How to Grow Common Root Crops, Part 1

Low Nutrient Lovers, Plant and Almost Forget

The Tropical Grower is continuing our growing your own food series this week with How to Grow Common Root Crops, Part 1: Low Nutrient Lovers because despite their bad reps these are some of the easiest grows in Our Garden.  In fact, they fall under the plant and almost forget category.  We like those.

I’m not going to lie, we missed out on years of Root Crops simply because I didn’t believe we could grow them here in our Tropical Zone 10.  I admit it freely, I was wrong.  So very wrong.  The year I got the wild idea to grow Carrots one Winter, we’ve already long established my tendency to grow things for no reason, it opened up Our Garden to so much more food.  Easy food.  The trick is to plant them in the right soil, water, and wait because some of these take a long time to grow, others not so much.  Root Crops are all in the setup and waiting. Yup, patience. Dang.

Root Crops

A Root Crop is a plant whose food part grows below the soil instead of above it.  Common Low Nutrient Loving varieties are Carrots, Turnips, Radishes, and Sweet Potatoes.  Potatoes, obviously a Root Crop, are actually Nightshades, and would have most likely been included here except we don’t grow Potatoes, just Sweet Potatoes.  We also don’t successfully grow Beets or Parsnips.  Sorry, we’re still working those Cold Weather Crops out in our Tropical Zone.  I did mention our Root Crop experience started late.

Otherwise, we get fine Root Crops every season except the Summer, rainy season, here in our Tropical Growing Zone.  If we can do it, so can you.  We’ve divided them into 2 distinct Categories, ‘Low Nutrient Lovers’ and ‘Bulbs & Celery’ based on the conditions they need to grow.  All of our Low Nutrient Lovers like the same simple conditions.  

The Trick to ‘Low Nutrient Lovers’ is the Soil

If you set your beds up for Root Crops before you plant, there won’t be much to do the rest of the growing season.  Root Crops like sandy, free draining soils without clumps, hard stuff, or rocks. Anything in the soil that will block the growth of the root straight down is bad.  You want long straight carrots and round radishes without forks.  For most growers this will mean a Sandy Compost.  Since you don’t want to overwater your Root Vegetables, they don’t like it, the ratio will depend on how much water they are getting.  They like about an inch of water a week.

If you are getting more than that, go with a sandier soil.  If you are getting less, go with a little more compost.  You want your soil moist, never wet which can rot your roots.  You also have to be careful about adding too much Compost as it’s Nitrogen heavy, and Root Vegetables don’t like that either.

Our Garden

We use what I call Black Sand.  It’s a mix of Compost and Yard Sand.  We like to use Compost made in Our Garden without any extra peat added.  I tend to add peat separately because it breaks down slower than the rest of the organics added to the compost piles.  Because peat is chunky, you don’t really want it in the mix with carrots.  Leave it out or pick out the big chunks in your mix.

Mixing Compost or a Commercial Soil with Sand will make a Black Sand in the right ratio mix.  While the original advice I received for Carrots was at a 50/50 mix, I find that to be too sandy.  It’s generally closer to a 60/40 or 70/30 mix, with a little more compost.  You want something that looks and feels like Sand but the color is closer to black than gray.  If it’s gray, add more Compost.  If it feels like Compost, add more Sand.  Black Sand is rich enough to grow Root Crops, but not too rich it will keep the roots from forming properly.  How about that?  If you don’t get lots of water or are not Growing Tropical, I don’t recommend Black Sand.  Go with a little more compost in your Sandy Compost mix.  

Don’t Plant in Clays or Rocks

Root Vegetables do not like clay, rocky, or gravelly soil.  It makes sense.  You don’t want to plant them in anything that will block root growth or keep them constantly wet.  Clay soils either hold water and are difficult to move through or completely dry out in clumps.  That’s a twofer, wet and blockage.  Rocks and gravel block roots who can’t move them to the side and must grow around them.

Raised Beds and Containers

Since you need a specific type of free draining soil, your Root Crops will thrive in Raised Beds or Containers filled with it.  It will also assure they drain properly.  If you are planting directly in the ground, you’ll want to make sure your soil mix goes at least 18 inches down.  I would recommend 2 feet, and make sure the area is draining and not holding water.

With the exception of Celery which gets planted everywhere, we mainly cultivate, yup grow, Root Crops in Raised Beds and Containers.  They grow better there as we can control the soil and water.  We have a specific ground bed I created by the house for Sweet Potatoes, and I’m constantly searching for those babies all through the soil.  They are feet away from the planting hole.  There was also a row of White Radishes planted directly in the ground.  Those are supposed to be small straight roots.  We got tiny or chunky, forked and twisted, roots, not exactly a win.  These are spicy and we are going to try some type of creamy horseradish sauce, but next season, if we grow more, it will be in a Raised Bed.         

