How to grow good carrots in the country. How to grow carrots: when to plant a root crop in open ground
Carrots are one of the most familiar vegetables in the garden, they are grown in almost all areas. But every vegetable grower has a different yield. What is it connected with? With violations of the rules of 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 the loss of the presentation of the crop.
Acidity should be neutral, depth ground water average. The best predecessors- legumes, cereals, cabbage, onions. It is forbidden to sow carrots after parsley, dill, cumin, parsnips. This is not a monoculture, the plant can be returned to its original place no earlier than after three to four years. Otherwise, the probability of plant disease is high, pathogens accumulate in the soil.
There are no strict restrictions on landing dates. If carrots are grown as a vitamin supplement to 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 as possible to natural.
In autumn, the seeds undergo vernalization, and the next year there is an opportunity to harvest a few 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 a maximum of 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 climatic zone has its own requirements and restrictions.
Soil preparation
pretty carrots demanding plant on 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 - about 2 kg of humus per 1 m2 of beds. 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 fertilize with concentrated chicken manure or fresh manure. Chicken manure will burn the earth, it must be diluted at the rate of 10 liters of water per 1 kg of manure, and then dilute this water 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 (difficult to keep the seeding rate) and do not germinate well. Before sowing, they need to be prepared.
- Soak the seeds for a day in warm water, it is advisable to change the water several times. After soaking, they can be kept in the refrigerator for one or two days for stratification.
- Do a heat treatment in hot water. Such stress increases seed germination and destroys diseases. Seeds wrapped in cloth are dipped in hot water(+50°C), then washed in cold water.
- 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, followed by sowing using a culinary syringe or bag. We do not recommend using them, more trouble than result. Soak in water or stimulant and seed.
Technology of sowing seeds of carrots
It must be sown in moist soil. If there was no rain for a long time, and time is running out, then in the evening the beds should be watered abundantly, and in the morning before sowing, fluff up. Further, the process is performed according to the following algorithm.
Step 1. Make grooves in the beds. The depth is 2–3 cm, the distance between them is 25–30 cm. Grooves can be made with a simple ripper, stick, etc. In moist soil, they will hold up well and will not fall asleep ahead of time. If the bed is very wide, then make grooves in half on one side, and then on the other. It is easier and faster, and the earth will not be rammed once again.
Step 2. Carefully sow the prepared seeds in the cut grooves.
Practical advice. Try to choose calm weather. Carrot seeds are very light and can be carried by gusts of wind throughout the garden. 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 stick the seeds. Very economical growers can purchase pelleted seeds. The manufacturer packed each seed in a separate helium shell containing water and nutrients. Due to this, the seeds have become large, they can be sown strictly according to distances, subsequent weeding is not required.
Step 3 After sowing, the furrows should be covered with earth as soon as possible, this will prevent the soil and seeds from drying out. If the bed is wide, divide it into parts.
Very important. To accelerate the emergence of seedlings and improve germination, the grooves must be tamped. This can be done by hand or any simple device.
What does tamping give? The earth adheres more closely to the seeds, they do not dry out, and the conditions for the emergence of seedlings become favorable. But there is one condition - if the soil has sufficient moisture. The compacted earth gives off moisture much faster (which is why upper layer fluff), if after sowing there is no rain for several days, be sure to water the bed abundantly.
Important. It should be watered only by sprinkling, pouring water directly from the hose is prohibited. A strong jet of water will wash the small carrot seeds to the surface. Most of them will not sprout, and the rest will grow over the entire area.
Weed control can be started only after the emergence of carrot shoots, otherwise there is a high risk of damaging them. Perennial weeds have a very developed root system and, when removed from the ground, the tender roots of carrots will certainly be damaged. Now it remains to wait for seedlings and continue agrotechnical methods of cultivation.
Important. Beds with carrots should be watered daily until resistant plants appear. How to find out the optimal amount of water per garden? Very simple. Pour the earth with the usual amount of water, make a hole and see how deep the water seeped through. We guarantee that you will be pleasantly surprised. After normal watering, moisture will seep to a depth of about 1–2 cm, which is very small. You need to water until the earth gets wet to a depth of at least five centimeters. This will take a lot of time, be prepared for difficulties or do automatic watering.
seedling thinning
Carrot shoots have one unpleasant feature - uneven germination. All seeds were prepared for sowing in exactly the same way, they were sown at the same time and at the same depth, and the difference in the emergence of seedlings can reach a week. What is the reason for this, they can not even explain experienced gardeners. But there is nothing to worry about if there are empty areas on the grooves. This is not a marriage during sowing, this is such a feature of the plant, over time, shoots will appear here.
