to grow since my temperature is above 80 for most of the year, and market carrots are relatively cheap and frankly less bitter than the ones I grew.

It certainly makes sense for you to buy them rather than grow them given your climate and, as you said, the relative cheapness of carrots (even organic ones).

I've debated giving up on carrots because of the low cost to buy them, but since the planters in question would really only hold more herbs and such, I figure I might as well use them for a good root vegetable. Maybe some decent beets...