Dates of planting carrots in open ground with seeds in the fall

Carrots can be attributed to the most beloved root crops and often grown by gardeners. It is impossible to imagine traditional home cooking without a bright, colorful ingredient. Many varieties of this garden culture are kept fresh for a long time, being a rich source of vitamins and minerals in winter.

Carrots are a rather moody vegetable. In unsuitable conditions, with untimely watering and improper care, instead of an even, beautiful carrot, at best, a harvest of fodder vegetables can be obtained. Experienced gardeners share the secrets of how to plant carrots with seeds in the open field and provide proper care for the plants in order to get a rich harvest of vitamin roots.

Seed planting dates

You can sow carrot seeds as soon as the ground warms up to 4-6 ° C, this usually happens in the second half of April. It is important not to be late with sowing, otherwise the seeds will germinate for a very long time. It is good to sow carrots before the onset of lingering rains.

The time for sowing carrots in open ground depends on the variety.

According to the ripening period, it is conventionally accepted to subdivide them into:

• early or early ripening varieties, the growing season in which lasts 50-60 days after germination;
• mid-season, ripening in 90-110 days;
• late or late ripening, which are ready for use only after 120 days or more.

The timing of sowing carrots depends on the variety and climatic conditions of each specific region. Sowing of early-maturing varieties can be started in the third decade of April, mid-season varieties are sown from about April 25 to May 5, and carrots intended for winter storage are planted on June 10-15.

Experienced gardeners who practice winter planting of seeds share the secret of how to independently determine the optimal time for planting carrots before winter. They recommend waiting for the first slight freezing of the soil 3-5 centimeters deep. This method helps to avoid untimely seed emergence.

In the second half of April, you can safely begin to germinate overwintered carrots by installing a small greenhouse over the garden bed or simply covered with foil arcs. At this time, the seeds are provided with intensive watering.

How to choose a carrot variety?

When choosing a variety of carrots, special attention should be paid to the ability to long-term storage. For early ripening juicy varieties (Lydia F1, Touchon, Minicor F1), this quality does not really matter. When sowing a vegetable for winter stocks, it is preferable to choose varieties that retain their properties for a long time: Fairy, Nantes, Orange Muscat, Shantane.

For sowing for storage, it is recommended to choose late or mid-season varieties that retain all the properties of root crops for a long time: Leander, Vitaminnaya, Alenka, Grenada (mid-season).

With proper storage, almost all late-ripening varieties can lie in the winter season, remaining healthy and tasty until next spring. Good characteristics in the popular late varieties Queen of Autumn, Incomparable, Red Giant, Flacque, Mo, St. Valerie. Particularly noteworthy is the variety Perfection with a high immunity to moisture-induced rotting.

For winter sowing under film, the varieties Amsterdam, Moscow winter, Incomparable, Children's sweetness (very tender), Parisian carotel (cold-resistant), Baby F1 hybrid and other varieties of the early and middle ripening period have proven themselves well.

Preparing seeds for planting

Carrot seeds begin to cook long before they enter the ground. It is worth paying attention to the period when the seed was harvested. Most often, gardeners choose purchased seeds for sowing or "homemade" seeds collected from last year's harvest.

When using purchased seeds, before planting carrots in open ground, it is important to pay attention to the expiration date stamped on the bag with seed material. A good harvest can only be obtained from seeds that are no more than 3-4 years old by the time of sowing.

To increase germination, it is necessary to prepare seed material. This procedure consists in preliminary germination and stratification - keeping the seeds in special conditions.

At home, it will take at least 10 days to carry out the procedure for preparing and hardening seeds.

This process consists of several stages:

1. Carrot seeds are soaked in water at "room" temperature for 2 hours.
2. Spread the seed evenly on a damp cloth, cover it on top with a damp cloth.
3. Constantly moisturizing the tissue, keep the seeds in it until they swell. Stir gently from time to time, avoiding drying out.
4. Seeds that begin to hatch are placed in the refrigerator for 10 days for hardening.

For preliminary germination of seed, experienced gardeners also use another long-known and repeatedly proven method: seeds poured into a cotton bag are buried in the ground at a shallow depth for up to 10 days.

To speed up the ripening of carrots and increase yields, experienced vegetable growers recommend soaking the seeds for 4-6 hours in wood ash. To prepare a solution, 20 grams of ash are stirred in 1 liter of water and infused for 1-2 days. This seed treatment is carried out 12-24 hours before sowing in the ground.

