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Carrots potting mix
seyfades
Posts: 146
in Fruit & veg
Could I please get advice on the ideal potting mix for growing carrots in containers. I've read it needs less fertile mixture. I've got coir, multi purpose compost, vermiculite, and sharp sand. Also, can I plant carrots and radish in between the spacing
Last edited: 10 March 2017 10:06:22
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Hi I must confess in spite of being a veg grower for over 50 years (I started very young) I have never actually done this. A friend of mine tried some years ago with pure sand but all he got was a lot of fibrous roots. Try some of the websites where people grow for exhibition as even if you are not growing to show most of these growers do so in deep containers or drainpipes etc. Medwyn Williams is a famous veg grower who won many consecutive gold medals at Chelsea using these methods. I also recall a feature with Joe Swift growing carrots in containers for show, you might be able to find this as I recall them discussing mixes on that programme.
A recipe from Medwyns site is
4 gallon bucket of sieved Peat, 1 gallon of Silver sand, 1 gallon of Fine grade Vermiculite and 1 gallon of sieved top soil. To this mixture he adds 2 ounces of Calcified Seaweed, 2 ounces of garden lime, 1 ounce of Superphosphate and 1 ounce of Sulphate of potash
He recommends people adapt to their own needs obviously you can use the coir instead of peat. Hope this is some use.
Than you Iain
Using the Medwyn's webpage and a few other research. I mixed 3 part multi purpose compost, 2 part coir, 1 part vermiculite and I part sharp sand with some bone meal, calcified seaweed and some chicken manure pellets.
Fingers cross I get good harvest.
Good luck, remember to keep compost moist but not too wet