Agricultural technology for growing carrots in open ground. Carrots planting and care in open ground, planting time, correct sowing, watering and further care. How to plant carrots before winter

Not a single garden can do without carrots. Along with potatoes, it occupies one of the most honorable places in cooking, which is why growing carrots in open ground is practiced everywhere. There is nothing complicated in the agricultural technology of the crop, however, in order to get a high yield of tasty and healthy root crops, you need to know some subtleties about the crop’s requirements for conditions and care.

Not only the overall yield, but also the entire process of growing carrots depends on the quality of the seeds. The speed of its germination, resistance to negative influences, and, finally, the ripening period of root crops depend on how fresh the seed is; the sooner the seeds sprout, the sooner you can enjoy carrots. In order for each of these stages to be successful, it is necessary to approach the selection of seed material responsibly.

If you purchase ready-made seeds in a store or market, be sure to pay attention to the expiration date. Carrots are not one of those crops whose seeds become even better over time, so you need to choose the freshest material. There are several external signs by which you can determine the freshness of seeds. First of all, they should not be very dry and flattened. Healthy and fresh seeds are brownish-brown in color, their surface is slightly convex and ribbed.

Everyone chooses the carrot variety according to their own taste, so let’s pay attention only to the ripening time. For summer consumption and the production of fresh juices, it is advisable to plant early varieties (ripening in 60-80 days), the young harvest of which can be dug up at the end of June. For storage and preparation, it is better to plant medium and late ripening carrots. All this information, as well as recommendations for growing, appear on the seed package. Study it carefully and choose a variety according to your taste and preferences.

Video “Selection of seeds”

From the video you will learn how to choose seeds for planting.

Soil preparation

This seemingly unpretentious carrot is actually quite picky about the soil and planting site. When preparing a site for its cultivation, the following points must be taken into account:

You also need to prepare a bed for carrots in the fall. To begin with, the area should be dug to a depth of at least 20-25 cm. Although carrot seeds are sown shallow, root crops sometimes reach great depths, so you need to dig and loosen deeply.

The crop needs light soil, so all lumps need to be broken up with a rake and the surface leveled. If the soil is not very loose, peat and sand are added to it, and compost or a little humus is added to increase fertility.

Acidic soils are leveled by adding ash, lime or dolomite flour. In the spring, the bed will just need to be loosened well again.

Compliance with crop rotation

Like most vegetable crops, carrots are not recommended to be planted in one place for several years in a row. In addition, you also need to alternate the location of the beds correctly, since after each crop pests, bacteria and excess microelements remain in the soil, which may not be suitable and may even harm the carrots. You should not sow carrots in areas where salad greens (parsley, dill, celery) or herbs (cumin, fennel) previously grew. Cereals, nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes) and legumes are considered good predecessors for carrots. You can sow it after cabbage, beets, and cucumbers.

Sowing methods

The germination rate of carrot seeds under natural conditions is quite low (75-85%), and they are also very small and inconvenient to work with, so gardeners have invented various methods to reduce seed consumption and facilitate the planting process. Before sowing into the soil, seeds should be treated with disinfectants (potassium permanganate, boric acid).

To speed up germination, the material can be soaked in water for a couple of days, after which sowing can be done using one of the following methods:

• for manual sowing, the seeds are mixed with dry sand, this makes it easier to distribute them evenly in the rows and they do not stick together when sowing;
• a manual seeder (a small box with a button for scattering seeds), with the help of this device the seeds are distributed evenly and economically;
• using paper tape, usually a roll of toilet paper cut into thin strips is used, on which the seeds are placed, covered with paste on top, and when the tape dries, it is simply buried in moist soil;
• using potato starch, some craftsmen pour the seeds into a medium-thick jelly, mix well, and then pour this liquid along with the seeds into rows;
• granulated seeds (coated with a special nutrient coating) - this is the easiest method, since such seeds are free-flowing and are easily sown and distributed by hand.

Watering crops

Watering is the most important part of caring for carrots. The fact is that the crop is quite picky about soil moisture. Excessive moisture leads to the fact that the root vegetables begin to grow intensively, but the pulp becomes coarse, tasteless and acquires a light color instead of orange. If plants are limited in watering, then the roots will lose their juiciness and sweetness, and if they are renewed again, the roots will simply crack. This makes growing and caring for the crop slightly more difficult.

