Learn how to grow carrots from seed to harvest. This guide will show you all that you need to know on growing carrots. Carrots are an easy crop to grow that can store for a long time if stored properly. They are high in keratin, and are used widely in cooking, juicing, smoothies, Ice creams, cakes, and so much more.
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How to Grow Carrots From Seed
- Before Planting, amend the soil with a good organic compost and bone meal.
- Sow carrot seeds 1/8 inch deep in rows that are 12 to 18โณ apart.
- Keep the soil moist to insure a successful seed germination.
- Thin carrot seedlings to one inch spacing between each carrot.
- Give carrots a deep watering once or twice a week to encourage their roots to go deeper into the ground.
- Amend the soil with a good organic fertilizer mid season to encourage root growth.
- Harvest carrots 3 to 4 months after they have been planted, or once they reach desired size.
- Store in a cool place.
What Type of Soil Do Carrots Need
Carrots prefer a rich loamy soil. Because they are a root, they prefer a loose soil. If the soil is compacted, carrots will grow in odd shapes, and will be short.
Carrots prefer a neutral to slightly acidic soil of a ph. between 6 and 7. You can adjust the ph. of your soil through additives.
Garden lime for example, raises the PH. of the soil making it more neutral or more alkaline. While sulfur or soil acidifier lowers the ph. of the soil making it more acidic.
Do Carrots Need Full Sun
Carrots thrive in full sun. They require at least 6 to 8 hours of sunlight in order to develop large roots.
If you plant carrots in a shadier location, you are more likely to end up with a smaller and skinnier size carrot.
What is The Best Month to Plant Carrots
Early spring is a great time to plant carrots. The temperature that you should be concerned about when planting any crop from seed is the temperature of the soil. Carrots will germinate quicker when the soil temperature is at 80 degrees F, but they will also germinate at temperatures between 35 and 80 F.
Carrots are frost hardy, and love the cold weather. as carrots mature, their flavor enhances or becomes sweeter when exposed to colder temperatures and frost.
if you want sweeter carrots, plant the seeds in mid august, but make sure to keep them moist. By the time the carrots are ready to be harvested, they should have been exposed to enough cooler temperatures to sweeten their flavor.
If you live in a warm environment, you can plant your carrots in mid fall, and harvest in early winter.
How Long do Carrots Take to Grow
carrots take between three to four months to reach full maturity. However, you can harvest carrots earlier than the maturity date for use as baby carrots.
Carrots will require thinning in order to allow the roots to grow larger. You can allow some of them to reach the baby carrot stage before you thin them out, this way you can get two harvests instead of one.
How Often Should Carrots Be Watered
Carrots prefer deep watering. Give carrots a good deep watering once or twice a week rather than a sprinkle of water each day. Deep watering will allow the carrot roots to reach deeper into the soil in order to reach water as the surface of the soil dries up.
Shallow water is one cause for misshaped roots. Keep carrots well weeded to prevent other plants from taking in the nutrients and water that carrot plants require to thrive.
Carrot leaves grow thick and lush, and they wilt very quickly when there is not enough water in the soil, or if it gets too hot.
Wilting is not always a sign of dry soil. So be sure to check your soil for moisture in the first couple inches before you jump into the conclusion that it is a moisture issue.
How Do You Know When Carrots Are Ready to Pull Up
Carrot seed packets usually have the time it takes carrots to mature from the time you sow them into the ground to the time of harvest readiness.
If you follow the time stated on the seed packets you should be able to get good carrots at that time. However, carrots are a living thing, and they do not live by a calendar.
You will be able to tell if a carrot has reached maturity by looking at the top of its root. As a carrot matures, the part of its root that is sticking out of the ground begins to grow wider. This is not always an indication that a carrot is mature, but pulling one or two carrots to check if they are ready, is ok.
How Much Space Do Carrots Need
carrots need about 1 inch spacing between each seed. You can plant them in rows that are 12 inches apart from each other. Even though the carrot root does not require much space to grow, the leaves do grow quite large. You do not want to crowed the leaves, as they do need to receive sunlight in order to put that energy back into the root.
I do believe though, from experience, that you can still sow carrots in rows that are slightly closer to each other than the 12 or 18 inch recommended space.
Since carrot seeds are so small, and it can be difficult for most to sow carrots 1 seed at a time, you can always seed thickly, and thin the seedlings later.
To thin seedlings, pull the extra seedlings as soon as they sprout in order to keep the spacing to 1 inch between each carrot.
What Nutrients Do Carrots Need
Although you might think that carrots would require nitrogen because of the leafy growth that they produce, the opposite is true.
It is not to say that carrots do not need nitrogen. They do require some amount of nitrogen for leafy growth. However, what they need the most of is phosphate and Potassium. Both Phosphate and Potassium are vital for root development. Phosphate comes in the form of bone meal, potassium in the form of potash fertilizer, and nitrogen comes in the form of blood meal, feather meal, kelp, and many other forms.
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