Choosing a place for sowing

To get a good harvest for carrot beds, it is necessary to choose a place on the site that meets all the necessary conditions. This vegetable requires a lot of sunlight: in the shade, carrots do not grow well, do not have good taste. For winter sowing, it is necessary to make a bed in a lighted and elevated area, so that in the future the seeds do not erode the melt water.

It also matters which crops grew in the chosen location last year.

It is impossible to grow carrots in the same garden for several years: giving up trace elements to the root crop, the soil is depleted. The earth should "rest" for at least 1-2 years.In addition, since last season, pests may remain in the soil - the natural enemies of carrots. For this reason, it is not recommended to plant it after parsley.

Bad "predecessors" for carrots are dill, fennel, beans, parsnips, caraway seeds. The root crop grows best after cereals, onions, garlic, cucumbers, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes.

Soil preparation

Before sowing carrot seeds in open ground, prepare the ground. It is best to start the processing of the plot allocated for spring sowing in the fall. The soil needs to be dug deep and thoroughly, roots and weeds must be selected, and fertilized. In the spring, a site prepared in this way for a carrot bed will need to be loosened again and start sowing.

In order for the root crop to grow well and maintain an even shape, the earth must be sufficiently loose and light. If the soil is dense, it is recommended to mix it with well-rotted manure, compost, peat or sand.

The acidity level of the soil is of particular importance. Soil that is too acidic will have a negative effect on the taste of carrots. The optimal Ph level for growing this root crop is 6-7. The introduction of chalk, wood ash, dolomite flour into the soil will help reduce acidity.

Landing technology

Before sowing carrot seeds, sprinkle the bed with ash. At a distance of 20 centimeters, grooves are made with a depth of 2-3 centimeters (in heavy soils - 1.5-2 centimeters), which are watered with a small amount of water.

Seeds are evenly sown in them, maintaining a distance of 1.5 centimeters between them, and sprinkled with earth. To speed up the emergence of shoots, it is recommended to stretch the film at a height of 15 centimeters above the garden bed.

At a temperature of 18 ° C, seedlings will appear in 2 weeks. The film can then be removed. Young shoots are not afraid of short-term frosts, but a long cold can lead to a stop of root growth and flowering.

Certain inconveniences during sowing are created by the small size of the seed: It is not easy to pour light seeds evenly into the groove. Experienced gardeners use convenient proven methods for sowing small carrot seeds.

Quite popular, albeit requiring patient work, is sticking seeds onto toilet paper. Many vegetable growers on winter evenings stick seeds with paste on strips of paper with a match or toothpick. The resulting paper strips are dried. In the spring, instead of tedious sowing, "blanks" on toilet paper are placed in the grooves, sprinkling with earth.

A faster and easier way is to stir the seeds before sowing with a little sand. This seed does not stick together and spreads evenly into the furrow. Carrots can also be sown in a paste made from potato starch. For this, the seeds are mixed with liquid chilled potato "jelly", poured through a kettle into the grooves and sprinkled with earth.

At home, you can make granules with seeds. In the store, there is seed material in a special shell, which does not need additional germination.

You can make a similar "blank" yourself: cut paper napkins or toilet paper into small squares, place in each of them a carrot seed with a granule of a suitable mineral fertilizer and a drop of paste. Then roll the paper squares and dry. Such blanks can be made in winter and stored in a dry place until the beginning of the sowing season.

Outdoor carrot care

To obtain a rich harvest, carrots planted in open ground require careful regular maintenance.

Top dressing

Even before sowing carrot seeds in open ground, fertilizers must be applied to the soil. This can be done even in the fall, preparing the area reserved for planting root crops. Rotted cow dung, which is applied at the rate of half a bucket per square meter of land, is well suited for this purpose.

It is important not to forget that you cannot use fresh manure to fertilize a carrot bed: by unnecessarily increasing the acidity of the soil, it leads to the curvature of root crops.

For preliminary feeding, nitrogen fertilizers mixed with phosphates are used in the following dosage (per 1 square meter):

• double superphosphate (granules) - 2 tablespoons;
• sodium nitrate - 1 tablespoon;
• potassium sulfate - 1 tablespoon;
• dolomite flour - 2 tablespoons;
• wood ash - 2 tablespoons.