To avoid these difficulties, watering should be systematic but moderate. The amount of water should be calculated so that the soil is moistened to the entire depth of the root crops, otherwise the main root may never reach the water. In addition, surface watering leads to curvature of root crops and excessive hairiness (the formation of small root shoots on the vegetable). In summer weather, carrots should be watered frequently - 1 time/2-3 days, in cloudy weather as the top layer of soil dries.

Agricultural technology

If you do not take into account the peculiarities of irrigation, then there is nothing complicated in the agricultural technology of the crop. Further care in the open ground consists of regular weeding of the beds, loosening, and fertilizing. Immediately after sowing, the bed must be covered with film. This is done so that the moisture does not evaporate prematurely and a crust does not form on the surface. In addition, the shelter will speed up the warming of the soil, therefore, seedlings will appear earlier.

No matter how you sow your seeds, the result will still be thickened seedlings. Carrots are thinned several times as the root crops grow. The first procedure is usually carried out 10-12 days after germination. At this time, the strongest shoots are left at a distance of 3-4 cm. The second thinning is carried out after another 10 days.

This time the distance between the largest plants should be about 6 cm. Thinning is a must for carrots. If this is not done, the root crops will grow small and thin, and pests, for example, slugs, will begin to settle in wet and dense plantings.

Fertilizer application

Carrots do not need frequent feeding. The nutritional basis for the crop is laid when digging the site in the fall. At this time, it is advisable to add organic matter, as well as a potassium mixture. During the entire summer period, fertilizers should be applied no more than twice:

You can use organic matter or mineral mixtures as fertilizer, depending on your preferences. It is advisable to apply fertilizer in liquid form by watering. It is permissible to combine mineral and organic components, for example, ash (2 cups), nitrophoska (1 tablespoon), potassium nitrate (20 g), urea and superphosphate (15 g each), dilute all this in a bucket of water, and use for watering 2 times during the season.

Diseases and pests

The main enemy of this vegetable crop is the carrot fly. External signs of its presence are curled leaves. The pest appears in too wet and thickened plantings, on dried weeds, so you need to regularly monitor the cleanliness of the beds. To prevent the appearance of insects, it is recommended to plant carrots next to onions, garlic, and also in windy areas; the fly does not tolerate wind. In cases of severe insect infestation, Intavir, Actellik and similar drugs are used.

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 and the lower end bifurcates. Such changes cause loss of the marketable appearance of the crop.

The acidity should be neutral, the depth of groundwater should be average. The best predecessors are legumes, grains, cabbage, and 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. During 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 are very arbitrary; each climate zone has its own 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 in warm water for a day, preferably changing 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. The seeds wrapped in cloth are dipped in hot water (+50°C) for several minutes, then washed in cold water.
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 and then sowing them using a culinary syringe or bag. 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

It is necessary 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-gluing seeds to toilet paper rolls is monkey 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 gel 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 conditions for the emergence of seedlings 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 to what depth 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. Even experienced gardeners cannot explain what this is connected with. 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 the cultivated plants are, and where the weeds begin to clog the bed. Pull out the sprouts one at a time, try to make an even sowing line. 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 wet bed.

The second thinning should be done after a small root crop and real carrot tops appear. Crowded plants are the reason for lower yields; some vegetable growers do not know this and try to leave as many plants as possible. 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 of protection against pests and diseases, and cope with most of them on their own. Only the carrot fly can cause significant harm; plants need help fighting it. Currently, there is a large selection of fairly effective chemicals available 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 an equally effective, but completely harmless way to combat carrot flies - ordinary ash obtained after burning firewood. Keep in mind, these are not black coals, but fluffy, almost weightless gray ash. 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 food product for them. 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. The root system of carrots is 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. The top layer of soil perfectly protects the tops 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”. This folk method completely eliminates damage to the upper part of the root crop with a knife and 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 placed 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 the carrots is smooth, the fruit has not wrinkled or dried out. 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

What is a garden without carrots! This is one of the irreplaceable vegetables in the garden, it is always present in a huge number of dishes, it gives us vitamins in summer and winter, and that is why housewives love it so much.

In our article we will talk about when and how to plant this wonderful and healthy vegetable and how to care for it, as well as which varieties are most suitable for growing in open ground.

When to plant carrots

In order to germinate, carrot seeds require above-zero temperatures; the ground must be warmed by 5-8 ºC; therefore, planting time may vary in different regions. In some places it will be warm already in March, but in others you will have to wait until the beginning of May. In the middle zone, planting is most often done at the end of April.