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 perfectly clear where and in what condition they are cultivated plants, and where 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 longer needed. All the same, you will definitely 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 outgrow, then you need to water them abundantly in the evening, and in the morning on a damp bed, carry out the planned work.
The second thinning should be done after a small root crop and real carrot tops appear. Thickened plants are the reason for the decrease in yield, some vegetable growers do not know this and try to leave as much as possible more plants. This approach can only increase the number, but not the total weight of root crops. In addition, exit food products from small root crops it is very small, it is long and hard to clean them.
plant care
Carrots are good natural properties protection from pests and diseases, most of them cope on their own. Only a carrot fly can bring significant harm, plants need to be helped to fight it. Currently in implementation there is big choice quite effective chemicals to control this pest. But you can use them no later than two weeks before eating root crops. And carrots from the beds of the hostess are used for cooking long before the final harvest. Some of them carry out thinning of plants in this way right up to the moment of mass harvesting.
There is an equally effective, but completely harmless way to deal with a carrot fly - ordinary ash obtained after burning firewood. Keep in mind, not black coals, but fluffy, almost weightless ash gray color. Pour it into a gauze bag and gently rub it over the carrot bed. Do not overdo it with 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 they fight well with money in their wallets, their effectiveness in the beds is zero, you can believe experienced growers. What to do with them? Nothing, in a year they themselves will leave your site, because carrots are not their main food product. As soon as the moles “clean up” any 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 effect on yield. The root system of carrots is quite branched, water can be taken 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 the earth perfectly protects the tops from drying out, it gives a dense shadow, the sun can not reach the surface of the beds. Watering depth of at least ten centimeters. You need to check this with the help of ordinary pits. Make them in the garden with a stick and see how deeply the water has seeped after watering. Not enough - repeat watering with more intensity.
It is recommended to harvest carrots during the dry period, if you dig them up after the rains, then there will be problems with storage. To facilitate the pulling of plants from the ground, it is recommended to dig them along the row bayonet shovel. Don't use a pitchfork as some suggest. The forks do not lift the ground and do not facilitate the harvesting of root crops.
It is better not to cut the tops with a knife, but to “unscrew”. Such a folk method 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 in time the process is much faster than working with a knife.
Carrots should be stored at a temperature of + 5-7 ° C, air humidity of at least 90%. To prevent evaporation of moisture, root crops can be folded into 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 large number small white roots. If the air in the cellar is too dry, then the sawdust is recommended to be moistened periodically with water.
Video - Growing carrots in the open field
Video - How to grow productive carrots in high beds
In Russia there is no such garden where carrots are not planted. Some root crops work out well, juicy, smooth, sweet. Others look painful, crooked squiggles, bitter, cracked. What is the secret of this orange beauty? Maybe in the choice of seeds? Unlikely.
How to grow carrots in the open field so that she will thank high yield? It turns out that she is still that capricious girl. And it needs a special approach. Just from the category of "dancing with a tambourine" and "what else do you need?".
soil for carrots
Carrot is a stubborn girl. Slightly that not on it or her, at once the nose turns back. In other words, it begins to grow at random. He releases a lot of tails, but there is no sense. That is, the soil should be as loose as possible. That's right, so that the foot drowns. Therefore, the bed is prepared in advance, in the fall.
They dig deep, one and a half bayonet. So that there was room for carrots to grow. Otherwise, it will start to dodge and spin.
She also loves to eat, hearty and dense. But during growth it is inconvenient to feed her. It is useless to pour from above, when will it still reach the root? It is also impossible to loosen the earth, there is a risk of damaging small roots. What to do? Apply fertilizer early.
In autumn, well-ripened humus is added, but more. Manure is not brought in. Only if he completely overdid it, and even then they abstain. The sand is poured, large, clean. Sawdust, shavings are not suitable. They strongly acidify the soil, and carrots do not like this passion. It is better to pour fluffy lime, dolomite flour, pour ash. Again, this is all - strictly before the winter digging.