Periodic feeding of carrots can be carried out in 2 stages using a mixture of mineral additives.

A solution is introduced into the soil between the rows 3 weeks after germination:

• 1 teaspoon of urea
• 1.5 tablespoons of double superphosphate;
• 1 tablespoon potassium sulfate
• 10 liters of water.

Half a month after the first one, a second feeding is carried out, in which it is necessary to add a solution prepared from the calculation:

• 1 tablespoon potassium sulfate
• 1 tablespoon of azofoska;
• 10 liters of water.

For feeding, you can use an organic mixture of a solution of chicken manure with water (1:10) and superphosphate. The prepared additive must be insisted, and before adding it again to dilute with water 1:10. The resulting composition can also fertilize carrots no more than 2 times.

Growing carrots can be additionally fed with boric acid diluted with water in a proportion of 1 teaspoon per 10 liters. Such a composition should be applied twice per season: in the first decade of July and in the first days of August, when the roots begin to ripen.

When applying nitrogen-containing fertilizers, the prescribed dosage should be strictly observed. An excess of nitrogen not only leads to coarsening of root crops, but also contributes to the accumulation of nitrates in them.

Watering

Like many root vegetables, carrots can suffer from both dry soil and excessive water. In observance of the "golden mean" is the correct watering of carrots.

After planting the seeds, the garden bed should be watered frequently, but with a little water. With the emergence of seedlings, watering should be reduced to 1 time per week. They should not be abundant: the soil should be soaked no more than 30 centimeters deep.

With an excessive amount of water, the roots are guaranteed to crack, and insufficiently deep watering will cause the formation of many small shoots and yield a crop of "hairy" carrots.

With a lack of moisture and a prolonged absence of watering, the taste of the crop deteriorates: the carrot loses its sweetness, becomes tough. If the weather is extremely hot in summer, you can water the carrots a little more often, about 3 times a week (as the soil dries up).

If there is enough moisture, experienced gardeners are advised to give up watering 3-4 weeks before the harvest. This improves the taste of ripe carrots and promotes long-term storage of the root vegetable.

Thinning, loosening, hilling

To get large and even carrots from the garden, it is imperative to remove weeds, thin out and hud up root crops in a timely manner.

It is not worth neglecting the regular timely loosening of the carrot bed. Although the soil in preparation for sowing was made as light as possible, after the first shoots, the roots must be provided with a sufficient amount of oxygen.

You need to loosen the soil wet, after rain or watering, and very carefully. The tender, fragile "roots" of carrots located near the surface can be easily damaged by careless loosening.

You also need to be careful about thinning, which allows you to get a harvest of large root crops. It is carried out after the appearance of the first strong leaves of carrot tops.

Experienced gardeners recommend thinning carrots twice: on the 12th and 22nd days after germination. It is important not to forget that improper thinning can lead to injury to the remaining root crops, the appearance of unwanted shoots and a harvest of "horned" carrots.

This procedure must be carried out according to the following rules:

• when thinning, the land should be well moistened;
• "Extra" roots should be removed slowly, pulling up, not swinging or pulling the root out of the ground;
• Thinning is best done in 2 stages: for the first time, the distance between the roots is enough to leave 3 centimeters, and after 14-16 days repeat the procedure, leaving the largest carrots at a distance of 4-5 centimeters from each other.

To prevent greening of the upper part, it is necessary to huddle the carrots, covering the root crop with earth. In root vegetables with a "green stripe", a substance called solanine is formed, which imparts a bitter taste to carrots during winter storage.

Root crops are the true kings of the garden. They are cultivated by all summer residents, but far from everyone growing carrots in the open field invariably pleases with a generous harvest of sweet and juicy vegetables of perfectly even shape. To get such a result, you will have to try: sow the culture correctly and provide it with competent care.

Optimal place for beds

You can count on an abundance of fruits only if you satisfy all the requirements of carrots, and she has a lot of them. Its bushes thrive on loose and fertile soils. In terms of composition, they are optimally suited to medium loam or sandy loam soil. They will provide the carrots with high aeration. It is possible to choose varieties for breeding that form long root crops only when the depth of the loose soil layer on the site is very significant.

