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Old 29-05-2009, 04:26 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
Lilah Morgan[_2_] Lilah Morgan[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Dec 2007
Posts: 101
Default What am I doing wrong with my carrots?

Do you think you might have underground critters eating them? Because what I
did in the first raised bed I made is put 1inch chicken wire at the very
bottom of it then piled all the soil on top of it, so I didn't have to worry
'bout something burrowing up to them and getting them from underneath.
Hardwear cloth would probably work too.

"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.