Mineral fertilizers are added. Especially orange beauty respects potassium, phosphorus. But nitrogen does not like. At all. Root vegetables are huge, but not sweet. Only suitable for livestock feed.
And vice versa. If you plan to sow carrots in winter, then the garden bed is prepared in advance, in spring or in the middle of summer.
Is it possible to plant carrots before winter
So what? If the bed is well cultivated, then why not? Seeds begin to germinate already at a soil temperature of +5°C. Suddenly arrive at the site much later? In addition, an early carrot will not hurt anyone, especially on the table. Another plus: by the time the weeds begin to sprout, the beauty will grow a beautiful lush braid. Therefore, she is not in danger of being beaten.
Of course, such root crops are not suitable for long-term storage, you will have to lie for too long. But for early use - just right.
The principle of winter sowing is very simple. To do this, prepare a bed from the summer. Around October, furrows are cut according to the usual pattern. And prepare dry soil in buckets. They are put in the underground, cellar, barn. In a word, where the earth does not freeze into a lump and remains loose.
With the onset of persistent frosts, about -10 ° C, they come to the garden. Almost the entire layer of snow is removed from it, leaving about 1-1.5 cm. Carrot seeds are laid directly on the snow in the prepared grooves. Sprinkle with soil prepared in buckets. And the snow is thrown back on top.
All. Now in the spring, as soon as the bed warms up to about + 6 ° C, the carrot will start to grow. AT middle lane it's about mid-April. BUT the usual way assumes only in the third decade to start sowing.
Thus winter planting allows you to harvest at least a month earlier.
Advice. Seeds must be absolutely dry! Wet will just kill frost. Dry will calmly endure the most severe winter, it would be more snow.
But not everyone runs the risk of planting carrots using the method described above. Most are used to sowing it the old fashioned way, in the spring. Well, let's figure out how to do it right.
Seed preparation. Carrot has one feature. Its seeds are very high in essential oils. Some kind of protective shell. It protects the seeds from the outside from the effects of negative factors. But here's the catch. The same essential oil greatly complicates the germination of seeds. Have you noticed how long carrots take to sprout?
To destroy this ethereal shell, gardeners use the most various methods. Here are the most common:
- Seeds are placed in a linen bag, pour it with hot clean water. Approximately at +50°C for three hours. At the same time, the water is changed to fresh water 4 times during this time.
- Before planting, the seeds are mixed with wet sand and, as it were, rubbed between the fingers. Strong enough.
- Seeds are soaked for 12 hours, then the water is completely drained. Place them in the refrigerator for 2 days. This makes the essential oil evaporate faster.
- A linen bag with dry seeds is added dropwise in any flower pot. Keep like this for about 10 days. During this time, the soil will stretch most ether shell.
All these methods speed up the germination of carrot seeds by about two times. That is, seedlings will have to wait only a week instead of the usual two.
We sow carrots
By the way, there are a lot of pelleted seeds on sale now. The piece is comfortable. Large balls are easy to sow. The shell contains the whole complex of minerals, so necessary for young sprouts. Some are even impregnated with a growth stimulator. The only disadvantage of such seeds is the presence of a large amount of moisture during germination. That is, the earth must be damp. You will have to shed it well. And in hot weather, you again need to water the furrows until the first loops appear.
But it is quite possible to get by with ordinary carrot seeds. In order to make it convenient to plant them, gardeners have come up with a lot of various ways. Let's check them each.
Paste. Cook the usual paste, medium density. Pour the approximate amount of the desired seeds into it and stir thoroughly. Then, a furrow is shed simply from a vessel with a thin spout. A teapot works well for this purpose.
The disadvantage of the method is that you still need to get the hang of pouring this mixture evenly over the entire length of the beds.
Sand. The seeds are mixed with clean, damp sand. The proportion is 1 to 1. And this mixture is already sown in the furrows, as usual. So the seeds fall less often.
Minus the method: older people no longer have young finger sensitivity. Therefore, it is easy to confuse sand with seeds. The uniformity of landings will still be violated.
Bubble. Any bottle with a screw cap. A hole is made in it with an awl, a little larger than a carrot seed. Pour raw materials inside. A sharp hand movement is made above the furrow - the seed flies out through the hole.
