How To Thin Out Your Carrots

How To Thin Out Your Carrots


Thin out carrots to give them space to grow

Once your carrots have reached 10cm (4”) they will need to be thinned out otherwise they will not have room to grow.You need to thin out the carrots so that each has its own space to grow; if you want large carrots thin out to 15cm (6”) apart. We are thinning out to about 7.5cm (3”) as we intend to pull them up when they are fairly small and sweet.

 

Just gently pull up the unwanted carrots and if you have some spare space plant them immediately, otherwise just put the thinnings onto the compost heap or feed them to the hens. Watering the carrots before you thin them will make it easier to pull them out without damaging the roots. If you are going to plant them again do so immediately otherwise once they dry out the roots will be too damaged to re-grow.

Thinning out releases the smell of the carrots and it is now that the carrot root fly will attack so it could be worthwhile protecting them with a microfleece cloche; you can either buy one ready-made or make one yourself.

Cut some lengths of old hosepipe, put some short lengths of cane into the ground at regular intervals and push each end of the hose onto the canes making a row of hoops at regular intervals. Make a groove in the soil the length of the row at either side. Place the fleece over the hoops, press it into the grooves and back-fill with soil to keep it secured.

Scattering crushed garlic cloves around will also help disguise the smell of the carrots.

 


Angela Slater

Daughter of a farmer and market gardener so have always had a connection with the outdoors, whether it was keeping animals or producing fruit, vegetables and cut flowers. Along with my work at Hayes Garden World I also have a smallholding, mainly breeding rare breed pigs. I gained an HND and BSc in Conservation and Environmental Land Management, as a result I am an ardent environmentalist and have a keen interest in environmentally friendly gardening. In my time at Hayes I worked for several years in the Outdoor Plant and Houseplant areas.