Your comments and tips

31 Jan 16, Gregg Miller (Australia - temperate climate)

There are many ways to solve this sandy problem without going to great expense. Before You spend You hard earned $$$. Start a compost corner of Your garden. Only 'organic' matter from Your garden goes in. The seaweed, can You add this in ? If not keep all kitchen scraps, mown grass, other cuttings but do remember that 'weeds' have seeds and will invade Your efforts put them in Your bin. If there are any places where bagged horse, cow, chook poo etc are sold at road sides these will bring up Your soil Nitrogen levels as well. Spent mushroom compost has two advantages, it's perfect for You and new mushies usually grow. !! Good luck. Gregg.

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10 Feb 16, Heather Ryan (Australia - temperate climate)

Apologies for the late reply.Thank you for your advice on improving my sandy soil problem...I'm lucky enough to be able to acquire a great variety of animal manures and have started keeping all my organic matter for a that little compost corner including my kitchen scraps, seaweed,egg shells and banana skins. I have progressed to doing one half of my plot with layering all of the above with peastraw in my No Dig garden and it's coming along beautifully. As they say it's cooking!!! We get a little impatient as gardeners and expect things to happen yesterday but I'm doing all the right things so all is good. Thank you again for your imput I have really appreciated the advice. Heather.

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23 Nov 16, Robert (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Hi Heather. I was in a more temperate area of Tas when I started gardening in nearly pure sand. Every weekend I took the kids to the beach and we collected bags of sea grass. Spread, and when dry tilled in. After two or three years, carrots were huge, tender and flavoursome. Some could be over 600mm long and completely edible. So there are advantages in persistence. Beware sheep manure!!!! It can be full of the most obnoxious weeds. Better to hessian bag it and place in a barrel of water for two weeks or more. Dilute the 'water' in your watering can, to the colour of weak tea and use as a plant leaf spray and around the roots. Once I had built up the humus, I could grow anything.

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04 Dec 15, Ethan (Australia - temperate climate)

Can you also plant them from carrot tops from carrots in the supermarket?

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16 Jan 16, Joanne (Australia - temperate climate)

Yes & usually quite easily. Bear in mind though, that supermarket produce varieties are developed & adapted by industry to suit their needs & to overcome the mass production issues of farmers (who are often in other parts of the continent). They are therefore not necessarily going to be as well-suited to you as a variety that you can actually access info about, & can determine if it matches your garden's needs. That said, I often regrow things like spring onions from the supermarket too, rather than throw them away, as that seems quite wasteful to me too.

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17 Dec 15, Paul (Australia - arid climate)

Of course you can! You won't get a carrot root but keeping it in a tray of water will let it develop a flower stalk from which you can collect seed true to type. Why would you throw away free seed? Same applies to celery and beetroot!!!

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15 Dec 15, Paul (Australia - arid climate)

Growing carrots from the tops leftover after cooking the roots will get you a lovely plant from which, if placed in a tray of water, a flowerhead and resulting seeds.Collect them to grow on all year round!

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23 Nov 15, Michelle (Australia - temperate climate)

I have grown carrots successfully for years, using either purchased seed, or some I have saved myself. I usually plant just after the shortest day of the year and find that they will stay in the ground, growing happily for a year (or just over). This year however, they all seem to have bolted to seed. I used saved seed, and planted just two days before the shortest day - didn't check the calendar properly. I can't work out why this has happened. Can anyone help with an answer?

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29 Nov 15, Garden of Earthy Treasures (Australia - arid climate)

There were a few days of very hot weather in October which has made my uncovered carrots go straight to seed but the ones growing with some cover and next to a water tank (cool thermal source) are forming nice roots, no flower heads on any of them. Secret to successfull carrot growing? Grandad said always plant your root crops 14 days apart all year round, that way you avoid famine/feast issues and you have a rolling crop of baby/mature carrots with only some going to flower.

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31 Oct 15, Spud (Australia - temperate climate)

Always grow your carrots in loose well dug soil..great after broccoli, leafy greens, cabbage, sprouts etc.(heavy nitrogen users) do not fertilise carrots!! High nitrogen in the soil will cause the carrot to fork and twist etc, as mentioned by others here. Also do not over water carrots.

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