Cheekypigs
Teenage Guinea Pig
Hi folks,
I'm pondering the nutrition of carrot tops. I know that in general carrot tops, as in the ones that are attached to the carrot when it's dug up, are high in calcium, and therefore we have to be careful not to overfeed them to guinea pigs. And this advice is applied also to regrown carrot tops, grown by putting the top end of a carrot in water on a windowsill.
But is that actually the case? As far as I know, carrot roots are low in calcium, and leaves grown in water like this have no way to access minerals other than those that are already in the root. The calcium in normal carrot tops would come from the soil, but there's no soil in this situation. As far as I understand it, the only thing the new leaves could gain that wasn't already in the bit of root is sugar from photosynthesis, and carbon from the air.
Anyone got any plant expertise to add to my knowledge on this?
I'm pondering the nutrition of carrot tops. I know that in general carrot tops, as in the ones that are attached to the carrot when it's dug up, are high in calcium, and therefore we have to be careful not to overfeed them to guinea pigs. And this advice is applied also to regrown carrot tops, grown by putting the top end of a carrot in water on a windowsill.
But is that actually the case? As far as I know, carrot roots are low in calcium, and leaves grown in water like this have no way to access minerals other than those that are already in the root. The calcium in normal carrot tops would come from the soil, but there's no soil in this situation. As far as I understand it, the only thing the new leaves could gain that wasn't already in the bit of root is sugar from photosynthesis, and carbon from the air.
Anyone got any plant expertise to add to my knowledge on this?