Carrots belong to the Umbrella family. IN wildlife grows in America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Afghanistan is considered its homeland, as many of its species grow there. It is believed that carrots began to be cultivated four thousand years ago. In Rus' it was first mentioned in the 16th century.
Carrots now grow in literally any garden plot. At the same time, it is capricious, and for a successful harvest, it is important to know the rules of its cultivation.
Autumn sowing
- You can plant carrots in winter, and the harvest will appear two weeks earlier. The seeds will undergo winter hardening, and in the spring, due to the melting of snow, they will become stronger root system.
- In autumn, only early varieties are planted, which are not suitable for winter storage.
- In areas where winters are very cold, the beds should be covered with sawdust, leaves, and spruce branches.
- Crops should be located on a hill so that the seed material is not washed away by melt water.
Spring sowing
The most popular season for planting is of course spring. Spring can be divided into early and late periods.
- The root vegetable is a moisture-loving plant, so it can be planted immediately after the snow melts.
- You can plant at the end of April, when the air temperature is +15 and the soil warms up to +5.
- If you plant earlier, the seeds will take longer to germinate.
- The beds can be covered with film to speed up seed germination.
- When the shoots appear, the film is removed.
- The late spring sowing period lasts from late May to early July. In this case, the carrot harvest should be expected in late August - early September.
- Carrots love moisture; if you manage to sow before heavy rains, you won’t have to wait long for seedlings.
Choosing good seed
Early varieties
Early varieties characterized by reduced sugar content. They are not suitable for long storage, but just two months after planting they will delight you with the first root crops.
Lady. A high-yielding variety, after three months it can be completely harvested. The root crop has an elongated cylindrical shape, up to 20 cm in length, with a bright red color. Does not crack. Increased carotene content.
Fun F1. Hybrid from Siberia. The harvest can be completely harvested after three months. It grows up to 20 cm and weighs about 200 grams. The pulp is sweet and juicy taste.
Nantes 4. Harvest in 80 days. Orange color, up to 14 cm and weight 160 g. The shape is cylindrical. Contains a lot of useful carotene. Suitable for all climate zones.
Sugar finger. Ripens within 65 days. Orange in color, grows 12 cm in length. Sweet taste. Contains a large number of carotene.
Medium varieties
Medium varieties are formed in 105 – 120 days. Excellent storage in winter.
Losinoostrovskaya. The shape is cylindrical. The ripening period does not exceed 100 days. Tender, very juicy carrots. Does not grow well on clay and sand. Requires abundant systematic watering. Good variety for long-term storage.
Boltex. High-yielding carrot variety, fully formed in 120 days. Bright orange color, length 19 cm, thin skin.
Vitamin 6. Cylindrical shape. Orange color. Completely formed in 100 days. Up to 19 cm. Suitable for winter storage.
Late varieties
Late varieties characterized by long growth over 110 – 130 days. Suitable for long-term storage.
Red giant. The variety was developed by breeders from Germany. Grows in 110 days. Cone shaped. They grow 24 cm and 100 grams. The flesh is red in color. Keeps for a long time.
Queen of Autumn. Ripens in four months. 22 cm. Juicy carrots. It is recommended to sow the root crop in winter.
Carlena. Formed within 130 days. The variety loves loose and fertile soil and timely, abundant watering.
When choosing a carrot variety, it is necessary to take into account the climatic zone where it will be grown, the condition of the soil, and the ripening period. As well as shape, size and storage ability. Having decided, you can move on to choosing a suitable site and preparing the soil.
Selecting a site and preparing the soil for planting
When choosing a location, you need to pay attention to three points:
- site location;
- the quality of the given soil;
- crops that previously grew in this place.
Carrots love sunny places, without shade. The place of future sowing should be under the sun all day, otherwise the formation of root crops will slow down.
Prefers light and loose soil. But not sour. It grows poorly in acidic soil and does not gain sweetness. Sand and old sawdust will help improve the soil, and lime, wood ash and chalk will help reduce acidity. This vegetable crop is selective towards its predecessors.
Carrots are prohibited from planting after parsley, dill, fennel, beets, and sorrel. Successful predecessors for it are tomatoes, pumpkin, onions, garlic, potatoes, and lettuce.
It is better to prepare the soil for sowing in the fall. You need to dig with a shovel one and a half bayonet lengths. If you dig shallowly, the carrots will grow to a hard layer and go sideways. Therefore, instead of smooth, long root crops, you will get ugly specimens.
