I Think I Have a Problem With My Soil

Question

When I grow carrots, they grow with deformity and the same applies with parsnips. Can you advise me what the problems are?

Answer 1

Root vegetables, like carrots and parsnips, grow best in loamy/sandy soil that is loose. The reason for most deformed root vegetables is that the soil is hard to grow through and they compact or misshape as they grow as a result.

Amend your soil with plenty of organic material and, as long as it is not clay soil, some sand. This will help your carrots grow long and straight and your parsnips round and full.

Also, with any root vegetable, bone meal added to the soil will help with production. Bone meal adds phosphorous, which helps roots (and therefore root vegetables) grow better.