A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Carrot Problems: Gorgeous Greens, Itty Bitty Roots

Hi there! This is my first post.

I have planted a nice bed of carrots. They came up beautifully, and the tops are gorgeous, full and green. But the roots are tiny. They've been in the ground at least a month now, and the roots don't seem to be getting any bigger.

Any ideas? I live in Raleigh, NC, and the soil has a lot of clay, but we tilled it really well and deep.

The variety I planted is nantes half-long.

Hi Lisa Jean & welcome!

I am not a carrot expert by ay stretch of the imagination, so I could be completely off here, but my first thought is it's way too soon to start worrying! First, be sure that you've thinned them according to the seed packet instructions. I think for this variety it's one seedling for every one inch, but check the packet. (If you didn't thin, and the tops are more than a couple of inches tall, use scissors to snip rather than trying to pull.)

This variety of carrot takes about 70 days to mature. Carrots-- the parts we eat-- are roots that are specialized as "storage" structures. After only one month, there's nothing much yet to be "stored"! If the tops are looking good, then I'd say that's good! They are photosynthesizing their little hearts out right now making lots of sugar that's being used to make more tops to do more photosynthesis. The plants won't start "storing" this energy in the roots (as sugar & starch which is why carrots are so delicious) until the season starts changing-- which is the signal to start developing the "carrot".

P.s. My mom's in G'boro & has heavy clay and she grew carrots just fine.

Carrot experts-- does this sound right to you?

I agree.. It was the same for mine.. It didn't seem like they were growing at root at all, but now they are doing great (at about day 60).

I tried carrots for the first time this year and when I finally gave up on them and pulled them up, I was just starting to see some nice roots....then of course I slowed down on the 'giving up on them' and gave them some more time.

Hi everyone! I checked the packet of seeds, and it does say 70 days. I must have gotten the number of days confused with one of my other crops, because I was sure the carrots should have been ready in 35 days.

Thanks so much for all the wonderful help!