Fertilizers are added to the soil before digging. Rotted manure is placed half a bucket per square meter. Sawdust is added to heavy soil at the rate of 2 - 3 liters per meter. Carrots grow well if you add fertilizers with phosphate and potassium; wood ash, sand. They dig everything up and leave it. In the spring, they dig everything up again, level it and sow the seeds.
It must be remembered that it is prohibited to use fresh manure as fertilizer. It harms the culture. Fresh manure is rich in nitrogen, and root vegetables are characterized by their ability to quickly accumulate nitrates. Carrots grow Not correct form, and the smell fresh mullein attracts various garden pests.
The soil is ready, now you can approach the selection and preparation of seeds.
Seed preparation
Carrot seeds take a long time to germinate, up to three weeks. The seed coat is impregnated essential oils. They prevent moisture from getting inside. First, the seeds need to be sorted. This is done using salt water. The seed material is thrown into salted water and mixed. Those that float are thrown away, and those that settle can be planted.
Four effective ways, which will ensure rapid germination:
- Soaking seeds in biostimulants (Epin, Fitolife) for 20 hours.
- Treatment with boiling water. Seeds should be placed in a cloth and kept in hot water 20 minutes. Then in cold water.
- Burying seeds in the ground. Seed material is buried for 10 days. When they take it out, the seeds already have sprouts. They can be planted.
- Soak. Carrot seeds are wrapped in wet cloth or cotton wool for a day.
Any method will speed up seed germination.
To increase the frost resistance of seeds, they are hardened. To do this, soaked but not yet sprouted seeds are put in the refrigerator, on a vegetable shelf and kept for a week. Hardening can also be carried out by alternating temperatures.
Seeds purchased second-hand, grown independently, and not famous manufacturers. Seeds from large and well-known producers are usually already ready for planting, they are treated with both insecticides and fungicides.
Granulated seeds that have undergone industrial processing are completely ready for sowing and preliminary preparation dont need. Some seeds are sold on a strip. This simplifies planting and allows you to avoid thinning out the carrots in the future.
Manufacturers also offer seeds in the form of pills. A small carrot seed in a shell of microelements and fertilizers. Such seeds are convenient for planting and they immediately receive all the substances necessary for growth. From this point of view, purchasing seeds large firms– manufacturers, will reduce the time spent on preparation and ensure higher germination.
Seeds prepared independently or industrially can be sown.
Planting carrot seeds
Before planting seeds, it is necessary to assess the soil moisture. If it is dry, you need to moisturize it. Furrows are made in the bed 15 cm apart and 2 cm deep.
There are several planting methods:
- Small seeds are scattered by hand along the grooves.
- Soaked and sprouted seeds are planted more carefully.
- Seeds in the form of dragees.
- From a syringe. Make jelly from flour, add nutrients, cool, and add seeds. Using a syringe, sow evenly into the furrows.
- Seeds on strips of paper. This method will avoid further thinning.
Then the top is covered with earth and compacted by hand or a special board. The carrots are planted. In the future, she requires systematic care.
Planting care
For good harvest the following care is required:
- regular watering;
- loosening;
- timely weeding;
- thinning;
- feeding
Watering
It is carried out after planting the seeds. He is very important. Lack of moisture affects the taste. Carrots become bitter in taste. And it begins to produce side roots that seek moisture, which affects the appearance. Water once every 7 days, taking into account precipitation. They start with three liters per meter, increasing the volume to 20 liters as they grow.
Three weeks before harvesting, stop watering completely.
Loosening
Pass between the rows. Weeding is done as the weeds grow. This procedure can be combined with thinning. Thinning is carried out twice. When the leaves appear and when the carrots are formed. Ideally, the distance should be 15 cm. After the leaves appear, the plant needs to be fed. You can use urea in an amount of 15 g. per meter It responds well to fertilizers with phosphorus and potassium.
Collection of grown carrots and their storage
It is better to harvest carrots in dry weather. You should dig with a shovel. Do not cut the tops, but unscrew them. This will not harm the fetus. Store in the cellar at +5 degrees.
Carrots can be placed in bags with holes, boxes with sawdust and sand. Sawdust is preferable. If the cellar is not humid enough, the sawdust can be moistened with water. Carrots prefer high humidity.
Diseases and garden carrot pests
To harvest healthy, beautiful and tasty carrots, it is important to prevent them from getting sick and preventing small pests from destroying the future harvest.
The plant is susceptible to the following diseases:
- Dry rot. Fungus. There are gray-brown spots on carrot leaves, and the entire root crop is affected. The crop may rot.
- Gray rot. Causes wet rot.
- White rot. Also a fungus. It affects everything in the garden. Spread by mycelium. May enter the soil with manure.
