Giant Carrot!

[Horsea]

I plucked my remaining carrots today and one of them looked like it has been exposed to radiation!    It is about a foot long and about 3" in diameter.  I'm going to roast it (in lieu of turkey, which we don't eat) for Thanksgiving (Cda.) this weekend!  Too bad I don't have a digital camera to photograph this.  The variety is Bolero.  They were grown in a deep, large container filled with beautiful, humussy, sandy soil. 

Do any of you here grow giant vegetables intentionally or have any of you just gotten lucky, as I have?

[Mike]

They were grown in a deep, large container filled with beautiful, humussy, sandy soil.

Thanks for sharing.  You're making me want to start planting.  I especially appreciate your sharing your method.

[Atash Hagmahani]

Congratulations, and bon appetit.

I don't grow giant vegetables. I have a hard enough time trying to grow normal sized ones. 

[The Future]

Don't want to spoil the feast but did you consider putting it back into the ground to produce seed?  The genetic combination of traits may be worth it.  If not or you think it might be too late, I'll share another secret with you: cut the top off the replant it just below ground level.  The carrot will regrow and this time, allow it to seed.

[Horsea]

Yes, indeedy, I had thought of that.  Thanks!  So, I'll have to sacrifice the top of the carrot...

However - and please know that I haven't the foggiest understanding of genetics - Bolero is a hybrid to start with.  The seeds it makes next year could be...what?

[Atash Hagmahani]

F2s.

F2s are "homozygous", meaning that a lot of their pairs of genes have the same allele on them, which defeats the purpose of "hybrid vigor".

However, if they have specific traits you like, you can select members of the F2 generation which have those traits, and keep breeding those, until you have selected out any and all off-types.

Tom Wagner (tatermater.proboards.com)  could probably explain a great deal more about breeding crops. You could try to lure him over here. 

[Horsea]

Thanks so much, Atash, for explaining the basics.  It was most helpful.  But I'm developing an attraction to my poor carrot and don't want to roast the damn thing on Monday, now. 

[Atash Hagmahani]

You could have your carrot and eat it too. Just cut off the top, saving a bit of root attached to it, and re-grow it. When I was a kid, kids used to do that for fun--re-root carrots and grow them.

Just how cold is your climate though? Maybe if too cold to overwinter, you could temporarily keep it in a pot.

It should bloom next year. Carrots are biennials.

[darwinslair]

I grow a kind of carrot called oxheart.  2 years ago the biggest were 5 inches across at the top and 7 inches long.  THey weighed a couple of pounds and tasted really nice.  This last year they were maybe 4 inches across a the top and 5 inches long, but still tasted great.  Lots of crops did not fare as well this last year.  Have not had my carrots last through the winter yet though.  Maybe this year I will have enough that we do not eat them all.

Tom