How To Grow Carrots
2011-02-20 at 12:23 pm pshipley
How To Grow Carrots
Welcome to our guide on how to grow carrots. Growing carrots is reasonably straight forward. Carrots are actually biennials which are grown as annuals. They produce green foliage up to 25cm high, and elongated, swollen roots, which are of course the part we are most interested in. Carrots are a great source of Vitamin A and also B and C. They can be orange /red in colour or even white or yellow, the colour is linked to the quantity of pigment, called carotene which is in the outer layers of the root.
Soil For Growing Carrots
A soil of reasonable quality, preferably with organic matter added the previous autumn, with plenty of uncompacted depth for the roots to develop freely with few stones should be suitable.
Sowing And Growing Carrots
Prepare the soil to produce a fine tilth before sowing. Carrot seed is very fine so it may be advisable to mix it with some sand which will help to spread the seed more evenly and reduce the amount of thinning required later. Sow the seed in drills of about 1cm depth with around 20cm between them and then lightly firm the surface after sowing. Early sowings can be made in February and last sowings as late as July dependant on the variety you wish to grow. Refer to seed packets for sowing periods. Successive sowings will produce a regular supply. Carrots can also be grown in deep pots, or buckets and tubs.
As the plants develop, thin them to around 6cm / 10cm apart, and if possible it is best to protect them from the dreaded carrot fly with netting or clear plastic up to a height of 60cm/ 90cm all around. Weeds should be removed and water regularly (apx 20-25 litres per square metre every fortnight).
Keep an eye out for:-
Carrot Fly – Discoloured foliage and brown tunnels in walls of roots.
Aphids – Leaves covered in insects with a sticky residue.
Motley Dwarf Virus – Mis-shaped leaves and patches of colour.
Boron Deficiency – Split roots, greyish, hollowed or improperly formed.
Harvesting and Storing Carrots
Knowing how to grow carrots, and growing carrots is one thing but you also need to know when and how to harvest and store your carrots.
Early cultivars should be harvested seven to nine weeks after sowing, maincrops after ten to eleven weeks. You can pull them by hand or lift with a fork. Cut or twist off the top foliage and store in a box in a cool dry place for up to 20 weeks. Of course you can always freeze carrots.
Suggested Carrot Varieties
Early varieties such as `Nantes – Tiptop`, `Nairobi` F1, `Early Horn` or Sytan.
Maincrop varieties such as `Camberley`, `Vita Longs`, `Kingston` F1 or `Cardinal` F1.
Check your local or online stockists for more.
Thank you for reading our How to Grow Carrots guide, why not check out some of our other vegetable growing guides and articles from the menu at the right side of this page. Godd luck growing carrots!