Late varieties can be sown a little earlier. Once in the soil, carrot seeds can withstand even light frosts down to -4 ºC. Under favorable weather conditions, seedlings will appear in about a week.

Few people know that carrots can be planted three times per season. Namely in the spring (end of April), in the summer (second half of June) for subsequent winter storage and before winter, for an early harvest next spring. In this way, you can get several harvests of this wonderful root vegetable.

How to plant carrots, planting methods

Preparing carrot seeds for planting

Carrot seeds contain large amounts of essential oils that interfere with germination. Therefore, before planting, gardeners do their best to get rid of these oils. Pre-sowing seed treatment is not necessary, but is desirable for better germination.

These methods will help carrot seeds germinate better:

• soaking in warm water with the addition of ash (at the rate of 1 tablespoon of ash per 1 liter of water). soak for 5 hours, after which the seeds are washed and placed in gauze in the refrigerator.
• wrap the seeds in gauze, immerse in hot water (50-60) degrees for 5 minutes, then immediately place in cold water for 2-3 minutes.
• the seeds are placed in a bag or gauze and buried in the ground on the bayonet of a shovel for 10 days.

Soil preparation

Carrots grow best in light, warm, loose soils. You can loosen the soil by adding river sand, peat and humus.

The soil pH should be slightly acidic or neutral. There should be no weeds in the carrot bed, it should be a bright sunny place, otherwise the capricious root crop will grow slowly and frailly. The soil also needs to be well loosened, not only on the surface, but also to a depth of one and a half shovels, so that there are no dense clay lumps that can deform the carrots, causing them to grow crooked.

Carrots can be planted in the place where tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, garlic and onions previously grew. It is not advisable to plant it twice in the same place, because of the danger of permanent pests characteristic of this vegetable appearing in this place.

Carrots do not like liming of soil and fresh manure, preferring rotted compost to them. Wood ash will also benefit from it; it needs to be added to the soil some time before planting.

A week before sowing, the bed is thoroughly watered and covered with polyethylene to warm and maintain moisture.

There are many ways to plant carrots, we will look at some of the most popular ones.

The classic method is to plant seeds in open ground.

We make grooves in the prepared bed, stepping back from the edge about 10 cm and then at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other. The depth should be 2-3 cm, no more and no less.

Four seeding recesses are the optimal number for convenient maintenance of crops.

We spill the grooves made with hot water or a weak solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection.

We place the seeds in the furrows in one line, at a distance of about 1 cm from each other. You don’t have to do the jewelry work and just scatter the seeds into the groove by eye, but then you cannot avoid thinning, an unpleasant and time-consuming task.

Therefore, it is better to spend a little more time at the planting stage than to fuss around in the sun, tearing out extra bushes.

Another way that can make sowing easier: mix carrot seeds with sand in a ratio of 1:5 and pour this mixture evenly into the hole.

After sowing, the furrows are filled with earth, no more than 1 cm, and compacted with patting movements from above to improve the contact of the seeds with the ground. The bed is mulched with peat chips and placed under cover - plastic film.

Monitor the germination process by periodically looking under the cover. As soon as shoots appear, the film will need to be removed.

Planting carrots on toilet paper strip

We know how convenient it is to buy a tape with carrot seeds in the store; it is placed in the furrows and sprinkled with earth. And everything would be fine, but the germination of seeds on purchased tapes is not always good. And it is not always possible to choose the desired variety.

Therefore, now we will look at how you can make seeds on tape yourself. It is very economical and easy to make a ribbon with seeds from toilet paper.

Take a roll and cut a strip of the desired length from it, usually 1-1.5 m. This is a convenient length for work.

In the photo we show a sample with a shorter section, this is just for example.

Next we will prepare a kind of flour glue. To do this, take half a glass of flour and a little water. Pour water into flour, mix. We should have the consistency of thick sour cream. It is with this product that the seeds are glued to toilet paper to prevent it from becoming soggy.

We prepare the seeds by pouring them onto a plate for convenience and distributing them at a distance from each other.

Using an ordinary match, we pick up our improvised glue, grab 2 seeds with it and transfer it to paper. We take not one seed at a time, but two, as a safety net in case one does not sprout, which happens quite often with carrots.

We arrange the seeds in three rows. In this way we fill the tape to the end, along its entire length. After this, the paper will need to be thoroughly dried.