The culture prefers neutral soil, the optimal pH for it is in the range of 6-7. It is better if a crust does not form on the soil, and its moisture capacity is good. In dense and heavy soil, which does not allow air to pass to the roots of the bushes and retains water for a long time, the taste of carrots will greatly decrease, even despite good care. Inappropriate soil will affect seed germination in spring, and it will make adult bushes vulnerable to fungal diseases.

It is good to make beds for planting carrots on an area where the following crops grew last season:

• cabbage;
• any kind of beans and grains;
• onion;
• garlic;
• potato;
• tomatoes;
• zucchini;
• cucumbers.

Bad predecessors for her will be herbs that come from the same family:

• Dill;
• celery;
• parsley;
• coriander;
• parsnip;
• fennel;
• caraway.

Advice

It is not worth planting carrots in one place from year to year. Such beds are more often affected by pests and diseases. It will be possible to sow a crop in the same area without fear for the health of the plants when 3-4 years have passed since the harvest.

A place for beds with carrots should be chosen well-lit. Its bushes love the sun and do not suffer from its direct rays. But the lack of light will have a bad effect on the yield. Root crops will grow small and taste poor.

Preparing for landing

The soil for planting carrots is prepared in advance by introducing rotted manure or compost into it (½ bucket per 1 m² of the surface of the garden). If the land on the site is heavy, sawdust (2-3 liters) is added to the fertilizer. They will loosen the soil. It is also good to add wood ash or other compounds containing potassium. It improves the taste of root vegetables, makes them sweeter and increases their keeping quality. If the sowing of carrots is carried out in the spring, they dig up the plot even during the autumn work in the garden. So the soil will have time to settle. To make the root crops even, and to remove them from the soil it was easier, you need to dig deep, 1.5 bayonets of a shovel. With the arrival of spring, the site is leveled with a rake, after which it will be possible to start planting.

Fresh manure cannot be used for pre-sowing preparation of the site. Its introduction will provoke the flowering of carrot bushes and the branching of root crops. No amount of care will save them from this. You need to carefully consider the dosage of nitrogen fertilizers. With an excess of them, vegetables become coarse, and nitrates accumulate in their tissues.

The timing of sowing a crop is determined by the characteristics of the selected variety and the purpose of its cultivation. Carrots can be planted before winter. Then the process of vernalization of its seeds will take place in the soil. In the spring, when it gets a little warmer, they will hatch right away. Harvesting can be started 2-3 weeks earlier than with normal sowing. But it will not be stored for a long time. It is better to eat such vegetables right away or make preparations from them for the winter. Sowing carrots in autumn is not possible everywhere. In areas with cold winters, seed beds are protected with a thick layer of dry foliage, straw or sawdust. But in severe frosts, they can die even under such shelter.

Planting carrots in the spring is more often practiced. Its timing depends on the climate of the area and on the time by which the roots should ripen. If you plan to use them in the summer, then planting seeds of early maturing varieties is better in early spring. You can start sowing when the air warms up to + 8 ° C, and the moisture remaining in the ground after the snow melts has not yet had time to evaporate.

Sharp cold snaps and frosts have a bad effect on the keeping quality of root crops and can cause carrots to bloom. Therefore, if vegetables need to be stored for a long time, planting dates are shifted to mid-April (for late and mid-season varieties). On light soils, it can be carried out until the end of May, weather conditions will serve as a guide here. On medium - it is better to hurry up and have time to sow the crop before the middle of the month. You should not be late with planting, otherwise the emergence of seedlings will have to wait for a very long time.

Advice

Carrots grow quickly when planted before long rains.

Seed treatment

Experienced summer residents prefer to plant carrots with already sprouted seeds. Seed care at this stage is very simple and does not take much time. At the same time, it will allow you to immediately reject empty seeds and accelerate the emergence of seedlings by at least a week. In its simplest form, it consists of 2 procedures.

• The seeds are placed in warm water and left in it for 10 hours. As a result, empty shells end up on the surface of the liquid.
• Next, the selected planting material is laid out on damp gauze (cloth, cotton wool). The air in the room with carrot seeds should be warmed up to + 20- + 24 ° C. If everything is done correctly, they will hatch in 3 days.

Presowing care can be carried out in other effective ways.

