Perhaps or how to grow carrots on July 20. Growing carrots using new technologies

Carrots are one of the most common vegetables in garden beds; they are grown in almost all areas. But every vegetable grower has different yields. What is this connected with? With violations of the rules for growing this healthy vegetable. Carrots grow better on light fertile soils, heavy soils cause improper development of the root crop, it bends, the lower end bifurcates. Such changes cause loss presentation harvest.

Acidity should be neutral, depth groundwater average The best predecessors– legumes, grains, cabbage, onions. Carrots are prohibited from being sown after parsley, dill, caraway seeds, and parsnips. This is not a monoculture; the plant can be returned to its original place no earlier than after three to four years. Otherwise, there is a high probability of plant disease; pathogens accumulate in the soil.

There are no strict restrictions on planting dates. If carrots are grown as a vitamin supplement for the table, then they should be sown as early as possible. Seeds can be sown at ground temperature at a depth of 2–5 cm, approximately +4–5°C. At winter sowing growing conditions are as close to natural as possible.

In the fall, the seeds undergo vernalization, and next year it is possible to harvest the crop several weeks earlier than with spring sowing. But this method has a drawback - such carrots cannot be stored; they are intended for use or processing.

Spring sowing is recommended to be done immediately after the snow melts; the soil should have maximum moisture. If root crops are planned to be stored all winter, then sowing begins in the second half of May. Of course these calendar dates very conditional, for each climate zone there are requirements and restrictions.

Soil preparation

Carrots are a rather demanding plant in terms of soil nutrition. Fertilizers can be applied as the plant grows or the soil can be prepared immediately before sowing. Both methods are equivalent and depend on what fertilizers you have. If organic fertilizers are available, they are applied immediately before sowing. Dose – approximately 2 kg of humus per 1 m2 of bed. If the soils are heavy clay, then simultaneously with the application of fertilizers you need to add river sand to improve the structure.

Very important. Never apply concentrated chicken manure or fresh manure as fertilizer. Chicken droppings will scorch the earth; it must be diluted at the rate of 10 liters of water per 1 kg of droppings, and then this water must be diluted again in a ratio of 1:10. Fresh manure serves as a source of various weeds.

Seed preparation

There are two problems with carrot seeds: they are very small (it is difficult to maintain the seeding rate) and they do not germinate well. They need to be prepared before sowing.

1. Soak the seeds overnight in warm water, it is advisable to change the water several times. After soaking, they can be kept in the refrigerator for one to two days to stratify.
2. Perform heat treatment in hot water. Such stress increases seed germination and destroys diseases. Seeds wrapped in cloth are immersed in hot water(+50°C), then washed in cold.
3. Apply the bubbling method. To do this, they are soaked in various biostimulants.

There are also quite exotic methods of preparing seeds in nutrient gel solutions with subsequent sowing using culinary syringe or package. We do not recommend using them, it’s more hassle than results. Soak in water or stimulant and you can sow.

Carrot seed sowing technology

Be sure to sow in moist soil. If there has been no rain for a long time, and time is running out, then the beds should be watered abundantly in the evening and fluffed up in the morning before sowing. Next, the process is performed according to the following algorithm.

Step 1. Make furrows in the beds. The depth is 2–3 cm, the distance between them is 25–30 cm. The grooves can be made with a simple ripper, a stick, etc. They will stick perfectly in wet soil and will not fall asleep ahead of time. If the bed is very wide, then make half furrows on one side and then on the other. It’s easier and faster this way, and the earth won’t be compacted once again.

Step 2. Carefully sow the prepared seeds into the cut grooves.

Practical advice. Try to choose calm weather. Carrot seeds are very light and can be carried throughout the garden by gusts of wind. In such cases, it is very difficult to find out where the grooves were.

Pre-glue the seeds to the rolls toilet paper- monkey's work. It is much easier to weed them later than to select and glue the seeds. Very economical growers can purchase pelleted seeds. The manufacturer packaged each seed in a separate helium shell containing water and nutrients. Due to this, the seeds have become large, they can be sown strictly at distances, and subsequent weeding is not required.

Step 3. After sowing, the furrows should be covered with soil as quickly as possible, this will prevent the soil and seeds from drying out. If the bed is wide, divide it into parts.

Very important. To speed up the emergence of seedlings and improve germination, the grooves need to be compacted. This can be done by hand or any simple device.