- Bacteriosis. The reason is bacteria. First the leaves turn yellow, then it spreads to the root crop itself, and ulcers form. The plant begins to smell bad.
- Powdery mildew. It appears as a white coating on plants. The affected area is hard and breaks.
- Cercospora blight. Caused by a fungus. Brown spots can be seen on the leaves. Gradually they increase in size and rot.
To prevent diseases, it is important to adhere to the following rules:
- seeds should be disinfected in a weak solution of potassium permanganate;
- treat the soil and plants with biological products; in June the entire garden should be treated with immunocytophyte;
- fertilize.
In addition to diseases, there are pests that love this root vegetable:
- carrot fly;
- carrot psyllid;
- carrot moth;
- root-knot nematode;
- mole cricket;
- wireworm;
- naked slug;
- winter cutworms.
The fight comes down to spraying and watering carrots with solutions of various drugs.
Carrots are a popular plant. It’s rare that a dish is complete without it. It is rich in carotene and other vitamins. Carotene strengthens memory and is good for vision. It's low in calories and full of benefits. By growing this crop in the garden you can get a tasty dietary product. It takes a little effort and you will be pleased with the harvest.
Good afternoon, dear lovers of growing vegetables!
Every summer resident can get large, juicy carrots. Compliance with the rules of agricultural technology allows you to obtain impressive yields in the middle zone, even with deficiencies suitable soil. In this article I will introduce you to some secrets of growing carrots in open ground.
Tips for planting, caring for beds and harvesting carrots from experienced vegetable growers
1. The best soil for carrots - light loamy or sandy loam soils. Heavy soil on the site can be loosened by adding river sand and ash, and make the light weight heavier with high doses of organic matter (ripened compost, peat-manure mixture, humus).
2. Green manures structure the soil well - alfalfa, clover, rye, oats, phacelia, mustard. Their powerful root system loosens the soil to a great depth, and the green mass embedded in the soil, decomposing, enriches the beds with all the nutritional compounds necessary for carrots.
3. Plant carrots about 1 meter wide. Leave 20 cm between the rows. Caring for such a plantation is as simple as possible, the carrot tops are well ventilated, weeding and watering are easy.
4. Do not add fresh organic matter under the carrots - only rotted mullein or compost. Manure contains weed seeds that interfere with the growth of the main crop, and contains high doses of ammonia, which lead to the growth of tops to the detriment of the development of root crops in the soil. It has been noticed that after enriching the soil with fresh manure, carrots grown in it become bitter.
5. Sow carrots to a depth of 2 cm. Small seeds most often do not germinate when planted deeply.
6. It is most convenient to work with seeds coated with a nutrient coating. Granulated planting material It is much larger in size than usual and is easier to plant individually. The distance between such seeds should be about 1 cm.
7. When planting regular carrot seeds, mix them with sand. For half a glass of dry river sand, take 1 teaspoon of non-granulated seeds. Pour the mixture into the grooves as if you were salting soup, moving your hand quickly.
8. Plant seeds in moist soil, watering each furrow clean water.
9. To minimize the work of caring for plantings after the emergence of friendly shoots, mulch the soil with plant residues, for example, mown grass (15 cm layer) or compost (10 cm layer). Vegetable beds do not require loosening or weeding.
10. Plant around the perimeter of the carrot bed. The phytoncides released into the air and soil by these flowers also repel other crop pests.
11. After emergence, feed the carrots with nitrogen by drenching the plantation with a solution of ammonium nitrate or urea (10 grams of mineral fertilizer per standard bucket of water).
12. Be sure to thin out the seedlings after the leaves reach a height of 5 cm. Leave the most powerful shoots. To provide the crop with adequate nutrition, the distance between plants should not be less than 5 cm.
13. The second thinning (the distance in the row between the bushes increases to 10 cm) is carried out in mid-July, so that by the end of summer - beginning of autumn the root crops have grown to their maximum. Use plucked young carrots for culinary purposes or use them for summer harvesting.
14. In the first month and a half, frequent watering should be organized. Moisten the soil every other day in dry weather or 1-2 times a week in cloudy weather.
15. The number of waterings is reduced when the tops grow and shade the soil surface with their leaves.
16. Harvest carrots in dry, sunny weather. Early-ripening varieties ripen by the end of August, mid-ripening ones in early September, and late ones can be in the ground until the 20th of September.
17. After digging up the root crops, the tops are cut to the ground. Next, the carrots are dried under the sun, laid out directly on the garden bed. In the evening of the same day, the fruits are sorted, packing the largest and most intact ones into nets. The rest of the carrots are used for cooking first.