Disadvantage: the first time the seed may simply not fall into the hole. From the second time, three pieces will fly out at once. So go ahead, shake the bubble like crazy.
Paper. Take the cheapest in your spare time toilet paper. Seeds are glued to it with the help of a paste and a toothpick. Then, after drying, you just need to cut everything into strips. When planting, they are laid in furrows and sprinkled with earth.
Minus: an occupation for the very patient, because it is tedious, long and breaking the eyes.
Use whichever suits you. Perhaps you can turn disadvantages into advantages. Just use the classic principle: they spill the furrow very heavily before laying the seeds. And sprinkle with loose, always dry soil.
This will prevent the formation of a thick earthen crust on the surface, and the seedlings will freely break through.
Caring for carrots
She is, of course, a girl. But she needs care a little different than a young girl.
Loosening. After each watering or rain, it is necessary to loosen the top layer of soil to a depth of no more than 2-2.5 cm. It is necessary to break the crust so that it does not compact the ground around the root crop. You don't have to go deeper. But between the furrows you can frolic with a chopper or flat cutter from the heart. Thus, the pressure of the soil on the root crop will decrease and small feeding roots will remain intact.
Watering. Carrot loves to drink. A lot, rarely, but very regularly. Make a rule for yourself: once a week on the same day, thoroughly shed the soil in the plantings. You need to moisten to a depth of at least 20-22 cm.
If watered often and little by little, then the root crop will be short and shaggy. And the first mighty summer downpour will cause the strongest cracking of fruits.
If you don’t water at all (let’s not let it grow itself), then there is a great risk of getting woody and bitter dried bread instead of a crop. They don't look like carrots at all.
Top dressing. During the entire growing season, fertilizers are not applied! All top dressings must be added to the soil in advance. If carrots receive nutrition from the outside during growth, they will grow big. But there will be no taste. This is especially true of mineral fertilizers with a high nitrogen content.
Pests. In addition to people, the carrot fly loves to eat carrots. She especially respects young landings immediately after pulling. Remember how far the aroma of the tops spreads at the end of the procedure.
To avoid such a nuisance, some sources recommend alternating grooves with onion plantings. There will definitely be an effect. But very weak.
It's better to act like this:
- a day before the alleged pulling, prepare an infusion of onion peel
- on X-day, liquid is poured into a spray bottle
- draw a groove and quickly spray the plantings with infusion
It's not really worth pouring. Onion infusion is very smelly, you need quite a bit of it. Just to kill the carrot flavor. By the way, you can periodically spray carrots throughout the growing season. This will 100% secure plantings from carrot flies. The rest of the pests are quite indifferent to the orange beauty.
Harvest
When to start digging carrots? In principle, all information in great detail is always indicated on the packaging of seeds. Focus on it and you definitely can't go wrong.
What to do if the seeds were donated or you grew them yourself? Of course, you can pull out one root crop at a time and look at it for a long time. Is it time or still let him sit in the ground? How to guess?
It turns out that everything is simple. Carrots begin to be massively harvested when 4-6 lower leaves turn yellow and begin to dry out. If they are still green and cheerful, then let them grow for now.
By the way, try not to dig out part of the garden. Cut the foliage with scissors or pruners to the very root. But don't touch the flesh. After about 2 days, when the top of the root crop dries up, sprinkle it with soil with your head. And forget until spring.
As soon as the snow melts, feel free to take a pitchfork and dig out your experiment. Carrots in the cellar at this point are already showing clear signs of wilting. And the one that you left in the garden will be fresh, juicy and tasty.
Advice. Just do not forget to thoroughly compact the soil around the left root crops. Straight with your feet and tighter. Mice are also very fond of such carrots. And the trampled earth will prevent them from tasting the sweet pulp.
- If planting too often, be sure to thin out the carrots immediately after watering. So the root crops will be pulled out of the soil without damaging the nearby girlfriends.
- Store carrots in a well ventilated area. Thus, you will avoid the manifestation of many putrefactive and fungal diseases. You are not sure about the complete sterility of your soil?
- When digging up root crops, do not pull them by the tops. A long piece may break off and remain in the soil. Use pitchforks. They easily enter the most dense soil and the risk of damaging the fruits is minimal.