If anyone has dealt with dried dough, he knows what kind of stone mass comes out of it. It will hold the seeds perfectly on toilet paper after drying. and at the same time, the dough is a completely safe “glue”, natural, no chemicals.

After drying, the tape with seeds will need to be cut. As we remember, carrots are usually sown in narrow furrows. Therefore, we will cut our paper into three parts and each of them will have its own strip of seeds.

This is approximately how thick your ribbons should be. The length, of course, should be much longer than in the photo.

Further planting is very simple. The tapes are laid in the prepared furrows and covered with earth. We carry out the same steps as with the classic planting method (see previous paragraph).

Planting carrots using Galina Kizima's method video

Galina Kizima has her own interesting farming method. She is a proponent of easy gardening and uses methods that help her grow vegetables without a lot of labor. Galina Alexandrovna’s vegetable garden lives its own life, everything grows and ripens on its own, all she can do is harvest. Everything turns out easy when you know gardening tricks.

Galina Kizima's method for planting carrots does not require preparation of furrows and further thinning of seedlings. Carrot seeds are mixed with fertilizer and fine sand. This helps avoid thickening of plantings.

This whole mixture is sown on the bed on top of the ground, as if you were “salting soup”, sprinkled with a little and patted down. Ready. This method is especially suitable for older people who no longer have the strength to selflessly make furrows and lay out seeds.

It would seem that everything is very simple, will the capricious carrot really grow after such treatment? Galina shows her garden: it’s growing, and how it’s growing!

To see with your own eyes how Galina Kizima plants carrots, watch this video:

Planting carrots in egg boxes video

Another way to sow carrots with seeds without weeding. For this purpose, cells from sub-eggs are prepared in winter. They should be made of thin, loose cardboard and soak well in water. This is necessary so that the root crops can germinate through them without difficulty.

If you have containers made of thick, durable cardboard, you will have to cut off the bottoms of the cells.

The essence of the method is that the egg cartons are placed in prepared soil and sprinkled with soil. Place 1-2 seeds in each hole. This way the carrots grow at a comfortable distance.

You can place seeds in egg cassettes at home, and then transfer them to the garden bed. Convenient for saving energy, a good method.

Watch the technology in more detail in this video:

Planting carrots in starch paste video

One of the very interesting and convenient ways. Its essence is that a paste of starch is cooked, into which the seeds are then placed. This again helps to avoid crowding of plantings. And how easy it is to plant with its help! You simply pour the seed paste into the furrows as if you were just watering them.

Carrot paste recipe: 6 tablespoons of potato starch for 2 liters of water. The paste is cooked over low heat until slightly thickened; it should remain fairly fluid.

After the paste has cooled (sometimes a warm one is used), carrot seeds are poured into it. This composition is poured into the furrows. Carrots are growing great!

Winter sowing of carrots

If we sow winter carrots, we will get the harvest two weeks earlier than our neighbors. Autumn planting has its own minor differences:

• planting only in light soils
• we sow only early varieties, not for storage
• planting takes place in late October-early November
• after placing the seeds in the ground, the bed is mulched with a 3 cm layer of peat
• in the spring we cover the bed with film and wait for the first shoots to appear

Caring for carrots

If you sowed carrots thickly, they may require repeated thinning. Carrots also require loosening between rows and weeding.

Watering carrots

This vegetable is sensitive to watering; it needs a golden mean. Drought makes it sluggish and soft, bitter and gnarled (because in search of water, carrots can produce additional lateral roots). Excessive watering is the cause of cracks in carrots, their “hairiness” and oily tops to the detriment of the root crop.

Active watering of carrots is required only at the tops growth stage. As soon as we see that the carrots have gathered their bouquets, watering becomes less frequent, because it is at this time that the growth of the fruit root begins.

Two months before harvesting, water carrots once every one and a half to two weeks, and two weeks before harvesting, watering is stopped altogether.

Feeding carrots

Carrots do not require frequent feeding. During the entire ripening period, it is fed only twice: a month after germination, and two months later.

A universal recipe for fertilizer for carrots: for 10 liters of water, 2 tbsp ash + 1 tbsp. l nitrophoska + 20 g of potassium nitrate + 15 g of superphosphate + 15 g of urea. We fertilize on moist soil (i.e., pre-water the carrots only in a smaller volume).

The best varieties of carrots for open ground

There are countless varieties of carrots, and from all the variety we have chosen for you the most proven, productive, shelf-stable and disease-resistant varieties with excellent taste.