What does compaction give? The soil adheres more tightly to the seeds, they do not dry out, and the conditions for seedlings to emerge become favorable. But there is one condition - if the soil has sufficient moisture. Compacted soil releases moisture much faster (which is why the top layer is fluffed up); if there is no rain for several days after sowing, be sure to water the bed thoroughly.

Important. Watering should only be done by sprinkling; pouring water directly from a hose is prohibited. A strong stream of water will wash the small carrot seeds to the surface. Most of them will not sprout, but the rest will grow throughout the entire area.

Weed control can only begin after carrots have emerged, otherwise there is a high risk of damaging them. Perennial weeds have a very developed root system and, when removed from the ground, will certainly damage the tender roots of carrots. Now all that remains is to wait for germination and continue with agrotechnical cultivation techniques.

Important. Beds with carrots must be watered abundantly daily until resistant plants appear. How to find out the optimal amount of water per bed? Very simple. Pour the usual amount of water onto the ground, make a hole and see how deep the water has seeped. We guarantee that you will be unpleasantly surprised. After normal watering, moisture will seep to a depth of about 1–2 cm, which is very little. You need to water until the soil is wet to a depth of at least five centimeters. This will take a lot of time, be prepared for difficulties or do automatic watering.

Thinning of seedlings

Carrot seedlings have one unpleasant feature - uneven germination. All seeds were prepared for sowing in exactly the same way, sown at the same time and at the same depth, and the difference in the appearance of seedlings can reach a week. What this is connected with cannot even be explained experienced gardeners. But there is nothing to worry about if there are empty areas on the grooves. This is not a defect during sowing, this is a feature of the plant; over time, shoots will appear here too.

The first thinning and weeding should be done as soon as the height of the seedlings has reached 2–3 centimeters. During this period, it is already clearly visible where and in what condition they are cultivated plants, and where the weeds begin to clog the bed. Pull out the sprouts one at a time, try to make straight line sowing. The distance between the remaining carrot sprouts is about a centimeter, no more is needed. You will still have to do a second thinning, during which the distance will be set according to the requirements of agricultural technology.

Practical advice. Thinning, like weeding, is best done immediately after rain. If there is no precipitation and the plants are overgrown, then you need to water them abundantly in the evening, and in the morning carry out the planned work on the damp bed.

The second thinning should be done after a small root crop and real carrot tops appear. Thickened plants are the reason for a decrease in yield; some vegetable growers do not know this and try to leave it as more plants. This approach can only increase the number, but not the total weight of root vegetables. In addition, the yield of food products from small root vegetables is very small; peeling them is long and difficult.

Plant care

Carrots have good natural properties protection from pests and diseases, and copes with most of them independently. Only a carrot fly can bring significant harm, plants need help to fight it. Currently in implementation there is big choice quite effective chemicals to combat this pest. But you can use them no later than two weeks before eating root vegetables. And housewives use carrots from their beds for cooking long before the final harvest. Some of them thin out plants in this way right up to the moment of mass harvesting.

There is no less effective, but completely harmless way fight against carrot fly - ordinary ash obtained after burning firewood. Keep in mind, these are not black coals, but fluffy, almost weightless ash. gray. Pour it into a gauze bag and gently spread it over the carrot bed. Do not overdo the dose, ash is a very aggressive chemical compound (alkali). In addition to pest control, it is used as an effective natural fertilizer. Ash, by the way, repels not only the carrot fly, but also many other pests, including aphids.

As for moles and mice, it is useless to fight them. The most modern ultrasonic devices do a great job of saving money in your wallet; their effectiveness in garden beds is zero, you can trust experienced plant growers. What to do with them? Never mind, in a year they will leave your site on their own because carrots are not the main thing for them. food product. As soon as the moles “clean up” all the bugs on the site, the whole family will immediately move to another place.

Watering

As with all root crops, the amount of moisture has a direct impact on yield. Root system carrots are quite branched; water can be obtained from a depth of up to 40 centimeters. Such structural features of the plant put forward their own requirements for watering - this should be done rarely, but to a great depth. Upper layer The tops perfectly protect the soil from drying out; it provides dense shade; the sun cannot reach the surface of the bed. Watering depth is at least ten centimeters. This needs to be checked using ordinary pits. Make them in the garden bed with a stick and see how deep the water seeps in after watering. Not enough - repeat watering with greater intensity.