- Plant varieties of different ripening periods. Use the early ripe ones for daily cooking. This carrot does not lie well in the cellar. Mid-season ripen just in time for the harvest time for the winter. Late-ripening varieties store best. They ripen just in time for laying in cellars and basements.
- Carrots are not planted with seedlings. Experiments conducted by some gardeners have shown that such root crops always grow crooked and do not gain their characteristic mass. At the same time, precious time is spent on transplantation. And it is not enough in the spring.
How to grow carrots outdoors? Actually, it's not that easy. Size is not the main advantage of the orange beauty. It is much more important to get juicy and sweet root crops at a minimum cost. Take good care of the carrot, and it will not rust behind it.
Video: how to plant carrots
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 in the end everything is aimed at creating the most favorable conditions for fruit growth and development.
What varieties of carrots are best to plant
To grow sweet carrots in the country, you should give preference to zoned varieties with high palatability. Specialty outlets have huge selection seed material different term ripening (early, medium, late), sugar content, storage time.
secret successful cultivation carrots is a well-chosen variety:
- Nantes-4, Shantane, Karotelka - representatives universal options, which have a high immunity to diseases and harmful insects. They are characterized by unpretentiousness in care and resistance to negative factors environment.
- Moscow winter A-545 is suitable for cultivation in all regions of Russia.
- The polar cranberry is characterized by a very early ripening period, the ability to produce a crop in 2 months of growth, it can be planted in northern latitudes.
- If the culture is planned to be included in the diet of young children, you should pay attention to Vitamin-6, Viking, Children's sweetness, Sugar gourmet. They contain a lot of carotene, sugar. The latter is especially sweet. The advantage of Children's sweets is a long shelf life, up to a new harvest.
Shantane 
Carotel 
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 won't be too difficult.
Conditions for a good harvest of carrots
To get a high-quality and tasty harvest, you need to know how to properly plant carrots on personal plot. When choosing a place for planting, it is better to give preference to soils rich in humus. Carrots love sandy soil, loam, drained peat bogs. Most gardeners are sure that the culture grows well on such land. On dense clay soil and heavy chernozems, it is unlikely that it will be possible to obtain even fruits, since the vegetable practically fails 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 grew before.
long and large carrots can be grown at a temperature of 18-25 ° C, in heat conditions, metabolic processes inside the root crops slow down. For seeds optimum temperature is 3°C. The culture is characterized by sufficient cold resistance and drought resistance, its seedlings can withstand frosts of -2°C, and adult plantings can withstand a drop of -4°C.
Soil Requirements
Land for sowing should be prepared in the fall. On the site, all the tops remaining after harvesting are harvested. If there are stones, rhizomes at the site of the proposed bed, it is necessary to dig the soil onto the bayonet of a shovel. The soil must be fertilized with complex compounds that do not contain chloride forms. The nutrient mixture is introduced into the soil with simultaneous grinding of its large lumps, after which the area is leveled with a rake. The soil for carrots should be enriched with useful trace elements.
If there is a need to introduce deoxidizers in the form dolomite flour and lime, they are added to the soil in the fall. Fertilizers are best used 2-3 weeks before laying seeds in the soil. To grow large root crops, it is recommended to add sand, perlite, vermiculite to the garden.
Sowing dates for carrots
For growing good carrots, sowing is done when the earth warms up to 3-4 ° C. Such work should be carried out only 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 a 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 the last days of October - in early November. Such terms are relevant for central Russia. It is not recommended to lay the seed material in the ground at earlier dates so that it does not germinate and does not die during frosts.
Agrotechnical practices to increase yield and palatability
Not all novice gardeners know how to grow a good and tasty crop of carrots. But there are 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 the 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 root crops, an excess of nutrients and moisture in the soil should be avoided. Better to underfeed than to overfeed. It is not recommended to add fresh manure, lime to the beds, regularly add wood ash, nitrogen compounds. Providing landings comfortable conditions growth, the farmer contributes to the growth of fruits in breadth, sideways. Particular attention should be paid to checking plantings for diseases and pests.
Among gardeners there is an opinion that it is necessary to cut the tops at the last stage of fruit ripening. It is important to understand here that the process of photosynthesis is still ongoing in green leaves and stems, therefore, such a manipulation is not worth doing. Otherwise, the growth of carrots stops.
