Growing Carrots



Internet photo

Choosing the best variety of carrots for your growing conditions is a good start towards a successful carrot crop.  With all root crops, like carrots, beets, radishes, and turnips, proper soil preparation is another key factor for success.  Root crops require deep, loose, well-drained but moisture retentive soil, with a pH that tends more toward the alkaline side.  Adding well-rotted compost or manure will improve the soil condition.  Fresh manure should not be used as it causes forking of the carrot root and a poor quality crop results.  Once the compost or rotted manure is spread, the garden bed should be tilled deeply so that the soil is loose and clod free.

Internet photo

Seeds should be planted in loose soil, about 1/2 inch deep and 1/2 inch apart.   Rows should be spaced about 18 inches apart to allow for plenty of growing space.  Carrot seeds are very small and hard to plant at proper spacing.  I've found that the plunger type seeders are somewhat helpful in not sowing small seeds too closely.  You fill the tube of the seeder and then press the plunger each time you want to dispurse a seed (or two or three or ten) into the row.   

Internet photo

The type of seeder where you pour the seed into a chamber and then dial the appropriate size opening in the chamber through which to shake the seed can also provide a small measure of extra control.





Carrot seeds that are pelleted in a soluble mixture of powders and adhesive which cling to the seed, increasing the size of each seed and making them much easier to plant individually, are also available at a slightly higher cost than regular seed.  The pellet material dissolves once the seed is planted, allowing the seed to germinate.  

Another easy way to plant carrots at the proper spacing is with seed tape.  This is a soluble tape impregnated with the seeds at just the right spacing.  You lay the desired length of tape in your row, cover with 1/2 inch of soil and wait for the carrots to grow.

Carrots will germinate in soil temperatures as low as 40 degrees F, so they can be planted early in the spring, generally about two to three weeks before the average last frost date.  In soil temperatures around 75 degrees, carrot seeds will germinate in about 7 days; soil temps at 50 degrees or so will slow the germination down to as long as 3 weeks.  Germination can be spotty, with some seeds germinating quickly and others taking a couple weeks, so don't give up on the row too soon.

Once the carrots are planted, they need at least 1 inch of water each week during the growing season. Watering should be done deeply to promote the best root development.  Light watering can lead to shallow, low quality roots.

Carrots grow slowly for the first few weeks after planting and the plants are pretty wimpy.  They don't  compete well with weeds, so it's important to keep the bed as weed-free as possible. Shallow cultivation before the weeds become a problem is best.  The young roots are very close to the surface of the soil, so cultivatation should just cut the weeds off right below the surface, leaving the carrot roots undisturbed.

Once the carrots are a couple inches tall, thin the seedlings to one every 2 to 3 inches.  The more space you give each seedling, the larger carrot you are likely to grow.  Rather than pulling the extra seedlings, cut them off just below the surface of the ground, where it is possible to do so.  The root will decompose into the soil and cutting prevents disruption of the remaining carrots, so you don't lose more seedlings than you wish or end up with roots deformed from being disrupted in early growth.

Straw or grass mulch between the rows will help conserve moisture and keep the weed population down.  Mulch can also be used to cover the exposed shoulders of the carrots from sunburning, which will turn that part of the carrot green and bitter.

Then just let them grow.  Carrots can be harvested throughout the summer, once they are finger sized or larger.  They gain their best sweetness later in the fall, after cool days and nights, or even a light frost.   Then they can be stored in a cool dark place and used for several months over the winter.