Are your carrots always stunted and funny looking? Perhaps, like a variety of veggies you should plant direct from seed instead of seedlings.
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For some plants, it’s best to sow seed directly into your patch.

Plants include:

Carrots - many root vegetables grow best when sown directly as the roots can be when planting out seedlings.

Peas and beans - they have plenty of stored energy in them so they germinate quickly, meaning they’re less likely to suffer from transplant shock - plus it’s a cheaper way of growing them.

Prepare the bed well, removing stones and breaking up large clumps. Add some fine compost to help get seeds going.

Depth - seeds should be planted about twice the depth of the size of the seed. For carrots this means spreading them finely in a shallow furrow; Josh covers carrot seed with fine seed-raising mix, which will help stop the soil drying out. For peas, he plants them in holes made with his finger as deep as his first knuckle.

Mulch - hold off on mulching until carrots plants are up and out of the ground. However Josh plants peas into a mulched bed - he simply clears the mulch away from the row where he plants the seeds.

Water gently with a soft nozzle that won’t disturb the seeds

Protect your seeds from cats and birds with an arch of mesh or chicken wire.

Thinning - remove the smaller seedlings as they grow to allow the larger ones enough space to grow. For carrots, Josh will thin lightly at first then thin again in a week or two in case some of the smaller seedlings fail. Beetroot can produce 3-4 seedlings from each seed so will always need thinning. Radish grow so fast that Josh will simply crop plants as they are ready to make room for others.

Feeding: Josh gives them a weak liquid feed every two weeks until they are established. This is especially important is nutrient-poor sandy soil.


Featured plants:

Beetroot (Beta vulgaris cv.)

Carrot (Daucus carota cv.)

Radish (Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. sativus cv.)






Filmed in Perth on Whadjuk Country


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