Who Said Carrots Don't Grow in Florida?

[Galatians522]

Got some nice Kuroda and Purple Dragon Carrots this year. I'm thinking of growing some Uberlandia annual carrots next year so I can save my own seed. As a bonus, it seems the Uberlandia has some nematode resistance which is very unusual among cultivated carrots. Does anyone have experuence growing and eating it?

[BajaJohn]

Just responding to the question in the topic title. I have good results with Nantes in a subtropical arid climate. It's tough to source many types of seeds in Mexico so I have't tried other varieties.

[Galatians522]

Just responding to the question in the topic title. I have good results with Nantes in a subtropical arid climate. It's tough to source many types of seeds in Mexico so I have't tried other varieties.

If Nantes is the same as Scarlet Nantes, I have grown it here in Florida. It is good, but I like the New Kuroda and Purple Dragon a little more. Scarlet Nantes has the advantage of being shaped more like a grocery store carrot (if that is important to you). I love the color of Purple Dragon. I wonder if Baker Creek ships to Mexico. I'm pretty sure they ship to Jamaica.

[booeyschewy]

We planted run of the mill carrots here in Brazil. Our farm has an equatorial rainforest climate and weirdly carrots have done better than almost anything. In fact Bahia is one of the big carrot producers for the country. Clearly there’s humidity resistant varieties here but I was surprised.

[roblack]

Ordering seeds. When is the best time to sow here in FL?

[Galatians522]

Ordering seeds. When is the best time to sow here in FL?

The gardening calendar I have shows October-February for carrots in south Florida. The last couple years I had good success planting in November. Be warned that they take a long time to germinate. As you get closer to the end of the planting season (February) it becomes more and more imperative to plant in Nematode free soil (like in a raised bed planter with sterile soil).

[BajaJohn]

If Nantes is the same as Scarlet Nantes, I have grown it here in Florida. It is good, but I like the New Kuroda and Purple Dragon a little more. Scarlet Nantes has the advantage of being shaped more like a grocery store carrot (if that is important to you). I love the color of Purple Dragon. I wonder if Baker Creek ships to Mexico. I'm pretty sure they ship to Jamaica.

Thanks for the hints. I've checked and they have Mexico on their list so I've contacted them and will give it a try. I've had problems with other vendors, even with a phytosanitary certificate. Always worth a try though.

[Galatians522]

Well, I'm back again with the carrots. This year I grew a few new ones. From the left: New Kuroda, Uzbeck Golden, Purple Dragon, Kyoto Red, and Uberlandia. Seed came from Baker Creek except for Uberlandia which came from Third Insight Design. The first 4 were all way better than grocery store carrots in flavor. Kyoto Red probably had the most similar shape to a store carrot if that is important to you.

Uberlandia is still under selection, so there was more variation. Most were equal to a store carrot in flavor while a few were excellent and were every bit as good as the New Kuroda and other specialty carrots. Uberlandia is one of the few carrots that will set seed in one season and is also reported to be nematode resistant. I can confirm that Uberlandia is about to bloom (planted in November). I also did not have any significant nematode damage to Uberlandia in my soil type. I'll be saving seed and growing a bunch of these next year with the hopes of selecting for that "New Kuroda" quality. To my knowledge this is the first review of this carrot for almost 30 years--someone obviously spent a lot of time getting it where it is. I feel like it is almost at the finish line for being an excellent quality nematode resistant option for Florida seed savers.



Here is a pic of a bunch of Uberlandia carrots just after being yanked out of the ground.

[Rispa]

Great write up. I need to try carrots here in Houston and this is a great starting point.