It is recommended to harvest carrots during the dry period; if you dig them up after rains, storage problems will arise. To make it easier to pull plants from the ground, it is recommended to dig them up along the row with a bayonet shovel. Don't use a pitchfork as some people advise. The forks do not lift the ground and do not make root crops easier to harvest.

It is better not to cut the tops with a knife, but to “unscrew them”. Such folk way completely eliminates damage to the upper part of the root crop with a knife, increases the storage time of the crop. The tops are unscrewed very easily, and the process is much faster than working with a knife.

Carrots should be stored at a temperature of +5-7°C, air humidity at least 90%. To prevent moisture evaporation, root vegetables can be stored in plastic bags With small holes, boxes with sand or raw sawdust. By the way, the use of sawdust turned out to be the most effective method. Even next summer The skin on carrots is smooth, the fruit is not wrinkled or dry. The difference from fresh is the presence of a small number of small white roots. If the air in the cellar is too dry, it is recommended to periodically moisten the sawdust with water.

Video - Growing carrots in open ground

Video - How to grow productive carrots in high beds

One of the most popular vegetables on our table is carrots. Having planted it in our garden in the spring, by autumn we expect a good and rich harvest. How disappointed we are when we dig up gnarled, cracked roots. What is the reason? It turns out that growing carrots requires following certain rules.

What are the benefits of carrots?

Everyone loves carrots. It is good both boiled in soups, salads, and raw. The main and most useful component root vegetables are carotenoids. It is they who give the vegetable its beautiful Orange color. But their most important advantage is antioxidants, substances that help remove free radicals and toxins from our body and protect the body’s cells from malignant degeneration. In terms of the amount of carotenoids, carrots are second only to bell peppers.

Beta-carotene (provitamin A) has a good effect on the condition of the skin and vision. It is a fat-soluble vitamin, so it is better absorbed when combined with fat. To obtain maximum benefit from vegetables, salads with raw carrots better refuel vegetable oil or sour cream. This salad will bring more benefit body. And sauté carrots for soups in small quantity fat

Carrots contain a lot of B vitamins, vitamins E, K, D, C, pantothenic acid, flavonoids, anthocyanidins, fatty acids, essential oils. Fruits contain quite a lot of sugar, from 3 to 15%, which gives sweet taste. Carrots contain a lot of potassium, calcium, iron, manganese, iodine, magnesium, phosphorus and other trace elements.

Teach your children to chew raw carrots. Children will not only receive a lot of vitamins and microelements, but will also strengthen their gums and teeth.

How to grow a beautiful and rich carrot crop?

When growing carrots, pay attention to a number of factors that negatively affect the yield. quality harvest. Many people, especially new gardeners, don’t know what to do. For a good harvest, several rules must be followed.

1. Regular watering . It is very important to water properly, especially after a drought. Water your carrots regularly and avoid letting the soil dry out. At irregular watering, when after a drought you flood the soil with water or during prolonged rains, the root crops begin to crack.

Excess moisture, and even with too thinned crops, promotes increased fruit growth. But at the same time, the fruits become coarser and lose their suitability for consumption. With a lack of moisture, carrots lose their juiciness.

1. 1. Sowing in a dark place . Carrots love open and sunny places. Darkness of planting leads to a decrease in sugar content and weight of the vegetable.

1. The best soil – light loams and sandy loams. When grown on acidic soils, carrots lose their sweetness and grow ugly. Carrots do not like saline or acidic soil. In dense and clayey soil, carrots will not be able to grow normally; they take on a disproportionate shape and an unpleasant taste.
2. Doesn't like fresh manure , root crops grow clumsy and ugly. It makes no sense to leave such carrots for storage until spring.
3. Fertilizers. If you fertilize carrots, then know that they do not like mineral fertilizers. It is better to use urea and organic matter (humus, infusion of cut grass).
4. Thinning necessary for the formation of a strong, beautiful root crop. Thin out the seedlings carefully, otherwise you can damage the roots of neighboring seedlings, which will cause them to branch and deform. The first thinning is done in the phase of three true leaves. Thin out during the day, preferably in sunny weather, so that onion fly did not infect the carrots. It is not recommended to thin out in the evening; the onion fly flies around the garden at this time. The second thinning is carried out 20-25 days after the first, the seedlings are left at a distance of 2 cm, the third is carried out at a distance of 6 cm from one plant to another. In order not to bother with thinning, I buy granulated seeds. When planting, you can immediately spread them out at the required distance from each other, then you won’t have to deal with thinning.

