It sound as if you have something eating your seedlings. If it were on my
little plot I would give odds on it being slugs. There is a very safe and
effective product called "Sluggo" . The active ingredient is iron phosphate
and I have recently seen some generic on garden shop shelves.
Steve
"Suzanne D." wrote in message
...
Two years ago, I tried planting carrots in one of my raised beds. Most of
them didn't sprout, and those that sprouted disappeared in a few days.

The following year (last year), I prepared a bed with commercial potting
soil. I planted several different types of carrot. Many sprouted, and
most of them grew very well.

This year, I used a similar bed with similar potting soil. I started
planting carrots in February, and have planted them every few weeks since
then. (It was regularly frosty in February, and currently gets up to
about 90-95 degrees in the daytime, so they have seen a great temperature
range.) I have planted about ten different varieties, from three or four
different seed companies. I've tried scattering them and covering them
with a thin layer of commercial soil, and I've also dug shallow furrows
for them and covered them. Most of these did not sprout at all, and the
few that did were gone within days.

So...does anyone know what I did RIGHT last year? I can't see why there
was such a big difference between the massive success of last year and the
utter failure of this year.
--S.