• Place the carrot seeds in water heated to 30 ° C for a day, changing it every 4 hours. You can take a solution of wood ash for processing (1 tablespoon of fertilizer per 1 liter of water). Its temperature should be the same. Having removed the seeds from it, they are washed with clean water and, wrapped with a piece of cloth, are placed in the refrigerator, where they are kept for 2-3 days.
• Place the seeds in a cloth or gauze bag and expose them to contrasting temperatures. For 20 minutes, the planting material is kept in hot (50 ° C) water, then dipped in cold water for 2-3 minutes.
• After placing the carrot seeds in a cloth bag, bury them in the ground and let them sit in it for 10 days.

Seeds prepared in any of the ways can be sown on the beds.

Sowing rules

It is recommended to plant carrots in autumn and spring in well-moisturized grooves of medium depth. If you make them small, gusty winds can blow the seeds away and spread them throughout the garden. But the grooves should not be too deep. Otherwise, shoots can not be expected. Furrows are made with a minimum interval of 15 cm. The seeds are laid out in them so that there is 2 cm between them. They are sealed to a depth of 2-3 cm if the soil is light, and 1.5-2 cm if it is heavy.

Advice

If sowing is carried out with non-germinated seeds, before placing them in the ground, they are lightly rubbed with hands, removing the bristles from them.

After planting carrots, the soil in the beds is compacted. This is usually done with a roller or board, but you can simply crush the soil with your hands. Then a thick (at least 3 cm) layer of mulch is poured onto the beds. It will not allow the formation of a soil crust that interferes with the sprouting of seedlings.

For germination of carrots, a temperature of about + 15- + 18 ° C is needed. If untreated seeds were used for planting, it will take 18-25 days for seedlings to hatch in the spring. They are not afraid of short-term frosts (up to -4 ° C), so you should not cover the beds. With a prolonged cold snap, the probability of flowering is high.

Before winter, planting carrots should be closer to the end of autumn - in the last days of October or in the first decade of November. The plot for its sowing is prepared in 3 weeks. Having covered the seeds in the soil, the beds are covered with a 3-centimeter layer of peat. In the spring, after the snow has melted, they are covered with foil. They remove it only after the shoots appear. Autumn sowing of carrots is possible only on light soils.

Features of agricultural technology

The technology of growing a crop is quite simple, even novice summer residents can easily cope with it.

Caring for the beds consists of the following activities:

• thinning out too dense seedlings;
• frequent loosening;
• regular weeding;
• timely watering;
• dressing.

For the first time, carrot seedlings are thinned out when 2 true leaves are formed on them. At this stage, it will be correct to leave 2-3 cm of free space between the plants. With the appearance of 3 and 4 leaves, thinning is carried out again, bringing the distance between the carrot bushes to 4-6 cm.At the same time, weeding is done.

Carrots will yield a bountiful harvest, and their fruits will be sweet and robust when properly watered. Lack of moisture will make vegetables sluggish and give them a bitter taste. Plants are watered during the entire growing season - in spring and summer. At the same time, make sure that the water soaks the soil at least 30 cm deep. If the fruits do not have enough moisture, lateral roots will form on them and the presentation of the carrots will deteriorate. But an excess of water will not be useful to plants. It causes cracking of root crops, stimulates the formation of small shoots on them, and enhances the growth of leaves.

Leaving in the form of watering is carried out once a week, adhering to the following rules.

• In the spring, immediately after sowing, 3 liters of water are spent on 1 m² of the surface of the beds.
• After thinning the seedlings for the second time, the volume of the introduced liquid is brought to 10 liters.
• At the stage of intensive growth of root crops (it begins when the leaves on the carrot bushes develop well), the amount of water during irrigation is increased by 2 times.
• Moisture is reduced 1.5-2 months before harvesting. It is carried out less often - once every 10-15 days, and water is spent at the rate of 10 liters per 1 m² of the surface of the garden. Planting care in the form of watering is completely stopped 2-3 weeks before digging up the roots.

Fertilize carrots twice a season. The time for feeding determines the age of the seedlings: 1 and 2 months. Such care is carried out by the root method, watering the beds with a nutritious composition of the following components:

• wood ash (2 glasses);
• nitrophoski (1 tbsp. l);
• potassium nitrate (20 g);
• urea (15 g);
• superphosphate (15 g).

All components are diluted in 1 bucket of water. Fertilizer solution is added after watering.

