Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasTycoon
I'm going to plant carrot seeds tomorrow morning or Sunday. I've been reading a few things that say you should add sand to the potting mix for carrots - is this true? If so I'll have to go get some sand on the way home tonight.
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Still buried in snow and experiencing the cold of winter, I've been enjoying your thread, Kelly!
Here's what I've heard with regard to carrot and sand. Some people recommend mixing your carrot seeds with sand in order to be able to sow them more thinly in the rows, thereby cutting down on the tedious job of thinning them later. I've also heard of people making a shallow trough for sowing and then covering the seeds with a shallow layer of sand so that the seeds have an easier time breaking through the soil after germination, but this is only if the natural soil has a tendency to form a hard crust when dry. The fluffier and less rocky the soil, the easier the carrots can form long straight roots. Carrot roots tend to fork when they come in contact with stones and debris. My guess is that adding sand to some soils may loosen it up a bit. People that have heavy soils tend to grow the varieties that are thicker and stubbier or the ones that are shaped like golf balls, I think.
Since you're growing in a container mix, I'm not sure how the sand would help, if the soilless mix is peat-based.
Not sure if this is helpful to you, but that's all I can say about carrots and sand.
kath