Sowing features
Before laying seeds in the ground, they are recommended to be disinfected, soaked and germinated. Already processed material is dried and sown. This technique allows you to get shoots after 6-10 days. If dry seeds are planted in insufficiently moistened soil, their germination can be expected only after 40 days.
The bed before sowing also needs to be prepared. To do this, the earth 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 friendly shoots, the depth in the grooves must be the same. Seeds are sown in moist soil, maintaining a gap between them of 1.5-2 cm. It is very important to know at what distance to plant a crop in order to avoid thinning 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. Overflow contributes to the growth of root crops, they worsen taste qualities, such a crop is more suitable for feeding livestock. Based on this, watering should be carried out according to the following scheme:
- To improve the growth of young seedlings, the sprinkling method is used at the rate of 300-400 m3/ha, then drip irrigation 20-30 m3/ha. The frequency of the procedure - every 2-3 days, everything will depend on weather conditions.
- When the fruit formation period begins, the frequency of watering should be reduced, and the volume of water should be increased. Irrigation is done 1 time in 7-10 days. The earth should be moistened to a depth of 10-15 cm.
- Watering is stopped 1 month before harvest. Otherwise, excessive moisture worsens the taste of root crops 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 ultraviolet radiation, reduces the likelihood of plants getting sunburn. In addition, it will be possible to avoid greening of the root crop. Manipulation is desirable to carry out in cloudy weather or in the evening.
Top dressing carrots
In order for carrots to be sweet and juicy, nutrient compounds should be periodically applied to the soil. The number of dressings per season - 2. The first procedure is performed 3-4 weeks after germination, and the next - after 2 months. 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 st. 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 culture grows better on neutral or slightly acidic soil, ground, crushed chalk is used when planting if the earth is too acidic. Ash, dolomite, lime are also suitable for these purposes. For soil enrichment, it is recommended to use organic fertilizer at the rate of 1 bucket per 1 sq. m.
For growing large root crops, you can use not only ready-made store dressings, but also folk remedies. Three-component fertilizer has gained popularity: nettle, yeast and wood ash. First, the container is filled ¾ of the volume with phyto raw materials, then yeast and ash are added. After keeping 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 consumed per bed.
Carrots are a very necessary 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 crops as needed, without spending time growing it? However, closer to spring, store-bought carrots begin to rise in price significantly, their quality deteriorates noticeably, and those who do not stock up on time have a hard time.
That is why in every garden there is always a bed for this beloved vegetable crop, and experienced gardeners exchange experience with beginners on how to properly plant carrots in order to get a rich harvest of healthy root crops.
If you have not had to grow vegetables before, and you have no idea how to plant carrots, or you can’t grow normal tasty root crops, our article will definitely be useful to you. We will talk about how to plant carrots with seeds, how to care for young shoots, and how to protect the garden from.
Video about preparing carrot seeds for planting
Depending on the variety of seeds you bought, the timing of their sowing will also vary. So, in the twentieth of April, you can start sowing early ripe varieties, from April 25 to May 5, they begin to sow mid-season varieties, and planting carrots intended for winter storage, held June 10-15.
Under the carrot bed, it is recommended to choose a site where there are not too many weeds, since the weeds will sprout before the carrots and prevent it from growing. The soil should be loose, preferably with sand content. In heavy soil, root crops can turn out to be curved, clumsy, small. If there is a constantly elevated level of moisture in the soil, the root crops will rot, and in dry soil the carrot will turn out to be “wooden”.
Consider also after which 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, it is better not to plant carrots, as pests that are dangerous for carrots can remain in the soil.
In heavy soil, root crops can turn out to be curved, clumsy, small
Dig up the soil in the garden in the fall, and in the spring, walk along the ground with a flat cutter. Additionally, you should not dig up - settled earth is preferable for carrots. Most importantly, do not add fresh manure to the soil, as carrots do not tolerate its acid. The bed can be fertilized with mineral fertilizers a couple of weeks before planting carrots.
