The carrot on the left (can you see it?) was not started with any of my original methods, but a hybrid where I soaked the seeds overnight and then put them under plywood until they started emerging. At the time those seeds were added, I had already put iron phosphate slug poison and the beer trap in place, so they were well protected from predation, yet still only one remains.
All the empty area? That is where I put all the plywood protected and presoaked seeds. A few did come up, but were weak, and didn't last long.
Finally, there is the 1/3rd of the plot filled with happy, growing carrots. Those are the ones I started in soil cubes inside and didn't put out until they had a couple days of growth. Not every seed germinated, and there have been a couple losses, but out of 120 seeds, I have nearly 100 plants.
So yeah, we have a winner.
Now, it has been pointed out to me that there are variables not accounted for here, such as soil temperature, and it is most certainly true that people who are not me are able to grow carrots by seeding them outdoors.
But, here is what I know: My little cube carrots are succeeding where all my other attempts failed spectacularly. They were certainly more work to make the little cubes, seed them individually, transfer them into a furrow and pack dirt back around them. However, since I only have plans to grow a few hundred carrots at a time, the effort is well within reason. All in all, it just goes to show what an awesome difference giving plants a bit of a head start inside can make.
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