In article ,
David Hill wrote:
On 03/06/2015 00:04, philgurr wrote:
"Roger Tonkin" wrote in message
...
Whilst in Homebase this afternoon, I wandered around the garden
bit and noticed among other vegetables, they were selling small
trays of carrotts, each with 6-8 clumps of quite tall
seedlings. Instructions of the tray said palnt out in frost
free soil! No indication of whether you should break up the
clumps or of distance.

I was always lead to belive that transplanting of root
vegetables like carrots/parsnips/swedes etc was a no no, as
they roots would split or not form properly.

Is this true? If so how do Homebase justify selling them like
this?

It is not true. I have grown beetroot successfully in cells in the
greenhouse for years before planting outside and had a good
crop every year. I shall be planting out in a weeks time here in
the far north, when we will probably be free of frost (although
this year there is no certainty !!!). It is the only way that we can
get a long enough growing season.

There is a difference between crops like Beetroot and Swedes, and long
rooted veg like Carrots and Parsnips.
The first thing the latter do is to send down their tap root, if it gets
bent or damaged then the resulting plant will have a lumpy root when lifted.

And even more important difference is whether they are Umbelliferae;
none of them like root disturbance, and some really hate it. I do
transplant some of them (e.g. parsley), but there's a high loss rate.
Cruciferae tend to be a lot more tolerant of root disturbance.

So, it's not likely to work for carrots and parsnips on two grounds,
and it REALLY doesn't work for salsify and scorzonera (even though
they are Compositae, which usually transplant), for the reasons you
give, redoubled in spades and with icing on top.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.