Note: This post on growing carrots in your garden is courtesy of Lajos. Thanks Lajos! Share you gardening knowledge by visiting our “Write For Us” page.
Carrots are fairly easy to grow from seeds in your backyard, and after sowing they need little attention. Pick the variety you want to grow according to your soil condition. As in heavy soil the faster growing, shorter rooted varieties are much safer and easier to grow than the maincrop, long rooted ones. The carrot roots can easily become deformed and split if grown in hard soil. But even if you have a stony soil you can grow carrots successfully: Choose a suitable variety like ‘Chantenay Red Cored’ with shorter roots or a round variety like ‘Rondo’. Dig the soil deep and fork in some sand if you can get hold of any; it does not matter what kind of sand. It makes the soil a bit lighter and therefore the carrot roots will grow more easily during the season.
Sow the carrot seeds in a deeply dug, well raked soil in 1 cm deep drills. Cover the seeds with a little soil and push the soil down gently using your rake. Water well and the seeds should germinate within two weeks. The best time for sowing is when the daytime temperature reaches around 12 Celsius (55 Fahrenheit).
Grow your carrots in a soil that has not been manured for at least a year. Too rich of a soil will make carrots grow lots of foliage at the cost of roots. If you applied a generous amount of farmyard or poultry manure, then poor roots would probably result. Another possible cause of lush topgrowth is too much moisture. Do not water them in rainy days and even on a dry day be careful and water in the evening. 2 gallons of water per square yard every week is just enough even in warm spells. Too much water during dry weather can be the cause of splitting roots.
As the carrot seedlings emerge they will need thinning out. Leave about 7in between the plants. Some early varieties, like ‘Amsterdam Forcing’, are ready to pull after only 2 months and if you sow the seeds in two week intervals, you can have young, tender roots all summer long. Maincrop varieties like the different ‘Nantes’ type carrots are left to be matured and pulled up in fall. These can be stored for a long period of time in a cellar or a frost free shed.
There are many colourful varieties available too, like ‘Purple Haze’ which can add an interesting purple colour to your salads, and can encourage your children to eat more fresh vegetables.
By: Lajos