1. Weed removal . Weeds are the scourge of our gardens. Various herbicides are now commercially available for weed control. But I would not recommend using them in the garden. It is better to remove weeds by hand. You can use traditional methods, spraying the product with a spray bottle before planting the seeds.

Carrots are very responsive to proper care. When growing it in your beds, do not forget these recommendations, then good harvest you will be provided.

Carrots, as one of the most popular root crops, are cultivated everywhere. When growing it, it is important to follow the basic rules of agricultural technology and crop rotation. Only this approach will allow you to grow large and even carrots in the garden. Of course, every farmer has his own secrets of cultivating this vegetable crop, but ultimately everything is aimed at creating the maximum favorable conditions for the growth and development of fruits.

What varieties of carrots are best to plant?

To grow sweet carrots in the country, you should give preference to zoned varieties with high taste. There is a huge selection in specialized retail outlets seed material different periods ripening (early, middle, late), sugar content indicators, storage duration.

Secret successful cultivation carrots is a well-chosen variety:

1. Nantskaya-4, Shantane, Karotelka – representatives universal options who have high immunity to diseases and harmful insects. They are easy to care for and resistant to negative factors. environment.
2. Moscow winter A-545 is suitable for cultivation in all regions of Russia.
3. Polar cranberries are distinguished by a very early ripening period, the ability to produce a harvest within 2 months of growth, it can be planted in northern latitudes.
4. If the crop is planned to be included in the diet of young children, you should pay attention to Vitamin-6, Viking, Children's sweets, Sugar gourmet. They contain a lot of carotene and sugar. The last one is especially sweet. The advantage of Children's sweets is their long shelf life, right up to the next harvest.

Shantanay
Karotel
Moscow winter

polar cranberry
Viking
Vitamin 6

Children's sweetness
Moscow winter
Nantes 4

Thanks to breeders who are constantly working on creating new varieties and hybrids, choose best option will not amount to special labor.

Conditions for a good carrot harvest

To get a high-quality and tasty harvest, you need to know how to properly plant carrots in your garden. When choosing a place for planting, it is better to give preference to soils rich in humus. Carrots love sandy loam soil, loam, and drained peat bogs. Most gardeners are confident that the crop grows well on such land. On a dense clay soil and heavy chernozems, it is unlikely that it will be possible to obtain even fruits, since it is practically impossible for the vegetable to overcome the resistance of the soil.

It is better to plan a garden bed in areas where cucumbers, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, garlic, and onions previously grew.

Long and large carrots can be grown at a temperature of 18-25°C; in hot conditions, metabolic processes inside the root crops slow down. For seeds optimal temperature is 3°C. The crop is sufficiently cold-resistant and drought-resistant; its seedlings can withstand frosts of -2°C, and mature plantings can withstand temperatures of -4°C.

Soil requirements

The land for sowing needs to be prepared in the fall. All tops remaining after harvesting are removed from the site. If there are stones or rhizomes at the site of the proposed bed, it is necessary to dig up the soil using the bayonet of a shovel. The soil must be fertilized with complex compounds that do not contain chloride forms. The nutrient mixture is added to the soil while large lumps are crushed, after which the area is leveled with a rake. The soil for carrots should be enriched with useful microelements.

If there is a need to add deoxidizers in the form of dolomite flour and lime, they are added to the soil in the fall.

It is better to use fertilizers 2-3 weeks before planting seeds in the soil. To grow large root crops, it is recommended to add sand, perlite, and vermiculite to the garden bed.

Carrot sowing dates To grow good carrots, sowing is done when the ground warms up to 3-4°C. Such work should only be carried out with varieties early dates

maturation. The appearance of the first shoots is expected already on the 20-30th day. But it is best to plant the crop at a soil temperature of +8-10°C. Seedlings grow on the 12-15th day. Before winter, it is better to sow carrots in late October - early November. These deadlines are relevant for middle zone

Russia. It is not recommended to plant seed material in the soil at an earlier date, so that it does not germinate and die during frost.

