help please from those who know about growing carrots

adamadamant

Hi, my first time growing carrots, and as I have limited space generally I am doing quite a few veg in boxes on my shed roof.  If I plant carrots up there, do you think I could avoid a carrot fly barrier?  Monty said they dont fly much higher than 30 or 40 cm so a barrier higher than that will be sufficient to deter them.  Can I risk the seedlings up at 6 foot unprotected? Thanks

Obelixx

Yes, they should be fine at that height but make sure you sow a variety that doesn't make long roots so you ca get away with shallower, lighter pots and troughs.

Blue Onion

Scarlet Nantes are nice.. but make sure whatever carrot you grow has very even watering.  I've grown them in pots before.. it was a real challenge, with some carrots split and others quite bitter tasting.  

Dovefromabove

I know it's stating the obvious but do check on the load bearing capabilities of the shed roof ... a box of damp soil/compost can be surprisingly heavy.  
  

adamadamant

Thanks everyone, I am sowing a very short variety, Burpees Short n Sweet which are apparently especially good for containers.   I appreciate the advice about watering, am prepared for mistakes, have made plenty in the past!  That however is how we learn!  Thanks fellow forum people 

Fairygirl

I've always grown mine in containers. Make sure the soil you use isn't stony - that can cause them to fork/split, and use some old compost or soil for growing them in - they don't like a rich growing medium. I use the old compost from the previous year's sweet peas etc.  

adamadamant

Ah great, I didnt know that about the compost.  Many thanks

flowerbynameflowerbynature

I have grown carrots in pots twice as an experiment really, 1st year I did nothing with the soil and had some funny shaped carrots, and I found they didn' germinate as well as I hoped.
The second year I added some sand and had a great crop.