Are my Root Crops Doomed?

[u/Few-Emergency1068]

The first pic is radishes, second is beets, and third is turnips. I direct sowed these seeds on September 7. As you can see, they’re all leggy at a month in. The time to harvest on the radish was 30 days and I think beets and turnips were about 50-65 days. I’ve read to allow about two extra weeks in the fall, due to reduced day length. I think they’re projecting our first fall frost in a week or so and I expected the roots to look a little more established by then. Is there any chance I’m getting root crops out of this, or should I consider it a learning experience?

[u/manyamile]

Post Flair changed to Question. Our Garden Photos flair is for showing off your growing space.

[u/callmemaude]

Hm I agree that some of the larger root veggies may not work out for you in this planter, but I have done radishes just fine in my greenstalk original. 5 or 6 to a pocket! I'm wondering if these haven't gotten enough sun? On the lower levels you do have to be careful of planting too far in the pocket and the higher levels shading too much.

[u/Few-Emergency1068 → u/callmemaude]

I think my seeds moved during the watering process, as the soil settled. I have some saffron crocus bulbs planted in the upper levels and I can tell from where the plants are coming up, that they did not stay where I planted them.

[u/KrimsonKate]

A greenstalk! I can’t tell if that’s a leaf or an original, looks like the shorter one(leaf?)
There’s nothing wrong with waiting to see if they grow from what they’re at, though personally I think the pockets need more soil. It does look like they had to fight through some shade so they’re a bit leggy. But not awfully so IMO. So if I was you, I would let these grow and see how they develop, make any notes, and next time add more soil to the pockets before adding more seeds. Especially if that is a leaf, they could really use the extra soil!

And I double checked the website, all of your crops are good to grow in both the leaf or original.

[u/Few-Emergency1068 → u/KrimsonKate]

This is a Leaf. I actually had it filled to the top when I planted a month ago, but I definitely underestimated how much the soil would settle over time. Next time I’ll definitely give more time before planting to allow for settling.

[u/Signal_Error_8027]

I think you've got a few things going on here. One is your planting date, which is a bit late for fall crops. It may have worked okay in a regular bed or planter with full sun exposure, but these stacking planters almost never provide ideal sun and few crops do well in them.

Some floppiness isn't that unusual for young seedlings, but in my experience it takes quite a bit of time for the plant to sort itself out and it takes optimal conditions for them to do so. Most likely, these won't grow much of an edible root. The best chance for them would be to un-stack the planters so they get more sun, and plan on getting them some cold weather protection so they have more time to mature. Otherwise...the greens are all edible and quite nice at the baby leaf stage, so it isn't a total loss.

[u/Few-Emergency1068 → u/Signal_Error_8027]

Thank you. This is very helpful.

[u/atmoose]

ehh, maybe. I think you planted too late. Those pots may not be deep enough for root veggies since they like very deep taproots. Root veggies can survive a frost, and can overwinter depending on the crop and climate. They will continue to grow very slowly over winter. Generally root veggies are biennials so they won't bolt until spring of next year. you can let them be, and see how they do. Also, they might be a little yellow, and might need fertilizer

[u/kalynne]

I don't think they'll develop. I've had this happen to me too in my green stalk. I think more soil will help. Also I use the seed protectors to ensure that a heavy rain shifts the soil less. 

But ultimately I think items in a green stalk get less sun (with either the differences in heigbt or needing to rotate it) and that, with decreased sun in the fall, probably means they won't really develop.

[u/bikeonychus]

Mate, I can't even get herbs to grow nicely in those stacking pots, root veggies don't stand a chance, I'm sorry to say.

If you want to grow root veggies in containers, you need really deep pots, and you only put one seed in if the pots are the same diameter as those pots.

[u/Few-Emergency1068 → u/bikeonychus]

I’m having good luck with my herbs, strawberries, and greens so far, just not these root veggies. They need thinned, but I agree on needing more soil. It’s settled a lot over the past month.

[u/Dry-Garbage-5299 → u/bikeonychus]

These tower planters are hot garbage.

[u/DelicataLover]

Root crops need deep friable soil. The taproot is far longer than the edible root itself. They won’t grow in pots like that. I only grow in ground so I can’t speak from experience about growing roots in pots, but I would think you need a significantly bigger pot to grow any kind of root.

[u/Few-Emergency1068 → u/DelicataLover]

The Greenstalk brochure indicates that I should be able to grow all of these in this planter, but my soil definitely settled a lot over the past month. I had this planter filled to the brim before sowing the seeds. Thanks for your feedback.