Agrotechnical techniques to increase yield and taste Not all beginning gardeners know how to grow a good and tasty carrot crop. But they exist basic techniques

that allow you to achieve high results. First of all, while the plants are still young and weak (in June), they need to be watered several times. In July, irrigation should be temporarily stopped, which will stimulate root crops to grow deeper in search of moisture.

It is very important to add mulch every week. If there is such a covering layer, there is no need to loosen the soil and remove weeds. When growing carrots, every gardener wants to know how to get high yield from this culture. For correct formation Excess of root vegetables should be avoided and moisture in the soil. It is better to underfeed than to overfeed. It is not recommended to add fresh manure, lime, or regularly add wood ash or nitrogen compounds to the beds. Providing landings comfortable conditions growth, the farmer promotes the growth of fruits in breadth and sideways. Particular attention should be paid to checking plantings for the presence of diseases and pests.

There is an opinion among gardeners that it is necessary to trim the tops at the last stage of fruit ripening. It is important to understand here that in green leaves and stems the process of photosynthesis is still ongoing, therefore, such manipulation is not worth doing. Otherwise, carrot growth stops.

Features of sowing

Before planting seeds in the ground, it is recommended to disinfect, soak and germinate them. The already processed material is dried and sown. This technique allows you to get seedlings after 6-10 days. If you plant dry seeds in insufficiently moistened soil, their germination can be expected only after 40 days.

The bed also needs to be prepared before sowing. To do this, the ground is loosened 10-15 cm deep, after which the surface is leveled and grooves are made 5 cm wide and 2 cm deep. You should not deepen the seeds too much, as this significantly slows down their germination. The grooves are made at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other.

To obtain uniform shoots, the depth in the grooves must be the same. The seeds are sown in moist soil, maintaining a gap of 1.5-2 cm between them. It is very important to know at what distance to plant the crop in order to avoid thinning the carrots in the future.

Watering and hilling

When growing carrots in open ground Special attention should be given to the irrigation system. If there is not enough moisture, young plants will simply die. Overwatering promotes the growth of root crops and their deterioration taste qualities, such a crop is more suitable for feeding livestock. Based on this, watering should be carried out according to following diagram:

• To improve the growth of young seedlings, the sprinkling method is used at a rate of 300-400 m3/ha; drip irrigation 20-30 m3/ha. The frequency of the procedure is every 2-3 days, everything will depend on weather conditions.
• When the period of fruit formation begins, the frequency of watering should be reduced and the volume of water increased. Irrigation is done once every 7-10 days. The soil should be moistened to a depth of 10-15 cm.
• Watering is stopped 1 month before harvest. Otherwise excess moisture worsens the taste of root vegetables and reduces shelf life. To facilitate the process of digging carrots, the bed should be slightly moistened.

A technique such as hilling protects plantings from exposure to ultraviolet radiation and reduces the likelihood of plants getting sunburn. In addition, it will be possible to avoid greening of the root crop. It is advisable to carry out the manipulation in cloudy weather or in the evening hours.

Carrot feeding

To keep carrots sweet and juicy, you should periodically add nutrients to the soil. Number of feedings per season – 2. The first procedure is carried out 3-4 weeks after germination, and the next - 2 months later. It is convenient and effective to use fertilizers in liquid form. There are several options for such dressings, where the selected ingredient is diluted in 10 liters of water:

• 1 tbsp. l. nitrophoska;
• 2 glasses wood ash;
• a mixture of potassium nitrate (20 g), urea (15 g) and double superphosphate(15 g).

Folk remedies

Considering that the crop grows better on neutral or slightly acidic soil, ground and crushed chalk is used when planting if the soil is too acidic. Ash, dolomite, and lime are also suitable for these purposes. To enrich the soil it is recommended to use organic fertilizer at the rate of 1 bucket per 1 sq. m.

To grow large root crops, you can use not only ready-made store-bought fertilizers, but also folk remedies. A fertilizer made from three components has gained popularity: nettle, yeast and wood ash. First, the container is filled to ¾ of the volume with phyto-raw materials, then yeast and ash are added. After keeping it in the sun, the mixture is used in the proportion of 1 liter of fertilizer per 10 liters of water. On average, one bucket of nutrient mixture is used per bed.

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 cannot get an even harvest. 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 clods, 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, enter dolomite flour, lime, complex of potassium 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 conducting, if the climate allows, pre-winter or spring crops carrots for an 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

Give bountiful harvest Only high-quality seeds, carefully sorted and disinfected, can be used. And to facilitate sowing experienced summer residents offer several simple techniques.

