When do I plant carrots in MA?

[cleo88]

My packet says after danger of HEAVY frost, which is different than other seed packages that say after danger of frost. I am midway between Boston and Providence and normally plant my maters between May 15 and May 30, but carrots need to be direct-sown and I have never planted them before - any opinions on when?

[fortyonenorth]

Cleo - Carrots can take some frost, though germination is better once the weather settles a bit. I plant early season carrots at the beginning of April (though I haven't gotten around to it yet) and then plant main croppers sometime in May.

Make sure you plant some carrots for fall/winter harvest - they can be delicious, but you have to time the sowing so that they mature before the cold, cold weather sets in. Plant short season varieties like Mokum or Napoli around the end of July.

[FILMNET]

The ground in Ma is now around 55 degrees, only to get warmer, But we are to get rain this Sunday? So many after the rain , I an in North Shore, Beverly.

[kath]

I agree w/ 41N- I also plant carrots in early April so I think you'll be fine planting now. Your tomato planting time frame is the same as mine. They germinate rather slowly so it'll be another couple weeks before they're all up. If a hard freeze is predicted you could always bunch up some row cover or put newspaper over them or something, but mine have never been hurt by frost. If you can plant before the rain comes, that would be a bonus because it's important to keep the seeds moist until they germinate. We also store fall carrots- they keep for months in the fridge.

[JonFrum]

I'm in Dedham, and my first seedlings are already poking through the ground. They germinate slowly so be patient. Keep the ground moist throughout. I generally plant my first carrots shortly after my earliest crops - peas and spinach.

[Father'sDaughter]

Carrot, spinach, beet and lettuce seed all got planted a little over a week ago. Spinach, carrots and lettuce are already sprouting. The Brussels Sprouts, Chard, Broccoli and Kale seedlings went out at the same time, and this past week they've started to take off.

I'd say it's safe to plant them, but if they're still predicting heavy rain Sunday into Monday, you might want to hold off a bit.

[JonFrum]

Mine have just sprouted, so if there's a heavy rain I may put a plastic sheet tent over them. The seeds are planted so shallow and the soil is so sandy that they could wash out in a downpour.

[Farmette]

I planted Nante, Nelson and Mokum. Should I have planted another one for a late variety, I guess I am wondering what the difference is between keeping early/mid in the ground and not picking them til late in the season and planting a "late" variety.

[JonFrum]

Originally Posted by Farmette

I planted Nante, Nelson and Mokum. Should I have planted another one for a late variety, I guess I am wondering what the difference is between keeping early/mid in the ground and not picking them til late in the season and planting a "late" variety.

The late variety won't reach its full size until... late. Early season plants will reach full size and then sit there until you pull them.

[kath]

Originally Posted by Farmette

I planted Nante, Nelson and Mokum. Should I have planted another one for a late variety, I guess I am wondering what the difference is between keeping early/mid in the ground and not picking them til late in the season and planting a "late" variety.

If you keep early carrots in the ground too long they get woody and split during the heat of the summer. The varieties you planted don't take more than about 70 days to mature. If you plant them late in July, they'll mature before the cold weather slows their growth completely but they'll hold better in the ground at that time of the year. Some varieties make better winter keepers than others.

[tjg911]

in my experience they get big and have large cores. i've had some 16" long and about 2" at the top. they were not all that good at that size.

i stopped planting seed in spring cuz by the time we get frost they are too old and too large, frost sweetens them. i switched to seeding them in late june.

i gave up growing carrots cuz the planting and weeding was a killer. i planted a small block like 2' X 3' or 3' X 3' spacing them 2" on center, try that in the heat of late june. i never planted a row.

by mid september the deer who did not eat anything all year would eat the tops and sometimes in doing do pull the carrots out of the ground. i devised a cover made from welded wire fence to stop that. just too much trouble.

i often ended up tossing pounds and pounds into the compost as i did not use them. it's such a heartbreak to throw out 20 or 25 pounds of carrots. sometimes they rot in the fridge and i was growing bolero the longest storage carrot there is. i grow a lot of butternut squash so i tended to not eat a lot of carrots as i had an orange vegetable i ate a lot of.

so now i just buy a 1 pound bag of organic carrots in the store. i found for how little i use it was a better way tho i liked to grow them and it was great fun to dig them and see what would come up!

tom

[JonFrum]

I freeze carrots and eat them all winter. Most go into stews, soups and casseroles. I consider them a filler vegetable. I don't feature them, but they provide veggies in my diet. I used to use them a lot in stir fry, but I've gotten away from that.

[Father'sDaughter]

This is my first time planting in the spring, so I'll see how it goes. Usually I plant them after the garlic is harvested and pull them in early or Mid November, so this spring planting will be the first crop. I'm not a carrot fan, but my husband loves them. I only do a one by two foot section of them and that's enough for him. This year I planted Nantes and Paris Market.

[Tormato]

I usually plant two crops, one in April, one in late June.

I soak the soil, plant the seeds very shallow, and cover the rows with pine boards. The soil stays moist, germination is faster, and heavy rains won't wash away the seeds. After about 5-7 days I start to look under the boards for seedlings.

Gary

[JonFrum]

I usually use a 3/4 x 3" board edge-wise to make a slight 'trench,' sow the seed, and then cover with sand. It needs to be watched very carefully to prevent drying out, but the seed comes up very well. I've added so much sand over the last few year in this patch for root crops that this year I just pulled the sandy soil by hand and covered the seed. It's coming out very thick right now.