One side of the bed of carrots is producing pretty, long, slender carrots. The other side of the same bed, planted with the same variety of seed, watered and treated identically, has given me only three good carrots. I pulled all the rest of them out this morning, and it looks like the culprit may be
root knot nematodes, which can also infect lettuce and onions.
Perfect carrots on one side of the bed.
All of the carrots in the other half of the bed were ripped out and thrown away.
I have carrot seedlings coming up in several other areas of the garden. I hope they aren't affected too. According to the link, I'll need to plant next year's carrots in this year's corn bed.
Boy, your perfect carrots are definitely perfect! It's always something...isn't it?? Hopefully the rest of your carrots will be fine. I haven't even checked my spring carrots yet. I think that they have a long time to go. I did pull a couple of my carrots that I planted in the pot in the basement yesterday. They are short and pale....but they'll do.
ReplyDeleteRobin, I'm real tempted to plant some in a container, just in case. Carrots are probably my most important garden veggie.
DeleteOh dear god, no---NOT THE CARROTS!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI've gotten as far as Wyoming---I was so close to getting your carrots.
Bwah ha ha.
And now this.
Sigh.
:D
Sue, I'll plant some in a bucket, just for you!
DeleteI wish my carrots would grow as long and straight as yours. Mine are always short fat and deformed, looking more like a pair of legs with no body. What makes a carrot grow like that? I was thinking it might be over watering so the root is not forced to grow down deep in search of water? I guess I should Google it :-)
ReplyDeleteLiisa, now you know. I knew mine weren't from compacted soil or lack of water. That left...nematodes :-(
DeleteOMG!!! I just clicked on the link you posted to read about root knot nematodes, and that is what I have. Darn it!
ReplyDeleteI've had mild problems with those sometimes. So far not in this garden, but my last one had a lot of them. I planted a lot of the Ground Control Marigolds all over which really helped.
ReplyDeleteDaphne, the Ground Control grow so large, I'm wondering if all of the French Marigolds would be beneficial. There are some smaller varieties that I could plant all over.
DeleteI'm glad you planted in different locations! Hopefully your other carrots are OK. There are so many creatures in the garden, it is quite amazing!
ReplyDeleteOh, Tosh, I sure hope so! I'm going to go out and plant some more, anywhere I can find a spot for them, and hope I get some good ones. Last year I harvested 33 pounds of them, this year (so far) just over one pound!
DeleteThose carrots in first photo look perfect! mine are not even close to be ready for picking. Too bad about the second part of the carrot bed.
ReplyDeleteJenny, they are really small. They look larger in the photo, but I get too antsy to wait for those first ones to mature!
DeleteSorry to hear about your failure but the ones you did get are beautiful. Makes me want to try growing them again. I grew them once but most of mine looked like your "failures".
ReplyDeleteCoral, I should wait until they size up a bit more, but those small ones are so sweet I just can't resist pulling them early.
DeleteWe all win some and lose some in the garden. The ones you did get are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteVanessa, I know...but I'd rather lose zucchini than carrots!
DeleteWhile the Ground Control marigolds are best, amy smelly marigold will help to control nematodes. They all release a chemical that repels nematodes, they just have different levels of it. I would try alternating rows of carrots and dwarf marigolds.
ReplyDeleteEd, I normally have a lot of marigolds throughout the garden, but this year the old seeds just wouldn't germinate and I didn't have very many volunteers (thanks to rototilling this year). I'll have to make a visit to the nursery and pick up a flat.
DeleteGranny that is so disappointing! I hope the other carrot patches growing in your garden are unaffected. Enjoy the perfect carrots. They look so young and sweet.
ReplyDeleteRachel, I sure hope so too. I'll be planting more, an another area of the garden, and keep my fingers crossed. I have four small earlier plantings that are just in various stages of tiny growth, or not yet showing, but we like to eat them while they are still quite small, so it takes a lot for a meal.
DeleteSorry about those bad ones, but that photo of the perfect ones blew me away! I can't get anything close to that here!
ReplyDeleteErin, I usually have good luck with carrots. Last year was the first time I had some problems with them, but that was just a few. I still managed to harvest about 30 pounds. I don't think I'll get anywhere close to that this year.
DeleteGeesh. Disappointing. Especially when you factor in carrots taking the most time out of a garden. Bah
ReplyDeleteStay @ Home, that's so true. It takes so long for them to reach the stage where one knows there is a problem, and an entire bed (or half bed in this case) is non-productive in the meantime.
DeleteSorry about the disappointing carrots granny. But the ones that turned out were flawless! Nice!
ReplyDeleteHolly, I guess my carrots are like the nursery rhyme...when they are good, they are very, very good. But when they are bad, they are horrid!
