Last year I kept my beats in Pete Moss throughout the winter and they stayed really nice. So this year I thought I would try keeping carrots in Pete Moss. But the other day I went to go check on them in their Rubbermaid in the cold room And found a bunch of them had gone squishy and moldy. I'm not sure if they got too cold and froze Or if I had just packed too tightly or the Pete Moss was too moist. The purple ones that I planted and stored seemed to have faired better. I'm interested to know how other people keep their carrots and their Recommendations?
"Beets, Blacksmithing, Bow hunting"
I think my father kept them layered in sand in wooden boxes down in the root cellar.
If they freeze, they will rot. The cell walls burst from the expanding water.
If they are too wet, they will rot. They do not need lots of moisture.
If they get too little moisture, they will get floppy, like when you leave a carrot on the counter overnight. If you give them a bit of water they will get hard again.
Remember that carrots are living plants, they are just 'hibernating' so to speak, and different plants tolerate different amounts of moisture. Root cellars seem to work best for carrots; the level of moisture in regular dirt is all the carrots need. Could be freezing or too much water. I would try keeping them in a root cellar, or barring that I would recommend sand, with keeping an eye on their floppiness, and adding a very small amount of water as needed.
I should note that carrots only seed in their second year of growth. If you plant a few actual orange carrots (instead of carrot seeds) the plants from the carrots will reseed that year, and you can use the seed for the next year - another reason to keep a few around. (Assuming you have non-hybrid carrots to begin with).
It seems like you have a handle on whats going on already, you kind of answered your own questions!
Best of luck.
so this may be a silly question, but understand I have no gardening experience at all. if I took a bag of carrots from a supermarket and planted them in the ground... would they grow?
See you all after.
Yeah, they would grow, although lots of root crops (potatoes especially) are treated to delay the sprouting process I think. Any root crop would grow - turnips, beets, radishes, potatoes, etc.
But the only reason to plant them would be to have them seed for next years crop, and I don't know if the varieties in stores are open pollinated or not. I kind of doubt it, since hybrids give better yields and the stores are all about money, but maybe. If you want to plant a turnip or radish and collect the seeds for next season, go for it. You could probably plant them in containers as houseplants.
The exception is potatoes, which reproduce by the root. They do also seed, but their seeds never produce identical plants like the roots do. Even when treated to delay sprouting they will still sprout, and would give a viable crop of new potatoes from the crop. Buying dedicated seed potatoes would result in a better crop, and less disease intrusion, but supermarket taters could always be a back-up option.
Salix, you certianly know your way around the garden! I have left the end of the rows in the garden, and just mulched them up really good with grass clippings, and straw. Parsnips work well this way. Doesn't seem to hurt them if they freeze, they sprout up in the spring to produce seeds, like the turnip, beet, and carrot which all take 2 years for them to re-produce seeds. I have also buried them in sand in a root cellar, ate them all winter, and then re-planted a few to produce seed. Some kinds of carrots, and beets are far better for keeping in a root cellar than other.
