Transplanting carrots

[MichaelC]

Is it possible? Directions always say direct sow.

El Nino has affected my spring schedule and my plot is not ready for planting. My daughter was dying to plants some carrots, so I decided to give it a go in some seedling trays.

Is there any chance of this working out?

[AnnaIkona]

Have you already planted the seeds? If not, I would plant them directly in your garden's soil. That's how I always do it

Transplanting would be pretty hard as you wouldn't be transplanting but actually harvesting them, if you know what I mean

[MichaelC]

Does the root form that quickly? I had figured on moving them in a couple weeks, keeping the soil intact.

[applestar]

I've done it before. Considering how long it takes them to sprout, starting them in more controlled environment is attractive. On the other hand, the seeds can be sowed very early outside --- it just takes as much as 3 weeks for them to sprout and you have to make sure to keep the seedbed from drying out. Some people recommend putting a piece of wood/board on top of the soil over the seeds initially.

You can't wait too long to transplant -- no more than two true leaves ...and by then the root can be 2 inches long. The single delicate taproot is what turns into the carrot, and breaking it or even the root finding the bottom of the tray could/will result in kinking or branching.

To transplant, I found it easiest to either remove with cushion of soil cradling it *or* completely bareroot it by floating and rinsing in a bowl of water. Make a deep hole so as not to let the taproot get bent and wide enough to see/maneuver, hold the seedling up against one side of the hole and fill in, making sure not to bury the crown.

...very tedious. Not sure I will try this again unless I can come up with/find a better technique

[Mr green]

Theres no need to pregrow carrots, you can sow them weeks before last frost date. If you live somewhere with real cold winters you can even sow them in fall. This wont be for you in CA but just to state how easy they are to grow. I never heard of anyone doing anything but directsowing them.

A plant always grows the roots first. When you see it above soil, it has its first small root/roots already.

You can probably make it, but it feels less than optimal to me.
Applestar has the experience so try with the method mentioned above.

[MichaelC]

We'll see. It was just to please my daughter who was impatient to start.

Can carrots be grown in 5 gallon buckets? It seems like it would be deep enough.

[AnnaIkona]

Yup, I think 5 gallons should be big enough, just make sure that the carrots are spaced out from each other.

[MichaelC]

applestar, thanks for sharing all of that information!

[Vanisle_BC]

I agree with applestar. You can transplant carrots. I'm sure I've done it before but did'nt keep records. I guess all the caveats would apply though, about not damaging the root and transplanting quick, before it gets too long. I think I germinated them in soil blocks, snipping to one seedling per block to avoid having to thin once they're in the ground. That's a chore I hate. On the other hand there's that you-tube of the guy who doesn't thin at all and harvests them by the handful. There's all kinds of ways ......

[Allyn]

I agree with Applestar. That's how I do it. I start them in jiffy pellets and then move them to five-gallon SiPs as soon as I see true leaves starting to form. Starting them in jiffy pellets, I have to make sure to rip open the bottom of the netting when I put them out or the carrots end up with a weird little 'waist' about a half an inch from the top of the carrot. I put nine or ten in a 5-gallon bucket.

[Gary350]

It is best to plant carrot seeds in rows. Carrots are interesting plants it takes about 3 weeks for seeds to sprout. Cut 2 liter soft drink bottles length wise place them over your seed row like mini green houses seeds come up sooner. Plant seeds in the snow then cover them with bottles. By the time my seeds come up and my carrots are looking good it is 90 degrees here in TN. I pull to thin the rows and eat all the small carrots before it gets hot. In hot weather carrots get woody and hard as a pine board with less flavor than a pine board and the tops are bitter. I leave my carrots until Oct cool weather makes the carrots soft and have good flavor. A month of cool weather carrots are ready to pull and eat. Tops are excellent in salad or cooked like Spanish. If the soil freezes and the carrots can not been pulled up just wait until spring when the soil is not frozen they pull up easy and taste good.

[jal_ut]

Ya, go ahead and transplant those carrots. What have you to lose? As noted we don't usually transplant carrots. Just plant the seed where they will grow. These are cool weather plants and the seed can be planted in your garden plot early as soon as the soil dries out enough to work it in the Spring. Early April at this location.

[Mr green]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7bIFghIX5U

Was looking on youtube and this one came up, thought it could fit here. Allthough is not about transplanting but some good tips on how sow them. And why we generally don't transplant them.

Offcourse you should transplant them, I'm just encourage you to in the future focus on the crops that will benefit you most to pregrow, in the end it will make gardening alot easier and fun.

[greenstubbs]

The only way I could get mine to grow was to do the transplant method. Yeah, my carrots were crooked and bent at harvest time, I didn't care! That's the only way I could get them to grow. Besides as I always say, "When your bodies done with them after eating, they look like...................................... well, you get the idea and they were plenty good.