18. Experienced housewives if there is a bountiful harvest, freeze carrots grated on a coarse grater, placing them in small portions in separate plastic bags. Single servings are used for culinary purposes throughout the winter.
Believe that these secrets of growing carrots, when applied in practice, will help you increase the yield of root crops on your site several times. Easy work for you at the dacha every season! See you!
Even experienced gardeners have incidents with carrots - sometimes they don’t sprout, sometimes they produce poorly, or even the root vegetables turn out ugly and tasteless. Growing carrots is a delicate matter and, despite its apparent simplicity, it is replete with many nuances. With this vegetable, a negative result can be evidence of both lack of care and excessive zeal. We propose to consider what mistakes are most often made when cultivating crops and how to avoid them.
Carrots are a delicate matter!
Selecting a location and preparing the bed
Climatic conditions Middle zone Russia is ideal for growing carrots in open ground - they turn out dense, juicy, and sweet. For crops choose open area garden so that it gets a lot of sun - in the shade the plants stretch out, grow with large tops and small root crops. The soil needs to be loose, preferably sandy loam, with a neutral reaction of the soil solution. Considering that in nature ideal conditions are rare, harvest bed you can do it yourself. Clay soils loosen and enrich - add humus, compost, peat, leaf soil, river sand.
When deciding where to grow carrots, advanced gardeners create special organic beds with an airy structure that are very light. The soil is dug up before winter, the acidity is reduced by liming, mineral fertilizers are applied: nitrogen (20–30 g/m²), superphosphate (40–50 g/m²), potassium salt (40–50 g/m²). You need to be careful with organic matter, because root vegetables do not tolerate fresh manure. They are suitable for areas fertilized a year earlier - after cucumber, zucchini, potatoes, cabbage. Typical mistakes:
- Digging is carried out in the spring. This disrupts the structure, reduces natural humidity soil. Seeds, being at a depth of 2–3 cm, do not receive capillary moisture and significantly lose germination.
- They add a lot of nitrogen. Carrots overfed with nitrogen contain a lot of nitrates, taste worse, and are poorly stored.
It is important! No matter how hard you try, but acidic soil(pH below 6–6.5) you will not be able to grow sweet carrots. An acidic environment interferes with the absorption of valuable microelements, including phosphorus and potassium. Taking into account the characteristics of the crop, liming of the soil can be carried out only in winter - before autumn digging.
Seed requirements
Effective carrot cultivation technologies are unthinkable without high-quality seed material. When choosing a variety or hybrid, pay attention to the ripening time, soil requirements, humidity, and relate this to the conditions of your region. Pelleted seeds do not require additional preparation, but they have the peculiarity of watering the soil before and after sowing. The multilayer shell needs to be able to get wet; without this, the seed will not receive the necessary nutrition and water, and therefore will not germinate. Encrusted and primed seeds are sown dry. But ordinary ones need to be prepared for sowing - pre-soaked, disinfected, stimulated with growth regulators. There are many procedures, they main function– accelerate the emergence of seedlings.
Typical mistakes:
- Sowing with dry untreated seeds. They take a long time to germinate, and if they are still sown in cold soil, they can sap.
- Dried seeds do not germinate. There is not enough moisture to dissolve the granule.
Subtleties of sowing
The secrets of growing carrots at this stage are in correct definition sowing timing and technology. To get an early harvest for summer consumption, carrots are sown as soon as the soil is shaken and warms up to 6–8⁰ C. With winter sowing, the moment of ripening can be accelerated by 1–2 weeks. In order to obtain high-quality and shelf-stable root crops for planting for the winter, the sowing dates are shifted by approximately 1–1.5 months - to the first ten days of June.
Sow carrots shallowly (1.5–2 cm), placing them in rows, 12–15 cm ribbons or wide ridges. The bottom of the seed furrow must be compacted, moistened, and only after that the seeds are laid out. They are covered with dry substrate on top - soil from the garden, humus, mulch from rotted organic matter. Sowing methods for growing carrots are recommended to be sparse or precise. They require additional costs and patience, but they will pay off handsomely during harvest and save you time on thinning.
Typical mistakes:
- The furrows were cut, but not compacted or watered. The seeds lay unevenly, rolled under clods of earth, did not receive the necessary moisture - the shoots were uneven and unfriendly. The tip of the root has died due to drying out - a forked root crop will grow.