Early ripening

These varieties are suitable for winter sowing, and for those simply wanting to get a quick harvest.

• Lagoon F1
• Alenka
• Amsterdam
• Dutch
• Touchon

Mid-season

Successful varieties for consumption and preservation, short-term storage.

• Tip-top
• Vitamin
• Losinoostrovskaya
• Nantes

Mid-late and late varieties

These varieties are suitable for winter storage.

• Shatane
• Royal Shatane
• Perfection
• Sirkana F1
• Vita longa
• Carlena
• Red without core

We hope that the article was useful to you, and that everyone will be able to choose their preferred method of planting this wonderful vegetable. We wish you wonderful harvests!

Carrots are in second place after potatoes in the ranking of the popularity of root crops grown in our dachas. And the most demanding root crop in terms of growing conditions and care, although this is not obvious. Especially novice gardeners complain that the carrots did not grow well, or that they were small, crooked, “hairy”, cracked, bitter, with black spots, rotted and molded during storage. A lot of troubles can happen to carrots as they grow. To avoid them, you must strictly follow carrot agricultural technology.

This is an open ground plant. There is no need to grow carrot seedlings in our latitudes. The first of the specific conditions for carrots is soil.

Soil for carrots

It should be loose. Most often, our gardens have heavy soil.

And you need carrots:

• loam or sandstone;
• increased fertility;
• well aerated;
• with additional baking powder (sand);
• with acidity as close to neutral as possible (pH 6-7);
• moisture-absorbing;
• not forming a soil crust.

Soil for carrots - preparing high-quality soil

It is advisable to observe these conditions not separately, but all at once. They are all important, but the most important, perhaps, is the looseness of the soil. The root crop must receive oxygen, otherwise it will have poor taste and suffer from fungal diseases.

Important! When sowing seeds in insufficiently loose and moisture-absorbing soil, their germination rate is greatly reduced.

Predecessors are suitable and not so

The second important factor. The plant cannot be grown in one place even for two years in a row. Carrots are not suitable for monocultures, since already in the second year of cultivation in the old place they begin to be affected by aphids, nematodes, Alternaria blight and especially the carrot fly.

The place where the root crop is cultivated must be changed annually. Return to the old one - no earlier than the fourth year.

Predecessors of carrots

Suitable	Absolutely not suitable
Cabbage	Carrot
Bows	Caraway
Tomatoes	Parsley
Legumes	Dill
cucumbers	Parsnip

Sowing process

The timing of sowing carrot seeds in open soil depends on several factors. They are:

• weather;
• varietal characteristics;
• purpose of cultivation.

Before sowing, the seeds must be prepared, and the soil must be treated and filled with fertilizers.

Soil preparation

Before you sow the root crop in the garden, you need to add nutrients there. For carrots, the presence of humus or compost is required during the period of germination and the beginning of development. The norm of humus or vegetable compost per square meter of bed is 5 liters.

In addition to organic matter, nitrogen-potassium-phosphorus fertilizers are also added. The soil is dug up to the height of a spade two weeks before sowing.

If your soil is heavy loam, add sand as a loosening agent, as well as sawdust and ash. The root vegetables will be sweet, juicy, smooth and store well.

Important! Fresh manure cannot be applied to carrots (even if sowing is done before winter). The addition of unrotted organic matter will certainly lead to branching of root crops and a significant deterioration in taste. There is also no need to apply nitrogen fertilizers in excess of the norm, otherwise the root tissues will become coarser, the juiciness will decrease, but an excess of nitrates will appear.

On the eve of sowing, the soil on the ridge is loosened, leveled, and watered. Grooves two centimeters deep are made in the soil, with a distance of 15 cm between them.

Seed preparation

One of the ways to sow carrots is winter sowing. In this case, the seeds are not processed in any way and do not undergo preparation. Sowed dry.

During the winter in the ground they undergo the process of vernalization, and in the spring they begin to grow very early. Since seeds germinate already at +8°C, ready-made root crops sown in winter can be obtained two weeks earlier than those sown in the spring. But such carrot roots are not suitable for long-term storage.

Advice! In spring, early carrots are sown in early April, late carrots - from mid-April to early May. The earlier you sow carrots, the more moisture stored in the soil from winter will reach the seeds.

Carrots take a long time to germinate - some varieties may take up to 25 days. This process is intended to speed up the preparation of seeds, as well as to disinfect them in order to protect them from future diseases.

