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Long Island,New York

Sure would like to know more about Long carrots discussed here........Glenn

12/9/2001 8:57:27 AM

Deer Park WA

Glen, My girlfriend grew several types of long carrots in twelve inch tall raised beds this year. She used a special dirt from an old peat bog (Seven Yards). She dug out under the raised bed frames about 6 inches and then filled them up with the peat bog and aged manure dirt. She had carrots that were easily 14 inches long, and they were great in stews and soups.

12/9/2001 2:37:18 PM

Western Pa.

Glen,

You may want to check with Nic Welty about carrots. They're grown in a 10" section of 4" pvc pipe,split in half,filled with sand.Even though the carrot doesn't get REAL long, competition measures the length of the tap root, which can be considerably longer!

kilr

12/9/2001 7:26:33 PM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

Hi Glenn,
I grow long carrots in 45 gallon drums with the top and bottom knocked out,these are filled with sand (quarter of an inch down)and allowed to settle.Take an iron bar and bore a hole 3feet deep x 4ins.the sand needs to be wet when you do this.I grow 6 in each barrel.The borehole is then filled with a compost made up from,
1 part sand
1 part peat
1 part soil,
all put through a quarter inch seive,to this I add 2oz of superphosphate and 4oz of lime(assuming sand has neutral pH)
per bushel.
Sow half a dozen seeds at the top in April and thin down to one later on.
To get them out you just remove a gallon or two of sand from around the shoulders and fill with water let this soak down for 10 minutes fill again and they pull straight up easily.This is to grow quality carrots not the heaviest.
The top show variety here is New Red Intermediate.
Welshman Medwyn Williams developed this technique he has a specialist seed catalogue and has won many Championships
He has a web site,do a search for Medwyns Prize Vegatable Seeds and you will get there,I recommend EVERYBODY visits this site.If you send me your address Glenn I have a few spare seed(only enough for one person)

12/9/2001 7:30:15 PM

Western Pa.

Sorry, up above I meant to say a 10 FOOT section of 4" pipe!

kilr

12/10/2001 9:02:54 AM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

I forgot to say the hole is 4ins across at the top tapering down to a point at the bottom.
We do the same thing for Parsnips with a slightly larger 4ft hole.
I should also mention another similar site called Exhibition Seeds.

12/10/2001 4:50:41 PM