Planting carrots is done by seeds immediately in open ground. Prepare seeds in advance:
- soak for two hours in clean water at room temperature;
- scatter the seeds over a damp cloth and cover with another damp cloth on top;
- keep the seeds in the room, periodically stirring them gently;
- 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 on how to properly plant carrots
It is enough to maintain a distance between the seeds of 1.5 cm
Sprinkle the bed reserved for carrots with ash, cut it through each groove up to 2.5 cm deep, leaving row spacing of 20 cm, and 12 cm along the edges of the ridge. Pour the grooves with water and sow the prepared seeds. It is enough to maintain a distance between the seeds of 1.5 cm. Level the furrows with earth. Above the bed at a height of 15 cm, it is recommended to stretch the film so that shoots appear faster, and with the advent of greenery, 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: someone mixes the seed with sand before sowing, while others pre-paste one seed at a time on tapes of thin paper (you can use toilet paper). Carrot seed is picked up with a toothpick, dipped in paper glue or in a paste and applied every 5 cm on paper. Such paper tapes laid in the furrows and sprinkled on top of the earth.
Video about growing carrots
Plant a radish along the edges of the bed, it will sprout pretty quickly, marking the rows of carrots, and you can start loosening the row spacing early (carrots love frequent loosening). It is also very useful to plant on carrot patch onion, because its smell drives away carrot flies - the most dangerous pest carrots.
At first, the 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.
Carrots have been known for over 4,000 years. She hails from the Mediterranean coast and Central Asia, where it is still found in wild. At first, carrots were cultivated as treatment plant, later it began to be grown as a vegetable crop. Nowadays, carrots are grown everywhere and are hard to find. country cottage area without this beloved vegetable.
Carrots have a unique composition useful substances, it contains vitamins (A, C, K, E, all B vitamins), minerals (iron, fluorine, magnesium, potassium, iodine, etc.), natural sugars, essential oils, anthocyanins, bioflavonoids, antioxidants, fiber and others
Raw and boiled carrots, as well as carrot juice, are used in clinical nutrition for diseases of the cardiovascular system, liver, kidneys, anemia, eye diseases, oncology, to strengthen nervous system and in the treatment of many other diseases. Carrots contain a lot of fiber, are low in calories, and therefore are indispensable in the treatment of obesity.
Carrots are not only healthy, but also tasty, it’s not for nothing that children love to crunch on fresh carrots. You can cook many dishes from carrots: soups, side dishes, salads, drinks and even desserts.
Biological features of carrots
Carrots are quite whimsical and require strict adherence to agricultural practices when growing, otherwise you can be left without a crop.
The soil. Dry, sandy soils are suitable for growing carrots. On dense, heavy soils, short, deformed root crops can grow. Also, carrots do not like too damp soils, since with an excess of moisture it does not develop well. root system. The best predecessors for carrots: potatoes, beets, onions, cereals.
Moisture. Carrots are much more drought tolerant than other root vegetables. However, for normal development, the plant needs constant soil moisture, especially during periods of seed germination, active growth root system and during the mass growth of leaves. Watering should be uniform - large breaks should not be allowed. This can lead to cracking of root crops and a deterioration in their taste.
Temperature. Carrots are tolerant of low temperatures; its seeds germinate already at +4+5°C. Under these conditions, seedlings will appear in about 3 weeks. When the temperature rises to + 20 ° C, the seeds germinate in 8-10 days.
Shoots of carrot calmly endure frosts down to -2°C, older plants down to -5°C. For the growth of leaf mass, the optimum temperature is + 22 + 25 ° С, for the formation and growth of root crops + 18 + 20 ° С. Carrot plants tolerate cold weather better than heat - when high temperatures the development of carrots slows down, and at temperatures above + 35 ° C it stops.
Light. Carrots are very demanding on lighting, as they are a long day plant. At short day carrots grow more slowly, increase the mass of the root crop worse, accumulate less useful substances, including carotene.
Technology for growing carrots
Bed preparation. The yield and quality of carrots directly depends on the illumination of the site and the place must be chosen accordingly, carrots grow much worse in the shade. Also, beds for carrots should not be clogged with perennial weeds - carrots grow slowly at the beginning of the growing season and the weeds will simply drown it out.
It is better to dig up the site in the fall. When digging, 5 kg are added to the soil. humus or compost, 30-40 gr. superphosphate and 20 gr. potassium chloride per 1 sq. meter. In the spring, when the soil is ready for sowing, scatter urea over the beds at the rate of 15 g. per 1 sq. m. and embedded in the soil. Then it is necessary to carefully level the top layer with a rake so that there are no lumps and seals. If carrots are not sown immediately, then it is better to cover the bed with a film - this will prevent the evaporation of moisture, and at the same time the earth under the film will warm up better.