Methods for preparing carrot seeds

Way	Description
	First, the seeds are placed in a jar with a saline aqueous solution (2 tbsp/1 l). Those that float up should not be sown - these are dummies that do not contain an embryo. The settled seeds are removed from the water, washed and immersed, wrapped in a cloth, in hot (+60°C) clean water for a quarter of an hour. Rinse again with cool water. Dry for 24 hours and sow.
	This method is the simplest. There is no need to prepare solutions, and long soaking is also not required. After placing the seeds in a bag, put it in the refrigerator or bury it in the soil in early spring. Before sowing, the seeds are removed, washed, dried and sown.
	This method is suitable for your own seeds, as a disease prevention. The seeds in the bag are placed in a glass of warm water (+40°C stable temperature, to which 1 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide is added. The solution can be prepared from manganese (slightly pink). The seeds are kept in peroxide for 24 hours, in potassium permanganate for 2 hours Then washing, drying and sowing.
	This processing method increases the yield of carrots and also accelerates the ripening of root crops. You only need 20 g of ash per liter of water. It is infused for two days. Then it is filtered and soaked for 4 hours. Treatment is carried out one day before sowing.

Sowing and shoots

You can use the “grandmother’s” method and simply germinate the seeds in a damp gauze and saucer until persistent five-millimeter roots appear.

The prepared seeds are sown densely in the grooves prepared in the garden bed and covered with light soil. The soil is compacted from above with a board or hands.

The optimal temperature for carrot shoots is +15… +18°C. Prepared seeds germinate within 10-12 days.

Caring for carrots

Maintenance activities include weeding, loosening, digging, watering, pest control and fertilizing. All are required, none can be ignored.

Carrots are a long-day plant, so they need a lot of sun to thrive. Growing this root vegetable in the shade and even in partial shade is another mistake made by inexperienced gardeners who complain about crop failure.

Breakthrough

Or thinning is a mandatory procedure. It is carried out twice. The first time a green root vegetable produces two true leaves. A distance of 2.5-3 cm remains between shoots.

A month later, when the young carrots have grown to 1.5 cm in diameter, a second breakthrough is carried out. This time, a distance of 6 cm is left between the plants, and the torn roots can be used for food.

Video - Thinning a carrot bed

Important! Do not leave uprooted plants or tops in the garden bed, even for a short time. The smell of carrots will attract carrot flies, which will then destroy all plantings.

Carrots need to be constantly removed from weeds, loosened and mounded so that the head of the root crop does not become green and bitter. Loosening is carried out after each rain or watering to destroy the soil crust, which blocks oxygen access to the roots.

Watering

Watering is carried out frequently (every other day in hot weather), but the doses of moisture are small. The maximum amount of moisture required for carrots is:

• after sowing until seedlings emerge (make sure that the soil does not dry out);
• during root formation;
• during the period of its intensive growth.

It is better to water carrots in the evening, at sunset. It has been proven that in dry years, timely watering increases the yield and improves the quality of root crops.

Watering stops 20 days before the expected harvest completely, otherwise the root crops will crack.

Pest Control

There are many preventative ways to prevent carrots from being damaged by pests and diseases.

1. Timely tillage.
2. Maintain crop rotation.
3. Destruction of residues and tops after harvesting.
4. Seed disinfection.
5. Planting partner plants nearby (for example, onion phytoncides repel carrot flies).

If prevention does not bring the desired result, and the carrots are still damaged, the crops need to be treated.

Root crops are treated with “Lepidocide” and “Bitoxibacillin” against carrot flies and aphids. These are biological products. Treatment is carried out twice - immediately after detection of pests on the leaves of the plant and two weeks later.

“Phytocid” or “Mikosan” is used against Alternaria and other diseases caused by pathogenic fungi.

Timely use of “medicines” will protect carrots from pests. Just do not carry out the treatment immediately before harvesting. After this, you must wait at least 20 days.

Top dressing

During the growing season, the root crop is fed twice. You can use both mineral fertilizers and organic matter.

The application of mineral fertilizers is carried out according to the following scheme.

1 feeding– at the age of 21 days (three weeks after pipping of the seedlings). Ingredients: water, balanced azophosphate, potassium sulfate. Proportions: 1 l/1 tbsp/1 tbsp.

2 feeding- a month after the first.

Important! Organic fertilizers for this root crop should be used with caution. It is better to add them in solution.