Fertilizer

High nitrogen fertilizers are a no-no for Low Nutrient Loving Root Vegetables which will keep roots from reaching down to find it.  Since you want roots, that’s that part you eat, not the green tops, you have to go easy on the Nitrogen.  While it is generally recommended you use a low % fertilizer, in the single digits, about 5 to 6 weeks after planting, we pre-prep beds, before sowing seeds, with fresh compost, minus the really chunky stuff, only.  No commercial fertilizer is added.  Yup, Root Veggies save you a little dough.  They really prefer a low nutrient rich soil, not the standard.  Adding non-nutrient rich sand helps bring down the overall richness of the soil.     

Irrigation

Do yourself a favor and set up a simple irrigation system instead of dragging the hose around.  You can literally hook up sprinklers such as the Melnor Sprinkler Set to the hose or set up a simple drip line like the Drip Irrigation System Kit for very little money.  I set both these systems up while I was still working at an office.  The drip/sprinkler system takes a little to figure out as it’s a put-together to fit your space kit, but it works great.  Just remember, more main lines with fewer heads on each.  

Adding a simple timer to the irrigation line will elevate both your harvest and your status as a grower.  You literally will never forget or run out of time to water.  While I looked at many fancy versions of timers including lusting after the digital touch screens, we settled on a much more standard version we didn’t have to add a whole box housing setup to withstand the Florida sunshine.  We’ve had 2 of these simple Orbit Watering Systems setup and running for the last 4 years.  They aren’t pretty or fancy, but you can’t argue with working.  They cost about $60 with 2 zones, and you can add 2 more zones, Orbit Extra Valves, for about $20 a piece.  Yup, about $100 total for 4 zones.

Carrots

These orange delights are, my personal, easiest grow, despite what anyone says about them.  We drop the tiny seeds directly in the ground in full sun, 6 hours in our Tropical Zone with afternoon shade.  I do nothing but check the irrigation system and weed.  4 to 5 months later, depending on the variety, we have carrots.  Woo-hoo!  Seriously, these are simple.  I did say I was kicking myself for not planting more my 1st year out. 

Sowing Seed

Do yourself and your success as a grower a favor and choose seeds according to your Growing Zone and read the instructions.  Generally, Carrots prefer to be sowed, planted, directly where they are going to grow at ¼ inch depth.  I drop seeds 3 to 6 inches apart and cover with a little Black Sand, in 8 inch rows if we are doing row crops.  While they recommend 12 inch rows, I don’t find the extra space helps in our raised beds.  Also, most people start with seeds at 1 inch apart and thin to 3 to 6 inches.  I’m not a big thinner and prefer to just go with where I know I want plants.  We use weed barrier mats and plant the holes for ease.  If a hole comes up bare with no sprouting seed, I just plant a succession planting there my next seed drop.

Easy Maintenance

We weed all the beds regularly, just cause I hate them, but we never have bugs and rarely any dead leaves.  So, that’s the extent of maintenance.  Yea!   

Growing Tropical

Right off, I’m going to say carrots are considered cold weather plants which is why we didn’t try them for years.  Big mistake.  These grow in Our Garden for both the Winter and Spring Seasons.  If you are Growing Tropical, you have the right soil, it just needs to be raised or contained.  That’s right, grow them in Raised Beds or Containers.  Start your seeds in the middle of Sept and Feb. Make sure they are draining properly, and that’s it.

Turnips

Turnips are relatively new to Our Garden.  Once I realized I could grow Carrots, I started trying other Root Vegetables, and I found these to be super easy.  They’re planted and grow exactly like Carrots in Our Garden only much, much faster.

If you like Turnips, these can be harvested in about 60 days.  They like to be direct-planted, seeds sowed directly where you are going to grow them, and they pop up fast.  In about 30 days, you can start harvesting the ‘greens’.  From the outside, if you want to eventually eat the root.  All but the last 2 inches if you just want salad greens.  How’s that for fast food?  Young turnips will be more tender, but you can let them grow to the size you desire.  

Maintenance

In one instance since I started growing these, have I seen bugs.  Seriously, I had 3 of them growing together and only one attracted bugs, Aphids.  Since the root was ready to harvest, I simply harvested it and threw out the bug leaves.  Because these grow relatively quickly, by the time the bugs found them, we were harvesting. The root was fine.  Otherwise, weeding is the only maintenance required in Our Garden.

Growing Tropical

Everything I read before I started to grow Turnips said they needed to be harvested before the temperatures reached 80 degrees.  HA!  When exactly in my Tropical Growing Zone 10 do we get a 30 to 60 day period where the temperatures don’t reach that high.  Uh, never.  Don’t worry, if you are Growing Tropical, ignore that recommendation.  You absolutely can grow these both in the Fall/Winter Season and the Spring Season without them bolting.

Plant them on the east side of large growers like Broccoli or Tomatoes.  The larger plants will provide shade in the afternoon, the morning will provide the needed sun.

Radishes

Radishes are planted and grow exactly the same as Turnips and Carrots only much, much faster.  We turn these, plant to harvest, in about 30 days.  Seriously.  I wish we liked Radishes more because I can grow these almost as well as weeds.  If there is a zombie apocalypse, you will never go hungry with Radish seeds, assuming you live 30 days.  The seeds sprout super quick, in a couple of days, and there are greens by the 2nd week.  The problem for us is finding ways to use them in food.