From sowing to germination
The main thing in growing carrots from sowing to germination is to conserve moisture. Beginning gardeners, seeing that seedlings do not appear, resort to watering. A crust forms on top of the soil, then it becomes covered with cracks through which water intensively evaporates. How to deal with this? Firstly, if you follow the “dry on wet” principle when sowing, then upper layer will reliably retain moisture. Secondly, when a crust appears, surface loosening is carried out with a rake. To make rows of carrots appear earlier, add radishes, lettuce, and spinach to the seeds - they will act as beacons.
Typical mistakes:
- Watering until germination. The achene does not have enough strength to break through the formed crust - the shoots are weak, uneven, and delayed.
Plant care
The technology for growing carrots at the care stage includes such mandatory measures as weeding, loosening, thinning, watering and fertilizing. The thinning procedure is excluded if sparse or precision sowing was used. In this case, if there is a need, the density is adjusted while weeding.
Thinning
The first thinning is carried out with the formation of 2–3 leaves. Weaker shoots are removed, leaving an interval of 2 cm between the remaining ones. The carrots are broken through for the second time when the root crop has grown in diameter to 1.2–1.5 cm, leaving plants after 4–6 cm. How to grow large and even carrots depends , including from the secrets of thinning.
- You need to pull out the excess carefully, without damaging the growing seedling nearby. A damaged root crop sprouts a new root at the site of injury, that is, it bifurcates.
- If you like large carrots, leave the plants less often. To get leveled roots, they should sit shoulder to shoulder in the ground.
- Carry out any weeding on soft soil - after rain or watering.
Note! During thinning, a spicy aroma hangs over the bed, attracting carrot flies. To protect plants from pests, remove weeding waste in a timely manner and work early in the morning or in the evening.
Typical mistakes:
- Thickened seeding. Instead of high-quality root vegetables, you will get “mouse tails”.
- Sparse crops. Non-standard products, large specimens may produce side shoots and growths.
Watering
How to water carrots is the most controversial issue in crop cultivation technology. Supporters of traditional farming recommend doing this infrequently - 4-5 times per season, but plentifully. Water should wet the soil by 40 centimeters, which is 50–60 l/m². The first watering is carried out immediately after the seedlings, then approximately every 15–20 days. IN natural farming Watering is not recommended. Seedlings need abundant moisture before the appearance of 5–6 true leaves. After the first thinning, the beds are mulched with a layer of 5–7 cm and not watered at all or extremely rarely - in the case of a dry summer. There is an explanation for this - the roots of carrots (not to be confused with root vegetables!) reach 2–2.5 m and can provide themselves with the necessary moisture.
In any case, watering must be stopped completely at least a month before harvesting.
Note! How to grow large carrots if you can’t do without watering and there is no water? Plant late-maturing varieties. In the autumn it will rain, dew and fog will fall and the root crop will have time to catch up.
Typical mistakes:
- Frequent but shallow watering. The root crop, in order to receive moisture and nutrition from the upper layers of the soil, begins to grow lateral roots. As a result, “hairy” carrots grow.
- Uneven hydration. If, after a long period of drought, you give abundant watering, there is a high probability of longitudinal cracking of the root crops.
Feeding
Root feeding of carrots is necessary if the full rate of fertilizers was not applied before sowing. They are effective in combination with watering. They are timed to coincide with the end of the breakthroughs, that is, 2-3 times per season. We need balanced fertilizers for root crops, such as Agricola, Bona Forte, Fertika (universal).
Typical mistakes:
- Lack of fertilizers. In depleted soil, the root vegetables will be small; from a lack of potassium, the pulp becomes dense and hard; without phosphorus, it will not gain any sweetness.
Cleaning
The answer to the question of how to grow sweet carrots often depends on the nuances of harvesting. You can’t dig up too early, because last month During the growing season, the vegetable intensively gains sugar. But it’s even more dangerous to leave carrots in the garden too long. A root crop that has been sitting in the ground begins to grow overgrown with young roots, becomes tough, and begins to taste bitter. To avoid such mistakes, when sowing, pay attention to the growing season of the variety and adhere to them.
Typical mistakes:
- Early planting of varieties with a short growing season. If the ripening period arrived at the end of August, and the root crops were removed a month later, you will end up with woody, hairy roots and tasteless carrots.
Confined soil technologies
Being a long-day plant, carrots are not the most popular indoor crop. Nevertheless, growing carrots in a greenhouse allows you to get additional yields of a vitamin-rich vegetable out of season.
What nuances should you keep in mind?
- Early ripening varieties with a short growing season are suitable for sowing in greenhouse conditions, for example, Minikor (88–90 days), Saturno F1 (50–55), Amsterdam (80–85).
- If you sow carrots in February-March, the root crops will ripen by May. The second time is planted no earlier than August and the vitamin harvest is harvested during December-January.