Bird droppings are diluted 1/10 in water, settled, diluted with water again 1/10, poured into the grooves.

Mullein is diluted with water 1/20, infused, and watered into the furrows, which always follows the main watering.

If you want to get sweet carrots, 20 days before harvesting the root crops, the tops need to be sprayed with a solution of humates (1 g per 10 liters of water) plus nitrogen fertilizing in a proportion lower by half. After this procedure, the beneficial substances from the tops “go” into the root crop, and the carrots turn out juicy and sweet.

Video - How to feed carrots

Video - Caring for sown carrots

Secrets to Growing a Great Carrot Harvest

Carrot (lat. Daucus) is a biennial umbrella plant. The root crop ripens in the first year, and in the second year a seed bush is formed (for collecting seeds for sowing). Growing carrots requires following simple rules for caring for the crop, which will help you get a good and healthy harvest.

When to sow carrots in open ground

• Early varieties of carrots (Kinby, Kolorit F1, Parmex, Touchon) can be sown and seedlings planted in open ground at the end of April, provided the weather is stable and there is no frost. These varieties are distinguished by their juiciness and sweetness; they are grown for cooking and eating.
• Mid-season varieties (Viking, Nantes 4, Typhoon, Perfection) are suitable for longer storage of root crops; sowing them in open ground begins in the middle of the month, and planting seedlings in open ground can begin earlier, on May 8-10.
• Late varieties (Selekta, Olympus, Java, Vita Longa, Valeria 5) are ideal for storage, transportation and preparation for the winter. Sowing occurs at the end of May, seedlings are planted in the second half.

In the northern regions, it is worth paying attention to climatic conditions, and if necessary, sowing is postponed for half a month.

Favorable days for sowing according to the lunar calendar are May 3-4 and May 30-31, when the moon will be in its waxing phase (1st quarter). It is recommended to do all sowing work before lunch.

Selecting a location and preparing beds for carrots

Fertile and loose soils are best suited for growing carrots, namely loamy-sandy soils with a neutral acidity of 6-7 pH.

It is important that a crust does not form on the surface of the soil, preventing air access to the root crops. Therefore, surface loosening of the beds is important at all stages of cultivation.

Increased soil moisture can lead to the development of fungal diseases and a decrease in the taste of fruits. It is better to arrange high beds for carrots, or choose a place on a hill. Wetlands and places with stagnant water are not suitable.

Crop rotation rules for carrots

You should not plant vegetables in the same place for 2 years in a row. This significantly increases the likelihood of damage from pathogenic bacteria and pests.

• Good predecessors for sowing carrots are: cucumbers, grains and legumes, any types of cabbage, tomatoes;
• After growing most types of greens (fennel, caraway, parsley, dill, parsnips), it is not advisable to use these beds for sowing carrots.

Preparing the soil for sowing

Growing carrots in the country involves cultivating the soil in two stages. In the fall, the soil is loosened and, if necessary, mulched with sawdust. In the spring, before sowing, rotted manure is added to the soil in the amount of 1 bucket per two square meters of bed.

You can add to fertilizers:

• If the soil is heavy, you can add 2-3 kg of sawdust - this will make it loose.
• A small amount of wood ash (450-500 grams per square meter of bed) will significantly improve the taste of vegetables and prolong the shelf life of the crop.

• Nitrogen fertilizers - they increase the level of nitrates in vegetables and contribute to the coarsening of their tissues;
• You cannot use fresh manure, as the root crops will begin to actively branch and become smaller. In addition, this will attract mole crickets.

Planting carrots in open ground

Many gardeners prefer to sow carrots directly from the package, but not all grains are of high quality and will germinate. Preliminary culling and pre-sowing preparation of planting material will save time, obtain better germination and stronger seedlings.

Seed preparation

Carrot seeds are rich in vegetable oils, which blocks moisture from reaching the embryo. It is recommended to pre-rinse and soak them. There are several methods for pre-sowing preparation of planting material.

• Digging into the soil will help to significantly increase germination: the grains are placed in a fabric bag and placed in damp soil to a depth of 30 cm for 10 days; before sowing, they are removed and dried. The seeds swell well in damp soil and produce good shoots;
• Pelleting is a nutritious coating that greatly facilitates the procedure of sowing small seeds and increases their germination. For preparation you will need: 0.2 kg of liquid mullein and powdered peat. Place a tablespoon of seeds in a liter jar and add 1 tablespoon of powder and manure, cover with a lid and shake thoroughly for several minutes. The procedure is repeated several times until a shell is formed on the seeds, after which they are dried and stored in a dry place until sowing;
• Soaking in a nutrient solution (1 tablespoon of ash per 1 liter of warm water). The grains in bags are placed in liquid for a day, then kept on a damp cloth in the refrigerator for 3-4 days for stratification. Before sowing, the planting material is dried.