Carrot seeds:

• V equal shares mixed 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 dangerous carrot pests from attacking the seedlings;
• will not allow a crust to form on the soil surface;
• will increase, which is important when early sowing, soil temperature and will speed up 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 the evening, 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, which react negatively to waterlogging.

• For one square meter young plants require 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

Carrots are a very useful vegetable in the kitchen! All year round we add it to hot dishes, use it in fresh and mix salads. The cost of carrots in the store is low, so maybe it would be more convenient to just buy root vegetables as needed, without spending time growing them? However, closer to spring, store-bought carrots begin to rise in price significantly, their quality noticeably deteriorates, and those who did not stock up on time have a hard time.

That is why every garden must have a bed for this beloved vegetable crop, and experienced gardeners exchange experience with beginners on how to plant carrots correctly in order to obtain a rich harvest of healthy root crops.

If you have never had to grow vegetables before, and you have no idea how to plant carrots, or you just can’t grow normal, tasty root vegetables, our article will definitely be useful to you. We will talk about how to plant carrots with seeds, how to care for young seedlings, and how to protect the garden bed from...

Video about preparing carrot seeds for planting

Depending on what variety of seeds you bought, the timing of their sowing will vary. So, in the twentieth of April you can start sowing early ripening varieties, from April 25 to approximately May 5 they begin to sow mid-season varieties, and planting carrots intended for winter storage, held June 10-15.

For a carrot bed, it is recommended to choose an area where there are not too many weeds, since the weeds will sprout before the carrots and prevent them from growing. The soil should be loose, preferably containing sand. In heavy soil, root crops can turn out curved, clumsy, and small. If there is a constantly high level of moisture in the soil, the root crops will rot, and in dry soil the carrots will turn out “wooden”.

Also consider after what crops you will sow carrots. It is best to choose those areas where cucumbers, tomatoes, garlic, onions, cabbage, potatoes or greens (except lettuce) grew last year. After parsley better carrots do not plant, as pests that are dangerous for carrots may remain in the soil.

In heavy soil, root crops can turn out curved, clumsy, and small

Dig up the soil in the garden bed in the fall, and in the spring, go over the ground with a flat cutter. There is no need to dig additionally - settled soil is preferable for carrots. The most important thing is not to apply fresh manure to the soil, since carrots do not tolerate its acidity. The bed can be fertilized mineral fertilizers a couple of weeks before planting carrots.

Carrots are planted with seeds immediately open ground. Prepare the seeds in advance:

• soak for two hours in clean water room temperature;
• scatter the seeds on a damp cloth and cover with another damp cloth on top;
• keep the seeds in the room, stirring them gently from time to time;
• soak the fabric when dry;
• When the seeds are completely swollen and begin to hatch, move them to the refrigerator for 10 days for hardening.

Simple and accessible information on how to plant carrots correctly

It is enough to maintain a distance between seeds of 1.5 cm

Sprinkle the bed reserved for carrots with ash, cut each groove in it up to 2.5 cm deep, leaving row spacing of 20 cm, and 12 cm along the edges of the bed. Sprinkle the grooves with water and sow the prepared seeds. It is enough to maintain a distance of 1.5 cm between seeds. Level the furrows with earth. It is recommended to stretch the film on top of the bed at a height of 15 cm so that seedlings appear faster, and when greenery appears, the film can be removed.

Experienced gardeners, in an effort to simplify the process of sowing seeds, sometimes come up with quite unusual methods how to plant carrots: some people mix the seed material with sand before sowing, while others first stick one seed at a time onto thin paper strips (you can use toilet paper). Pick up a carrot seed with a toothpick and dip it in paper glue or in a paste and applied every 5 cm on paper. Such paper strips are laid in furrows and sprinkled with soil on top.

Video about growing carrots

Plant radishes along the edges of the bed; they will sprout quite quickly, marking the carrot rows, and you can start loosening the rows early (carrots love frequent loosening). It is also very useful to plant on carrot bed onion, since its smell drives away carrot flies - the most dangerous pest carrots.

At first, the garden bed should be watered abundantly, and when the first shoots turn green, reduce watering to twice a week. Although not all of the seed material will sprout, the seedlings will still need to be thinned out after the formation of the first leaf, leaving the strongest plants.