They tend to be twisty and very top-heavy. What could be causing this?
I work on a small farm, and we sometimes get carrots like this when the nematode population is too high.
Everyone says the soil is too hard, but I grow in clay-based soil and get perfectly straight carrots. Root nematodes damage the growing ends, causing branching or hairiness. There isn’t much you can do besides encouraging a healthy soil biome to keep their predators in check and rotating your crops.
Oh, yep, that will do it too!
That was my thought too, but it doesn’t quite look like root-knot nematode. It might not be a major infection.
If the soil isn’t loose enough, carrots tend to become misshapen. I suggest mixing sand into the soil to improve its texture.
Agreed. Make sure to loosen the soil.
In my childhood home, we had clay-rich soil. I used to think the straight carrots at the store were a different variety because ours were always warped and split.
Add some sand to your soil next year, and you’ll see a big difference.
Unless you have clay soil—then it basically turns into cement (ask me how I know).
This was in a raised bed filled mostly with compost.
They are mostly the same length until they rapidly taper down. You need to add more soil higher up or mix in something to make the soil more lofty.
I don’t know how I read this as “I was raised in a bed filled with mostly compost.” I’m giggling here in bed!