Advice when buying seeds from China through Aliexpress

Carrot planting technology

• On pre-prepared beds, shallow furrows are made (up to 2 cm deep), the distance between them should be at least 15 cm;
• For convenience, small seeds are mixed with sand and sown, keeping a gap of 3-4 cm between the grains. You can also sow in a solid line - the “groove” method, and after germination, thin them out;
• The top of the planting is sprinkled with soil and compacted with a palm or a wide board.

It is recommended to cover the bed with film to maintain soil moisture and prevent weed growth. In warm weather conditions and preliminary preparation of planting material, the first shoots will appear on the 10-12th day. After this, it is necessary to remove the covering material, since young greenery can easily withstand short-term frosts.

Carrot cultivation and care in open ground

After sowing, the most important stage begins - caring for carrots. It is important to act systematically and follow agricultural techniques for growing crops.

Watering carrots requires special attention when grown in open ground. Lack of moisture can lead to the death of young plants. Excessive watering also has its disadvantages: the fruits overgrow and lose their taste.

• After thinning, the amount of water is increased to 10 liters per square meter.
• When the carrots form leaves, the roots begin to actively grow, then the water rate increases to 20 liters per unit area.
• 2 months before harvest, the frequency is reduced to 1 time every 2 weeks.

It is recommended to stop watering carrots 10-20 days before harvesting - this stimulates the roots to elongate. For the procedure, you must use only warm, settled water (ideally, melt water). It is recommended to water in the late afternoon, then the sun will not leave burns on the greenery.

Thinning carrots

The procedure is carried out on days 12 and 22 after germination. Small and weak plants are removed; if this is not done, the root crops will be frail and thin.

Loosening and weeding

The procedures are carried out immediately after thinning.

• Weeding frees up sunlight for green bushes;
• Loosening will contribute to better nutrition of the fruit.

If the soil is not loosened, the root crops grow small and crooked.

Feeding carrots in open ground

When growing carrots, fertilizing is carried out 3-4 times during the entire growing season.

• The first procedure is carried out when 3-4 leaves appear on the sprouts. To do this, use a solution of ammonium nitrate (30 g per 10 liters of water).
• The next feeding of carrots is carried out after 3-4 weeks using superphosphate (30 g per 10 liters of water).
• Feeding carrots in June is necessary, since during this period the root crop grows especially quickly and gains juice. For fertilizing, you can use wood ash (a glass per square meter) or potassium sulfate.
• The fourth procedure is performed at the moment the root crop ripens (usually in September, but the time may vary depending on the variety). You can use any fertilizers that were used previously; boric acid (a tablespoon per bucket of water) is especially suitable.

Feeding carrots with folk remedies is very popular among experienced summer residents. There are many recipes, many of which include yeast, nettles and ash. One of the most interesting infusions is prepared using all three components.

Triple Fertilizer Recipe for Carrots

The container is almost completely filled with nettles and filled with water to ¾ of the volume. For more intense fermentation, yeast or starter is added to the barrel. Potassium-rich ash will only complement the nutritional mixture. The mixture is stirred periodically and kept in the sun. To feed, 1 liter of the resulting liquid is diluted with 10 liters of water. The average fertilizer consumption is a bucket per bed.

Growing carrots in open ground video

Secrets of agricultural technology for growing carrots and a good harvest

Following a few simple nuances will greatly facilitate growing carrots in open ground in the Moscow region.

• It is necessary to follow the rules of crop rotation;
• It is recommended to disinfect seeds that you have prepared yourself before sowing in a 1% iodine solution;
• Give preference to proven and disease-resistant varieties;
• Buy seeds and seedlings from companies you trust;
• When purchasing new varieties on foreign sites, first check them for germination, and when sowing in open ground, do not allocate more than 10% of the beds for them;
• Carry out preventive spraying with the drug “Baikal” or nettle infusion against pests and diseases.

Bottom line

Good preparation of the soil and seed material will guarantee good germination. And proper agricultural technology and caring for carrots in the open ground will provide you with a good and high-quality harvest.