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I've recently re-planted my carrots into my new garden and they've almost all turned purple.

The carrots were originally planted in a pot and grew into about 3-4cm high green sprouts. I'm a newbie so planted way too many (100-200 in a pot about 50x50cm) but under the instruction of my grandpa I separated the small 4cm green sprouts which has small roots on them and planted them spaced apart in my new garden. They looked fine for the first few days but have now almost all turned a dark purple colour.

Since they went into the new garden they've been watered very well, the soil is always moist. The old carrots (I had tonnes left) are still in the pot next to my garden and are a beautiful green colour, and I water them the same amount roughly.

Can anybody answer why my carrots have turned this colour and what I should do?

Thanks.

I've updated the post with the pictures below as per request: One

That shows the still planted carrots that are a normal green and I've circled the best examples of the purple. It's hard to see in the photos because of the soil and purple colour similarity. I'm aware of this and apologize.

Here's another of the carrots close up

enter image description here

And here's one of many of the purple carrots

enter image description here

Please let me know if I can help any other ways, I'll retake the photos in better lighting somehow if necessary. Thanks.

Matt B
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    The beginnings of a gardener! Number one, DO NOT WATER so much! Soil needs to dry out between waterings, esp. for carrots. Do you have the seed packet for your carrots, there ARE purple varieties. Is the purple above the soil or is it the entire carrot? What have you added to the soil, fertilizers (what formulation, what type, how often, how much). Send pictures, that is really important for us to know what we need to help you with. – stormy Aug 11 '16 at 01:28
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    So the **foliage** (the tops, leaves, the part out of the ground) is purple? Odd in the extreme, but carrots are not easy to transplant. Normally they are direct sown (they laugh at cold) and then thinned (munch baby carrots) as they grow. – Ecnerwal Aug 11 '16 at 14:09
  • Any chance of a picture? – Ecnerwal Aug 12 '16 at 02:07
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    Sorry for the delay. I've now updated the post with 3 photos, however they aren't too clear. – Matt B Aug 12 '16 at 04:28
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    Those are actually quite decent, as pictures on this site go. ;-) – Ecnerwal Aug 12 '16 at 13:49
  • Welcome Matt B! We're so glad you joined us! This is an excellent first question. You've put a lot of effort into it, which shows how dedicated you are, and makes things much easier for us. We look forward to learning more about you and your gardening needs! – Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL Aug 12 '16 at 23:53

1 Answers1

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You have transplant shock on the one hand, and you have some very "bunch of twigs and rocks" looking "soil" on the other hand.

Much of transplant shock is from loss of roots (inevitable) in transplanting, and as a result you do need to make sure they are not water-stressed at all for a while, without making the soil soggy. Occasional misting of the tops may help.

That extremely rough material playing the part of soil is likely not going to be loved by carrots, but it's what you have, so you'll basically just try to keep them from crisping (without drowning) and hope they start putting out some green foliage.

For next year (plan now) try to prepare an area without all that big stuff in it, with some compost mixed in, and plant carrot seeds directly, as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. as they grow, keep pulling carrots out to increase the space between them - the first ones won't have much worth nibbling on, but as they grow you'll have real baby carrots from your thinnings, not those things they sell in bags in the produce section.

Ecnerwal
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  • Thank you for the answer. The soil I got with my pop and after we had put it in he commented that he was disappointed this time because there was too much sticks and barely any soil. I think it looks worse on the top of the soil and also in the photos however. I will do what you said. I have a compost bin half full right now which I put in about 2 months ago. Thank you very much. – Matt B Aug 13 '16 at 00:32
  • Yeah, I picked up some "bagged soil" for starting seeds in this spring and had to screen it before use since there was far too much junk in it - aside from sticks and rocks, plastic trash, too - and it was "certified organic" (what a delightful crock that can be, and was in this case.) If you screen yours, you can make use of the big stuff on paths and drainage areas, or if you dig down below where you're harvesting things from. You can also sort it out with the right sort of rake, which is easier for in-place sorting to make a seedbed. Grab all the leaves you can find this fall. – Ecnerwal Aug 13 '16 at 02:07