Carrots

[dark horge]

simple question:



Carrots don't grow too well in these tropics (up in the mountains where it's cooler, yes, but I digress....)

Suppose I get them to grow, and then I harvest them.
Can I replant the carrot tops, with a bit of the root crown?
If I can, what's the best way to do it?

A bunch of seeds have germinated, and I'm just assuming I can keep them happy.


BTW, that Rosemary I asked about wayyy back is now the size of a football, happy in the heat, humidity and sudden rains. Thanks to everyone who offered valuable suggestions regarding drainage.




horge

[Alice]

Woohoo on the rosemary!

I have no idea on the carrots; I've only ever started them from seed. Try putting a carrot crown in a jar of water (ala avacado seed) and see if it will grow roots. If it does, I'd say giving it a go in the ground may be worth a shot.

Alice

[cath]

Horge-

I remember that thread Rosemary is a wonderful herb to have. Pretty blu flowers in it.

Hmm...if I were to root carrots (or anything, for that matter) I'd root it in a glass of water. I did that with a gardenia cutting.

Is that what you wanted to know? (that's what we're supposed to ask after helping a patron...)

[cath]

Wups, Alice....you beat me to the draw on that one

[dark horge]

Thanks guys...

Now we wait and see




horge

[galleon]

Horge, it isn't likely, but a better answer requires a hormonal understanding of the carrot that I lack. The edible carrot is the tap root to this parsley relative. By cutting off the tip, you remove the apical meristem from the fleshy radicle. It may be possible if carrots utilize a high amount of cytokynin hormone in damage repair. Actually, the plant needs to circulate hormones with a high ratio of indolaceticacid:cytokynin to favor root development. You can accomplish rooting with rooting powders (essentially unnatural hormonal mixes with high amounts of cytokynin), but I must warn against this if you plan on actually consuming the carrots .

[cath]

hehehehe

[dark horge]

Rooting hormones are a peso a gallon here, and par for the course when dealing with exotic species and cuttings.

The carrot seeds have just germinated, so let's see if they grow enough to transplant (the wet, cool weather the past few days seems to have helped).