Every summer resident considers it his duty to plant a garden bed with graceful carrot bushes, decorating the garden landscape with openwork leaves with a spicy aroma. The history of the cultivation of this culture has been going on for almost 4 millennia, during which many varieties of it have been obtained. Among them there are early maturing and late maturing, high-yielding, staunchly withstanding the invasion of pests and not afraid of diseases. There are varieties bred specifically for a specific area, as well as differing in the length and shape of the fruit. In this variety, every gardener will be able to find exactly the one he wants to grow.

Carrots are delicious and healthy. It can be counted among the basic products that should always be in the kitchen, because many dishes are prepared using it, from the usual soups to desserts. However, it is not so easy to get sweet root vegetables, because the culture is quite demanding on growing conditions.Caring for carrots in the beds cannot be called specific, but you can expect a generous harvest from its bushes only if all its rules are followed.

Carrots are a root vegetable found in the plots of even beginner gardeners. It is rich in vitamins and microelements, and in terms of keratin content it surpasses all vegetables and fruits (except for sea buckthorn). To grow large and even fruits, you should know the nuances of growing.

Conditions for growing carrots in the open field

Site location and illumination

For carrots, choose a well-lit area - direct sunlight throughout the day will benefit the plant. When grown in the shade, yield decreases, taste deteriorates.

Priming

The soil needs a loose, neutral or slightly acidic reaction. Light sandy loam or loamy soils are suitable. In dense loam, the fruits grow small, quickly rot during storage.

How to prepare the land for planting carrots

Prepare the site in the fall so that the soil is settled by the spring. For looseness, if the soil is heavy loamy, add peat or sand for digging. Fertilize depleted soil with humus (6-8 kg per 1 m²).

Predecessors

It is advisable to change the place for carrot beds annually. Do not plant carrots after parsley, dill, parsnips, celery. The ideal precursors for carrots are cucumbers, tomatoes, garlic, onions, potatoes, and cabbage.

Dates for planting carrots in open ground with seeds

The yield of root crops directly depends on the timing of sowing. Different varieties differ in the duration of ripening (information should be indicated on the package with seeds). Also focus on the timing of the desired harvest.

When to plant carrots before winter

To obtain early carrots or the so-called bundle products, crops are sown before winter or early spring. The first option is possible only in warm climatic zones - even under a thick layer of covering material, seeds freeze out under harsh conditions.

Podzimny sowing of carrots is carried out at the end of October, when warming is no longer expected. If the seeds hatch and sprout in the fall, frost will destroy them. Therefore, they try to postpone the sowing time as far as possible by the end of autumn.

Planting carrots in the open ground in the spring

Sowing carrots in spring as soon as the topsoil warms up to a temperature of 4-6 ° C. In the middle lane, this is approximately the end of April. Remember: an earlier planting of carrots and a return cold snap negatively affects the keeping quality of fruits and provokes the active laying of flower arrows, but this is not an obstacle to growing early ripening varieties that are immediately eaten and not stored in winter.

Long-term varieties are excellent for long-term storage. Sow them out at real heat (15-18 ° C).

Preparing carrot seeds for planting in spring

Preparing carrot seeds for planting in spring soaking

How to properly process carrot seeds before planting

First, select high-quality seeds: place them in a solution of table salt for 3-5 minutes, floating to the surface are not suitable for sowing. Rinse the rest under running water, hold for 24 hours in a damp cloth soaked in a solution of a growth stimulator. Before sowing, the seeds are dried until flowable and sown immediately.

Is it possible to germinate carrot seeds before planting

Some gardeners do the following to speed up germination. The seeds are placed on a damp cloth and kept at a temperature of 20-24 ° C for 5-6 days. It is important that the seeds only swell, but do not germinate, otherwise the sprouts will be damaged during transplantation and the seeds will not sprout. Before sowing, the seeds are slightly dried until flowable and sown immediately.

Carrot seeds can also be prepared for sowing in an unusual way: they are wrapped in cloth and dug deeper in the garden until the time when the earth is ripe (about the size of a shovel's bayonet). Leave them in the ground for 10 days.The seeds will not hatch, but they will prepare well for a quick germination. Dry them a little and sow immediately.

How to plant carrots with seeds in the ground

How to sow carrots outdoors photo

Distance between carrot seeds when planting

Make shallow grooves in the area, water well. Cover the seeds to a depth of 2-3 cm. Observe the distance between the rows of 15-20 cm, try to place individual seeds at a distance of about 2 cm from each other.