- Until mid-February, while daylight lasts less than 10 hours, it is necessary to use additional lighting with fluorescent lamps.
Otherwise, care is not much different from open ground technologies. Although you shouldn’t count on high yields in a greenhouse, young vegetables with tender, crispy flesh will diversify your table and eliminate the need for long-term storage.
Carrots on raised beds:
Carrots are the most popular vegetable among consumers. It can be purchased on store shelves all year round. But the root vegetable will bring great benefits if you grow it yourself on summer cottage. This can be done subject to compliance certain rules growing carrots.
Almost any crop needs to be fertilized before planting in the spring, and this can be done in the spring after planting at the dacha, or it can be fertilized later directly into the hole. About how to properly care for carrots, how much and what kind of fertilizer to apply, little tricks for applying manure and humus, how to frequent watering and we’ll tell you how to love a plant in the article.
Before sowing seeds in open ground, a gardener must decide why he is growing carrots and when he wants to get the harvest. Sowing time:
- Early spring sowing from April 15 to May 15. Throughout June you can already collect bunches of carrots, and with the arrival of August you can enjoy the sweet root vegetables.
- Summer sowing from May 15 to June 10. The harvest will take place at the end of September; these carrots are stored in the cellar for winter storage.
- Pre-winter sowing from October 20 to November 15 allows you to consume young root crops before harvesting the main harvest. The main thing is to choose right place for beds - it should be located on a hill so that the spring melting of snow does not drown the seeds.
If you sow in all possible timing, then fresh vegetables will be on the table all year round.
During winter sowing, the formation of root crops occurs at a time when the carrot fly is just beginning its life activity. It is not yet capable of harming the harvest in the garden; the vegetables will be of better quality.
Choosing a place for a garden bed
It is no secret that carrots are an unpretentious root vegetable, but to obtain a rich harvest, you still need to create comfortable conditions. When choosing a location for garden beds, the gardener should consider:
- this vegetable crop grows well in illuminated areas;
- fertile loamy-sandy soil with 4% humus and neutral acidity 6-7 pH;
- Previously, potatoes, tomatoes, corn and legumes were grown at the planting site;
- do not use for growing beds where they were previously grown spices(dill, parsley, fennel, etc.);
- it is forbidden plant vegetables in the same area 2 years in a row.
Large root crops of regular shape grow on peat soils , which were formed after the swamps dried out. And on clay soil the carrots will take on an ugly shape due to strong growth resistance.
Before frost, the area for vegetables must be dig up, remove roots and stones. But do not drive the shovel too deep into the ground and destroy the fertile layer. You should dig to a depth of about 0.3 meters. With the onset of spring, level and deeply loosen the surface.
How to plant seeds to get good seedlings
Gardeners practice a variety of methods for planting carrots, all of which have their own advantages and disadvantages:
- Sowing seeds considered the most in a fast way. The gardener simply scatters dry seed into the prepared beds. At the same time, seed consumption cannot be called economical, and the seedlings will be too dense and uneven.
- Dragee- these are seeds placed in a nutritious shell, the shoots are friendly and strong. Their sowing consists of point distribution in small holes. The cost of pelleted seeds is higher, but you won’t have to waste time on thinning.
- Previously sprouted seeds give fast shoots. But in the absence of rain, you will have to water ahead of time; the sprouts are too weak and cannot cope with the pressure of the earth.
- Roll method implies sticking small seeds onto long strips of paper. To plant, you just need to spread the strips in the garden bed, dig it in with soil, water it well and fertilize it. Shoots will appear evenly, but a little later.
- Liquid paste cook from potato starch, cool until room temperature and mix with mineral fertilizers. Add seeds to the resulting liquid and stir quickly. Pour the paste evenly into the grooves. With this method there is no need to thin out the plantings.
Regardless of the chosen planting method, it is better to sow seeds less often, so as not to have to thin out in the future.
You can have a garden bed cover with film for 2-3 weeks before the first shoots appear. Thus, weeds will not interfere with plant growth, and a crust will not form on the soil, preventing moisture from penetrating to the roots.
If dry planting material is selected for sowing, additional preparation is required. You can disinfect it by soaking the seeds in water heated to 40 degrees. But it's better to hold them in a solution of potassium permanganate– 1 g of substance per 100 ml of liquid. The procedure time should not exceed 20 minutes, after which the seeds must be rinsed well with clean water and dried.
Some gardeners use specialized plant growth stimulants already at the seed preparation stage. But to obtain an environmentally friendly harvest, this is not recommended.