Sweet Potatoes

We absolutely love Sweet Potatoes.  And yes, we grow them.  Do I feel like a successful grower of Sweet Potatoes?  Um, probably not, even though I do actually grow them.  What I can tell you is Nitrogen is not your friend when growing Sweet Potatoes.  It took me 3 growing seasons to burn enough Nitrogen out of the soil to get an actual Sweet Potato and not just vines.  By the back fence where I grow Sweet Potato vines for a steady supply of slips, I also get some lovely purple flowers.  

Sweet Potatoes are very ‘normal’ Root Vegetables in they love sandy soils, hate nitrogen, and just want to be left alone.  They are prone to bugs, I understand, but we’ve never had more than a passing munch on a leaf or two.  Marigolds live next to our Sweet Potatoes, and some growers sacrifice an Eggplant as a companion to attract bugs away from it.

The Basics

While you eat the root of a Sweet Potato, it’s the actual potato part, the green part that grows out of the potato is a vine, a very invasive vine in our Tropical Zone.  Hurricane Ian actually shredded all the leaves off our vines, about 15 of them.  I cut them all back to a few feet of the main vine, and no problem.  They took over again.  In fact, most of the vine stalks I tossed into hurricane compost, rooted and grew over the baskets before I caught up with them.  Yes, most of them.  It was covered.  I say all this because it is not the norm.

I have read enough articles about Sweet Potatoes to sink a battleship.  Hang with me, people recommend you don’t plant them when it’s windy.  Yup.  Apparently these ridiculous growers, here, are sensitive creatures elsewhere.  At least you guys get a better yield.  My point is most people need to handle these gently, and it is recommended you plant in perfect conditions.  If you’re Growing Tropical, shove them in the ground and rip them off the fence, don’t worry about it.

Slips

Sweet Potatoes grow best from slips.  Slips are pieces of the vine with roots.  Buy slips or get them from a friend.  We purchased ours from here Yunakesa Sweet Potato Slips.  They actually included more slips than I purchased, and all but one sprouted.  So, we came out ahead, and I only had to purchase them once.

You can also grow them from, wait for it, a Sweet Potato. Chuckling here.  Stick one in some damp sand out of direct light, and it will grow vines.  Snap those off at the potato and stick that snapped end in water.  Make sure there are no leaves under the water.  They’ll rot.  We water root in a north facing window out of direct sunlight.  Wait a bit, and roots will form.  You now have slips.

Planting Slips

We trim any stem below the root we are planting, carefully remove any leaves around the root we are planting and remove any other roots on the vine.  Drop the roots about an inch below the surface in low-nutrient sand.  Unfortunately, the 1st year I planted in Black Sand which took the 3 seasons to burn off all the nutrients before we got Sweet Potatoes.  Seriously annoying.  The vines were climbing the roof line of the house and taking over the bromeliad beds.  Mulch heavily.

Maintenance

Weeding is required.  Otherwise, keep the vines on the supports and trim if necessary.  You absolutely do Not want the vines rooting.  You want the energy going into the potato at the main root.  Keep your vines off the ground and out of potential growing mediums, because this stuff will root wherever.  Plant companion plants or treat the surrounding area for bugs because pests can be an issue.  Deterring is better than adding ‘fight bug infestation’ to your maintenance requirements.  

Harvesting

You are going to have to dig these out of the ground.  It’s easy if the potato is shallow, not so much if it’s deep and only attached by a single long thin root.  Indeed, ours is the latter.  If you suffer this problem, you’ll have to dig carefully in order not to sever or lose track of the root.  If you lose it, you may not find the potato with nothing to follow.  Since one of mine ended up under an adjacent bed, it could be a problem.  The potato could send up another vine you might be able to follow the next season, or rot in the ground.  Either way, you got no harvest this season.

If you do find those buggers and get them out of the ground, let ‘em rest for about 2 weeks before eating.  They recommend a warm, humid, not wet, place.  Excellent, that’s on the lanai in our Tropical Zone.  I hang them in mesh bags out of the reach of critters and most bugs, and out of the sun. They also recommend cutting off their water a week or two before harvest. All these ‘end of growth’ resting techniques are supposed to make them sweeter.  We like sweeter.     

Go Prep Some Beds

Usually, a plant has me at easy grow.  Had I known how easy, we would have been enjoying Carrot Cake made with fresh Carrots from the garden much sooner.  Oh, yeah.  Some cream cheese frosting.  Delicious.

Find some sand and mix some beds.  Try the easy How to Make Raised Beds with Recycled Pots.  We grow Root Crops in ours.  Turnips and Carrots are growing happily in the front of the beds with Black Sand, and all the Radishes have currently been harvested.  We couldn’t be happier with ours.  Next week we’ll be covering the Onions, Garlic and Celery planted in the wall pots for Part II.  Hope to see you then.