Planting scheme for carrots in the open field

On an industrial scale, it is more convenient to plant carrots in double rows: the distance between two rows is 15-20 cm, a wide row spacing is 40-50 cm.

It is convenient to make the ridges not wide (approximately 1.3-1.5 m) so that you can reach with your hands from both sides to weed the rows. It is better to place the rows perpendicular to the long side of the bed, so it is more convenient to sow, break through and water the plants. Row spacing 15-20 cm. Make bumpers along the edges of the beds to prevent water from running off.

Do I need to water the carrots after planting?

If the weather is cool, wet, there is no need for watering. On warm sunny days, the soil dries out quickly, in this case, moderate watering will not be superfluous. However, remember that too much moisture will cause an earthy crust to form, which is even worse than not watering. Therefore, moisturize carefully, only lightly spraying the bed. Watering is repeated every morning until shoots appear. After that, it will be possible to loosen the row-spacing and water less often, after 1-2 days, with the obligatory loosening of the row-spacings, until they are closed by the grown tops.

How many carrot seeds sprout?

In warm weather, the seeds will sprout in about a week. Germination time is doubled if the air temperature is below 12 ° C. Replenish the empty spaces with additional crops.

Before winter, seeds are sown at soil temperatures below +5 ° C. Deepen the seeds by 2 cm. The thickness of the mulch layer should be 3-4 cm. If the snow cover is insignificant, additionally cover with spruce branches, increasing the layer to half a meter.

Taking care of carrots after planting outdoors

Planting carrots in the ground with seeds and further care

Thinning

To grow large roots, you should regulate the level of plant thickening. Carry out the first thinning with the appearance of real leaves. The sprouts are very tender, so that they are well removed, it is necessary to water abundantly, after drying, slightly loosen the soil.

Remove plants one at a time, leaving a distance of 2-3 cm between individual plants. It is better to carry out the procedure in the daytime - in the evening you can attract a carrot fly to the pest site. Do not leave the tops in the garden. Press the soil around the plants a little to keep the plants upright. After 20 days, re-thinning, doubling the distance.

Watering carrots after planting and in the future

The juiciness and sweet taste of root vegetables depends on watering. Provide regular watering at all stages of carrot growth. The soil should be soaked to a depth according to the size of the root crop. Water the garden bed with adult carrots so that the soil is soaked by 30 cm. Due to the lack of moisture, the fruits are sluggish, with a bitter taste.

Water after 3-4 days, adding 30-40 liters of water per 1 m² to provide moisture for the formation of root crops. Medium-sized roots are able to find moisture on their own - add 10-20 liters of water per 1 m² once a week. From the end of August, 8-10 liters of water per 1 m² is enough every 1.5-2 weeks. Soak the carrots without watering 2 weeks before harvest.

Sharp changes from drying out of the soil to excess moisture lead to cracking of the fruits, which worsens their keeping quality.

Loosen the aisles regularly, weed out plantings from weeds.

Top dressing

Carrots should be fed twice a season. Carry out the first feeding 3-4 weeks after germination, the second after a couple of months. Apply the fertilizer in liquid form.For 10 liters of water, add at your choice: 2 glasses of wood ash; 1 tbsp. l. nitrophosphate; 20 g of potassium nitrate, 15 g of double superphosphate and urea.

Diseases and pests of carrots

The carrot fly is the main enemy of the plant. It appears with thickened plantings, in the presence of weeds, from excessive soil moisture. You will understand that the plantation is affected by a carrot fly by the following signs: the leaves will begin to curl and dry. An insecticide treatment should be carried out urgently.

To protect against carrot flies, marigolds are planted next to carrot beds, the smell of which repels pests.

Carrots are weakly susceptible to diseases. Possible defeat by phomosis, alternaria. The risk of diseases is reduced by treating the beds with a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid.

Harvesting carrots

How to clean and store carrots

Carrots are not afraid of cold weather, but low air temperature (below +8 ° C) promotes the conversion of starch into sugar, which will negatively affect keeping quality. In the middle lane, the carrot crop should be harvested at the end of September. Do this in dry weather. Dig up the carrots, shake the roots off the ground, hold them in the air (not in direct sunlight) for about 1.5-2 hours, then cut off the tops. Sort the crop, put even fruits without damage in ventilated boxes, store in a cool, dark place.