Secrets of caring for carrots after planting
Carrots belong to difficult to germinate and slow growing vegetable crops. Don’t think that once you sow it, you can forget about the beds until harvest.
In order for the root crops to be strong and large and consistent with the varietal quality, they should be looked after.
Fertilizers, fertilizing and folk remedies
A gardener will reap an average harvest in terms of quality and quantity if he limits himself to applying fertilizer during the autumn digging of the plot.
The plant needs feeding throughout the growing season.
So, first time feed the vegetable a month after entry. At 10 l. water dissolve 1 tbsp. l. nitrofoski – classic mineral fertilizer, containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The same solution is also used in the second feeding after 2 weeks and on the third- at the beginning of August.
The best potassium fertilizer is this folk remedy How tincture of ash. To prepare it, you need to pour 150 g of dry ash in parts into a bucket of water. Stir the mixture until the ash is completely dissolved. At 10 l. dilute 1 liter of water. tincture and feed and water the root crops of carrots or beets with this liquid during the second half of the growing season.
How to water during the growing period
When growing root vegetables special meaning The irrigation system is playing. Indeed, if the soil moisture is insufficient, the young roots of the plant will die, and overwatering the beds will lead to the fact that only livestock will be able to feed on the harvest.
Therefore, immediately after sowing, the period of proper watering of the beds begins:
- The method used to stimulate the inputs is sprinkling(300-400 m3/ha), and then several receptions drip irrigation(20-30 m3/ha).
- After the inputs appear, depending on weather conditions watering is carried out every 2-3 days small volume of water.
- During the period of root crop formation, the soil moisture regime changes - the frequency decreases, the volume of water increases.
- Active growth of vegetables is accompanied by infrequent watering (once every 7-10 days), but moisture should penetrate into the ground to a depth of 10-15 cm.
- One month before harvest, watering do not carry out even in the absence of rain. Excess moisture during this period will worsen the taste and keeping quality of vegetables.
Before digging up root crops, it is advisable to moisten the soil a little. Thus, the process is facilitated, and the crop improves its ability to be stored fresh.
Proper weeding
One of the least favorite things gardeners do is weeding their beds. But you can’t do without this tedious task, otherwise you can lose your entire harvest due to the “attack” of weeds.
At the initial stage, when the plants have not yet sprouted, an area with crops is recommended cover with several layers of newspapers and cover with film on top. With this method, the soil warms up well and retains moisture, but weeds cannot actively grow. After 2 weeks, the innovative shelter should be removed and wait for the emergence of seedlings.
After 10-15 days the plant appears first real leaf- this is a signal to start weeding. The procedure must be done very carefully so as not to capture the cultivated shoots along with the weeds.
When the 2nd leaf forms, weed combined with thinning, if sowing was carried out chaotically and the plantings were thickened. There should be a distance of 2-3 cm between plants. It is important to pull the sprouts up and not to the side, otherwise the root of the neighboring vegetable will be damaged.
The most convenient way to thin out is with the help of a female eyebrow plucking device - tweezers. It captures even the thinnest shoots without harming the rest of the plant.
During the entire growth period between the beds and plants, it is necessary to weed out weeds and loosen the soil. A month after the first thinning, repeat the procedure so that there is a distance of 4-5 cm between the root crops, but the already pulled vegetables can be eaten.
Growing carrots takes a lot of effort and time, but the rich and quality harvest a healthy vegetable will cover all the inconveniences. The main thing is to follow the basic rules of planting and caring for plants. And then a tasty and crispy vegetable will be in the daily diet of the whole family, it will give all its nutrients and microelements.
No one personal plot It is impossible to imagine without the tufts of feathery carrot leaves above the beds. This is one of the most sought after root vegetables. But even experienced gardeners sometimes they cannot get a harvest of even, large carrots, the cultivation and care of which, it would seem, have been mastered for a long time. What are the reasons for failure, and how to grow good carrots?
Choosing a site for carrots
How to grow carrots in open ground? The popular root crop requires attention not only during cultivation; caring for the harvest begins with choosing a site. Carrots, like all root vegetables, are very demanding on conditions, especially on the site where the beds are laid out.
If in the fall ugly, underdeveloped, branched or bursting root crops appear from the soil, there may be several reasons:
- applying fertilizers containing chlorine to crops;
- spring soil deoxidation;
- poor digging of the beds, as well as lumps, stones and large organic residues left in the soil;
- lack of lighting;
- excessively dry soil or overwatering carrots;
- excess nitrogen fertilizers;
- rough uneven weeding or thickened plantings.
