Gardening

Gardening advice with Daltons

There’s plenty to do in the garden now that spring is well underway. If you need a little help, our Daltons gardening experts are here to help. Send us your gardening question and you could win a Daltons gardening prize pack! See entry details below.

How do you grow bigger carrots? I try every season; however, my carrots are so small that they are not really worth taking inside.

Although carrots are a very common vegetable, they can actually be tricky to grow in the home garden. Ohakune in the North Island is the home of New Zealand carrot cultivation for a very good reason - the volcanic soil is very light and free-draining - just what carrots love! In clay soils or soils that become very wet in winter, carrots will either “fork” or will be very small. You can address this by adding in plenty of organic matter in the form of compost and mix it well with existing soil to improve drainage. Another option involves building a raised planter, filled with fresh compost and mixed with Daltons Garden Time™ Enriched Garden Mix or Vegetable Mix. This will give the soil a much-needed boost and help with drainage. Sow new carrot seed directly into this new growing medium. Carrots often grow better when soil is ‘mounded up’ (gently piled up around the plant base) after germination. Also avoid planting them too close together, so thin seedlings out (remove some) to stop overcrowding. Once planted, water regularly to keep them growing rapidly. Fingers crossed that you will soon harvest some ‘good looking’ carrots! Top carrot tips: Avoid planting your carrots in the same place each season and remove any stones, old roots etc in the soil that will get in the carrot root’s way, as this can result in the root growing around the obstruction into a strange shape. Other products to try: Garden Time™ Compost. You may also find it helpful to read our free How to Grow Vegetables Guides for more gardening advice: daltons.co.nz/how-to-guides. Congratulations to Russell with his question about growing larger carrots.

Win an $85 Daltons tomato planting and care Pack

Tomatoes taste their absolute best straight out of the home garden! For plump juicy tomatoes this season, water plants well and feed them regularly with Daltons Garden Time™ Tomato Fertiliser. Our Daltons Tomato Planting and Care Pack has everything you need to grow bumper crops of tomatoes this season. To enter, email your gardening question to nelsonmag@daltons.co.nz with Daltons prize pack in the subject heading. Giveaway entries must be received by Friday 29 October 2021.