# My carrot won't stay firm **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2001, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688 "2001-05-27T16:00:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688/1 "2001-05-27T16:00:36Z")
I buy carrots in little bunches at the local whole foods store, so they still have the greens attached. But one night in the fridge and they tunr soft & lifeless as if they’ve been boiled. OTOH, pre-fab carrots in a bag seem to stay hard & crunchy for a week or two. The only thing I can think of is that the pre-bagged industry carrots have been treated with sulfides, which helps veggies keep their crispiness longer. It stands to reason that a whole foods market wouldn’t buy chemically treated carrots, so they go limp faster. But over night?? But can that be all there is to it? Since the carrot is actually a root, maybe I should bury them in the ground as soon as I get home, watering regularly and dig them back up one by one as I need them? I believe carrot is a mamber of the parsley family, and I know well enough to keep fresh parsley in water, same as you would fresh-cut flowers. But keeping a bunch of carrots in a big pan of water in the fridge isn’t an option (not enough room). Suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688/2 "2001-05-27T16:26:35Z")
Cut the greens off. They continue to wick up water and aspirate it to the air. ---
**Author:** ![Grok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Grok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grok)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688/3 "2001-05-27T16:26:41Z")
Try Viagra ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688/4 "2001-05-27T16:32:15Z")
I buy carrots in five pound bags for juicing (MMM, carrotty!), and I stored them in a tall tupperware container full of water in the refrigerator. They stay crisp and crunchy for at least a week, which is about as long as 5lbs. of carrots last in my house. Also, I would suggest cutting off the green tops as soon as you get them home from the store; they just draw moisture out of the carrot, leading to limpness. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688/5 "2001-05-27T16:37:34Z")
They used to sell these vegetable bags with tiny holes in 'em that would really help keep veggies fresh amd crisp in the fridge. Can’t find them anymore, though. I think it was the phenomenally stupid and annoying ads that killed this product (stupid talking thumb thing), they really seemed to work. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688/6 "2001-05-27T18:27:59Z")
not only that but if you want them to stay hard for longer you can put them vertically so they are covered with water half way up. They will absorb water this way. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688/7 "2001-05-27T19:10:46Z")
Grok probably was joking, but florists have discovered that Viagra, vastly diluted, keeps flowers from going limp. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688/8 "2001-05-27T23:48:39Z")
Of course! The greens need to stay alive, and the root is there to make sure that happens. I will be chopping the greens off the next batch & report back. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688/9 "2001-05-27T23:54:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AskNott \* > Grok probably was joking, but florists have discovered that Viagra, vastly diluted, keeps flowers from going limp. Are you sure this is not an urban legend? I have no evidence against it, but it sounds a bit fishy to me! ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2001, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688/10 "2001-05-28T00:23:57Z")
This is kind of off topic but it’s cool. Limp carrots feel a lot like human fingers. If you carve a limp carrot into the shape of a thumb you can do a magic trick/prank where you hide your hand under a handkerchief and pretend it is your thumb. Have someone feel your ‘thumb’ and then snip the tip off with scissors. I haven’t actually tried this with another person, but I have tested a limp carrot to see if it felt like a thumb. It did. Some day I’ll get up the nerve to try this. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2001, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688/11 "2001-06-03T21:28:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jshore \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by AskNott \* > > Grok probably was joking, but florists have discovered that Viagra, vastly diluted, keeps flowers from going limp. > > Are you sure this is not an urban legend? I have no evidence against it, but it sounds a bit fishy to me! \*\* I just now did a Google search on “cut flowers Viagra,” and there are lots of cites. It’s not an urban legend. It also works on fresh vegetables, but may not be safe for edible products. On flowers, it is said to extend the turgidity by seven days. –Nott ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2001, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688/12 "2001-06-03T22:39:37Z")
I don’t think finding a lot of Internet cites about something means it’s not an urban legend. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2001, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688/13 "2001-06-03T23:17:29Z")
true Rev, Viagra works on the human vasular system & I can’t figure out how it would have any effect on a plants’. ---
**Author:** ![Azura\_Borealis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ab992/32.png) [@Azura\_Borealis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azura_Borealis)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2001, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688/14 "2001-06-04T05:26:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Grok \* > \*\*Try Viagra \*\* Heh. My original thought. But Placing them in a shallow depth of water, sealed up and in the fridge - keeps most veggies chipper and firm. Evaporation from fresher, non treated veggies and fruits happens more rapidly, from what I’ve been told. Pesticides and Preservative sprays (mainly on bagged vegetation) traps the moisture in alot longer, so they don’t go limpy - as quickly as the fresher variety. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2001, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-carrot-wont-stay-firm/66688/15 "2001-06-04T12:22:34Z")
Well this thread is staying mighty firm… I cut the greens off & put the carrots in a tall glass (to keep them upright) with about an inch of water and that did the trick! No perscription medication needed.