Moreover, many factors negatively affect appearance root vegetables, and to their taste. Therefore, the area for carrots is selected especially carefully. To get high-quality carrots, and planting and caring for them were not in vain:
- the soil should be light, loose and fertile;
- plantings should not lack light;
- Preparations for sowing begin in the fall.
Preparing the soil for carrots
Before the onset of cold weather, carefully dig up the soil, remove roots and stones. If necessary, add dolomite flour, lime, and a complex of potash and phosphate fertilizers. In the spring, the area for carrots is fertilized again and deeply loosened.
Often gardeners, sharing their experience on how to grow carrots in open ground, advise paying attention to. It’s good if, before carrots, zucchini or pumpkins, legumes, onions, potatoes or other nightshades grew in the garden. If carrots, parsley or celery were already growing on the plot last season, then this year the yield may decrease, and the crops may be susceptible to carrot diseases or pest invasion. It is possible to return the carrot planting to its original place only after four years.
Carrot planting dates
No less important than the choice of planting site is the timing of sowing. Wanting to grow good carrots as early as possible, summer residents try to use the frost resistance of the plant:
- Seeds begin to germinate already at +3° C.
- The seedlings are not afraid of frosts down to –2° C.
- Well-developed plants tolerate frost down to –4° C.
- Optimal temperature conditions The range is considered to be from 18–24° C.
- At temperatures above +25 °C, carrot growth slows down.
And although returning cold weather negatively affects the shelf life of root crops, this does not prevent gardeners from planting carrots in the pre-winter or spring, if the climate allows, to obtain early harvest. For such crops, early ripening carrots are chosen.
Planting and caring for root crops intended for storage is carried out after the daytime temperature has reached about 15 ° C.
Carrot planting and care of seedlings
Only high-quality seeds, carefully sorted and disinfected, can produce a bountiful harvest. And to facilitate sowing experienced summer residents offer several simple techniques.
Carrot seeds:
- mixed in equal parts with washed dry sand;
- add to the seeds of quickly germinating crops, for example, lettuce or radishes, in order to notice plantings as early as possible and carry out the first weeding;
- mixed with flour or starch paste, which is poured in a stream into the prepared furrows;
- glued onto narrow paper strips.
These measures, as well as pelleted seeds, simplify sowing carrots, growing and caring for the plantation, because thinning and weeding become less burdensome.
Before sowing, the beds are loosened to a bayonet depth, leveled, and moistened furrows 2 cm deep are prepared 25 cm apart. When the carrots are sown, the furrows are sealed with a mixture of sand and peat or loose soil, and the plantings are covered with film without watering.
Film:
- will not allow the moisture needed by the seeds to evaporate;
- will prevent attack on seedlings dangerous pests carrots;
- will not allow a crust to form on the soil surface;
- It will increase, which is important for early sowing, soil temperature and accelerate germination.
The film is removed only after carrots have sprung up; growing and caring for them now involves regularly loosening the soil, watering and weeding the beds.
Care
When answering the question: “How to grow carrots in open ground?”, experts always focus on the need to thin out the seedlings. But it is sometimes so difficult for summer residents to part with sprouts that are just putting out their leaves. As a result, the quantity of carrots grown is large, but its quality does not completely please summer residents.
To get a good harvest, it is necessary to break through the seedlings in a timely manner:
- When the first pair of true leaves open on the shoots, the carrots undergo the first thinning, leaving a gap of 3 cm.
- With two pairs of leaves, excess shoots are again removed, leveling the resulting holes.
Thinning is carried out after watering in evening time so that the sun does not harm injured sprouts, and the smell of greenery does not attract carrot pests. The removed plants are pulled carefully, without loosening them in the ground.
A crust on the surface of the bed can interfere with the growth of good carrots; after watering, it is regularly destroyed by carefully loosening the soil, or the soil is covered with peat mulch. To top part Root crops that grow and protrude above the soil level do not turn green; carrots are hilled up from time to time.
Watering and fertilizing carrots
The duration of the growing season for carrots is 4–5 months. In the first half of the period, the plant increases its mass of greenery, requiring abundant water, and then the growth of root crops begins, reacting negatively to waterlogging.
- One square meter of young plants requires up to 4 liters of water three times a week.
- As the carrots grow, up to the middle of the growing season, watering is increased.
- After two months, the carrots are watered once a week, using 8–10 liters per meter of area.
When thinking about how to grow good carrots, we must not forget about protecting plants from pests. It is also important to prevent carrot diseases, which can seriously affect the quality of the crop and its safety.
Complex fertilizers for carrots are applied twice. The first is carried out a month after the sprouts appear, and the second another two months later.
Sowing carrots in open ground - video