DeleteI had a garden like that in Arizona. Weird, weird roots, especially on tomatoes. Hang in there. Those are lovely carrots.
ReplyDeleteStefaneener, I had good roots in AZ, but i'm not movin' back there!
ReplyDeleteNever had a problem with carrot roots in Montana, if you want to move here. 40 degrees right now, but great roots!
DeleteElizabeth, our high was 64 today, and it was 47 last night. That's really cold for this area.
DeleteI have a very small crop of carrots planted this year so I'm praying for them to be successful. They're growing really well and are in the raised bed (for those who don't know, it's about three feet tall and filled with brand new nice rich soil). We've had tons of rain so I'm wondering if that'll make a difference. Do carrots need fertilizers? I might give them a shot of fish emulsion soon. The warmer temp of the raised bed is making them grow nicely compared to the ground grown ones. I planted the round parisian ones (can't remember name), cosmic purple, atomic red and nantes. What type are those carrots that are so perfect?
ReplyDeleteAnd I didn't even know the marigolds helped keep away nematodes. I need to study up. We had marigolds in the corner of the bed by the carrots but not every row. Not sure that they weren't affected but the worst thing I had probs with was voles tunnelling underneath, and munching the carrots from bottom to the tops. I pulled a few that had been munched all the way to the orange shoulders and that's all that was left! I ended up pulling the rest. A patch neighbor lost a whole crop of carrots to the voles but didn't know til he went to pull them and found nothing but green tops and orange shoulders. what a disappointment. Sorry bout the nematodes, Granny!
Amy T. (fleur), that's the same spot in the garden where I found all the millipedes early this spring!
DeleteTo clean the soil, could you try a cover crop(maybe mustard?) in the spot you want to grow carrots next year?
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, from what I've read the best way to clean the soil is with marigolds, but not interplanted. They have to be used as a cover crop for two months before the carrots are planted, and turned into the soil. I wouldn't have enough time to grow them and then plant carrots here! The article also said to plant them after corn, so that's where they will go in the future. I can only keep my fingers crossed that this is the only bad spot in the garden this year.
DeleteI had a bad carrot year last year - carrot fly maggot infestation. So far this year, my carrots are looking healthy and good and I am thanking my lucky stars because I really missed them all winter.
ReplyDeleteI hope the nematodes are confined to the one area and the other plantings do well for you.
Kitsap, I remember your carrot fly problem. I had a few hairy, twisted roots last year, just in certain areas of the garden. I didn't associate it with nematodes then, I assumed it was some old seeds I was using.
DeleteJust found your blog and have thoroughly enjoyed looking and reading through it. So sorry for your carrots. They don't do too well here in Georgia at least not with me. Right now I am getting ready to do battle with squash bugs, and blossoms falling off without producing fruit. I only have a few squash at the moment. Any ideas? I will definitely be back for another visit.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my blog, Ulrike! Blossom drop (or small, shriveled fruits that die) on squash is completely normal. It takes a while for both male and female flowers to "get in the groove" and blossom at the same time. Once they do, pollination takes place and you should get plenty of squash.
DeleteAhh! So sorry. Maybe the rest will be okay. It happens.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Loretta. I sure hope so.
DeleteIt's always something in gardening, isn't it? Hi, I just want to tell you I love reading your blog! You amaze me with all your hard work and I have to say you are one of the bloggers I read regularly who has inspired me to try my own blog about my gardening adventures. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience!
ReplyDeleteNutmeg, thank you! I checked out your new blog....you have a gorgeous garden, I'm glad you aren't hiding it from us any more. I'm looking forward to catching up with your posts, and following your gardening experiences in the future.
DeletePS: Would you consider putting a "follow" widget on your blog? Blogger no longer adds the option at the top of the page :-(
DeleteOMG! When did blogger change THAT?!? And more importantly......why? I was able to add by URL in my Blogger Dashboard . There is an ADD button under the Reading List text.
DeleteRachel, I noticed it about the time they made me go to the new interface. The only way I've been able to follow, if the page doesn't have a "Join This Site" widget, is through Google Reader and on my blog list by using the URL.
DeleteWell, I will when I can figure out how to? You'd be amazed at how much I still don't know how to do with my blog! Slowly working on things though!
DeleteNutmeg, if you want to email me at anniebloom1 at gmail dot com, I'd be happy to walk you through it.
DeleteWhile disappointing it is fascinating to me that they can be so different yet so close to each other. The good ones sure do look good!
ReplyDeleteDavid, more disappointing than fascinating :-( I have another 1'x3' section right next to it with 2" high baby carrots.
Delete