Planting Carrots

[nohorn]

Last year I planted carrot seeds. They take a long time to germinate. By the time they germinated, the chickweed grew up and smothered them and I could not distinguish the carrots from the weeds to eliminate the weeds. How can I prevent that from happening again?

[coccinelle]

Deep dig your plot well before sowing. Carrot leaves don't look at all like chickweed as it's got long leaves, they're also lighter in colour.

[coccinelle]

should read; they (the carrot) have long leaves

[Clanad]

Here in the U.S., we can use a herbicide containing Trifluralin as a preemergent herbicide in carrots. One brand name here is Treflan. This should be applied to a tilled seed bed well before planting the carrots, (at least a week) but before the emergence of weeds.
Most advice on planting carrots is to have the seedlines or rows about 12 to 18 inches apart. I've had far better luck planting them only 6 inches apart. When they do germinate and begin to grow the shade the space between the rows better and controls late emerging weeds.
Here, several seed companies sell carrot, beet, radish and even lettuce seeds implanted on a dissolvable paper tape about 15 feet long. The seeds are evenly spaced and I've had good luck with them for many years. They are, perhaps, no more than 10% more expensive than a packet of seeds, most of which are lost or discarded. Another advantage of the seed tapes is the ability to more easily plant suceeding crops after the firs thave germinated to provide late season harvest of both beets and carrots.
Best of luck!

[johntywino]

I wouldn't worry.....The carrot fly would have had them anyway! Actually you should mix in a few radish seeds to show you where the row is!

[teedee]

Next year try growing carrots in tubes,if you have any old drain pipes saw them in 2 ft lengths,secure them in the ground,fill them with gro bag compost,keep them well watered,this way you do not get troubled with carrot fly or weeds

[nohorn]

Note to TeeDee: Can you be more explicite? I don't understand how to do this. What diameter PVC tubes?
Do you saw them in half, like a drain pipe? Is that what you mean? Where do the roots go? This sounds like an intriging method but I am not sure of the concept.
Thanks