Timing. Carrots can be sown in spring or before winter. Winter sowing is carried out in late October-early November (in the middle lane), after the first frost and a week before snow falls. With winter sowing, you can get early production, but this method of cultivation is not possible in all climatic zones. When too low temperatures in winter, seeds can freeze even under cover.
In the spring, carrots are sown in April-May, as soon as the soil thaws.
Seed preparation. Due to the content of essential oils in carrot seeds, they hatch for a long time and pre-sowing treatment is required to accelerate germination.
First you need to separate the non-germinating seeds. To do this, the seeds are poured with warm saline solution(1 tbsp. salt per 1 glass of water) and stirring, stand for 20-30 minutes, discard the floating seeds.
There are several ways to speed up seed germination:
- scatter the seeds on a damp cloth in a warm room and keep moist until the seeds begin to hatch, after which they are sown immediately;
- pour the seeds into a cloth bag ( old sock) and bury in the area, on the bayonet of a shovel, 7-10 days before sowing. The seeds will swell, become much larger and sprout faster;
- soak the seeds in nutrient solution for 1 day. Ash can be used to prepare a nutrient solution (1 tablespoon per 1 liter warm water), "Effekton-O" (1 tsp per 1 liter of water), "Sodium humate" (1 tsp per 1 liter of water), "Epin" (10-20 drops per 1 liter of water) , boric acid(1 g per 1 liter of water), "Zircon" (10 drops per 1 liter of water). After processing, the seeds must be washed, wrapped in a damp cloth and put in the refrigerator for hardening. Let the seeds dry before sowing.
To combat internal infections, the seeds are kept for 15 minutes in hot (+ 52 + 53 ° C) water, then immediately immersed in cold water for 3 minutes.
Sowing. On the bed, form transverse strips 1-2 cm deep, depending on the density of the soil. The heavier the soil, the shallower the sowing depth. The distance between the grooves is 15-20 cm. Spread the seeds at a distance of 3-5 cm from each other, cover the grooves and lightly compact, slam with the palm of your hand or a board.
Care. The most important in the care of carrots are: loosening and weeding. Loosening should be carried out as often as possible - after each watering or rain, in order to destroy the soil crust, which prevents the penetration of air to the roots, and also contributes to the curvature of root crops. Even in dry weather, loosening is necessary to retain moisture in the soil.
It is necessary to weed crops in a timely manner, weeds drown out seedlings and inhibit the development of carrots. Thinning is another one of the "secrets" of growing carrots. The first thinning is carried out as soon as the real leaves appear. Seedlings are plucked, leaving at least 3 cm between plants. The next thinning of grown plants is carried out after 4 weeks, leaving a distance of 10-15 cm between them.
Watering important for carrots at all stages of development. Watering is carried out to the depth of the roots. How older plant, topics more water required for irrigation. In dry and hot summers, to avoid lethargy of root crops, you need to water every 5-7 days.
top dressing. During the growing season, carrots need to be fed 2-3 times. The first dressing is carried out three weeks after germination, the second - a month after the first. To prepare the solution, take 15-20 gr. urea, 15-20 gr. superphosphate and 20 gr. potassium salt in a bucket of water or dilute any complex fertilizer for vegetables. It is not bad to feed the carrots with a solution of mullein (1 liter of slurry per 10 liters of water) with the addition of 1 cup of ash per bucket of solution.
The third top dressing is carried out, when growing late-ripening varieties, a month after the second, only in this case you should not use nitrogen fertilizers.
Cleaning. The grown carrots can be harvested as needed during the season, or used for food selected during thinning.
The main growth of root crops occurs in late August-early September (up to 40% of the total mass), so you should not rush into harvesting. Harvest should be when the temperature is +4 + 5 ° C, but before the onset of frost.
Varieties with short fruits are well pulled out of the soil, and it is better to dig up long root crops with a pitchfork. It is better to harvest carrots in dry weather. Cut the tops with a knife, capturing a small part of the root crop - then they definitely will not germinate if the temperature in the cellar is above the permissible level. Before storage, carrots are sorted, damaged or ugly root crops are rejected.