Carrots for planting in open ground: the best varieties

Choosing carrot seeds: the best varieties for outdoor use. Among the many varieties, you can easily choose the best option for both spring and autumn sowing.

Consider the most productive varieties:

Carrot alenka photo

Alenka is an early ripening variety, you can harvest after 50 days of growth. With a root crop length of 12-15 cm, the weight is 145 g.

Carrot Touchon photo

Tushon is an early ripening variety, its fruits are ready for harvest after 2 months of growth. Weight - 150 g, length - 20 cm.

Carrots of Nantes photo

Nantes is a mid-season variety with a ripening period of 85-90 days. The average length of a blunt-pointed root crop is 16 cm with a weight of 165 g.

Carrot Vitamin photo

Vitamin - the root crops of the variety are ready to be harvested after 110-112 days of growth. Weight - 150 g, root crop length - about 15 cm.

Carrot Queen Autumn photo

The Queen of Autumn is a late variety, ripening 125-135 days. Ideal for winter storage. With a root crop length of 20 cm, it weighs about 160 g.

Flakke carrots photo

Flakke - belongs to the late varieties. Harvesting is possible after 100-120 days of growth. A root crop with a length of 30 cm weighs about 150-170 g.

Carrots are perhaps one of the most beloved and often grown root crops in summer cottages. It is hard to imagine traditional home cooking without this colorful ingredient: many varieties of this garden crop can be kept fresh for a long time, representing an invaluable source of trace elements and vitamins during the winter season. Is it easy to cultivate carrots on your site? Growing and caring for this vegetable crop in the open field has a number of features. Despite the seeming simplicity of this process, one should not forget that carrots are a rather capricious vegetable. Unsuitable conditions, untimely watering or feeding will lead to the fact that instead of even juicy carrots, at best, you will get a harvest of fodder vegetables. Therefore, it is so important not only to know how to plant carrots with seeds in open ground, but also how to ensure proper watering, care for root crops, and protect them from pests. When should you start sowing? What do novice summer residents need to know in order to grow beautiful and tasty carrots? Outdoor planting and care, pre-seed preparation methods, and simple proven methods of protection against natural enemies of this root crop are collected in this article.

When is the best time to start planting carrots?

The time when sowing carrots outdoors depends largely on the variety of the root crop. Conventionally, it is customary to subdivide them according to the ripening period. This is:

• early ripening or early varieties of carrots, in which the growing season begins 50-60 days after germination;
• mid-season (from 90 to 110 days);
• late (late ripening) - from 120 days;

Certain varieties are quite suitable for winter sowing under film. These include, for example, the well-proven "Moscow Winter", "Amsterdam", "Incomparable", very tender carrots "Children's Sweet", hybrid "Baby F1", cold-resistant variety "Parisian Carotel" and other early and mid-season varieties. The optimal time for planting seeds in winter can be determined independently. Summer residents, who have been practicing this growing method for more than one year, recommend waiting for the first slight freezing of the soil, 3-5 cm deep. This will avoid untimely emergence. Germination of overwintered carrots can be safely started in the second half of April. To do this, a small greenhouse or simply arches covered with foil is installed over the garden bed, after which intensive watering is provided to the seeds.

The time for ordinary spring sowing, of course, should be determined taking into account the climatic characteristics of a particular region. Particular attention should be paid to such characteristics as the ability to long-term storage. For juicy early maturing varieties, such as, for example, carrots "Tushon", "Lydia F1", "Minicor F1" and similar varieties, this quality is not important. For winter stocks of this vegetable, it is preferable to choose seeds of varieties of carrots that retain their properties for a long time: varieties of varieties "Nantes", "Orange Muscat" and "Fairy", suitable for April planting, "Shantane" or any late varieties.

If you focus on the conditions of the middle lane, then for growing the first crop, rich in vitamins, it is preferable to sow early varieties of carrots no later than the end of April. That is, starting from about 20-25. Juicy early ripening varieties are perfect for this: "Amsterdam", "Orange Muscat", very sweet carrots "Tushon", "Favorite" and others.

For harvest "in reserve" carrots should be planted not earlier than May, best of all in the middle of the month. At the same time, it is recommended to choose varieties related to late or mid-season, but always with a long period of preservation of all the properties of the root crop. Perfectly can "overlap the winter", for example, mid-season carrots "Alenka", "Nantes", "Leander", "Grenada", "Vitaminnaya". Almost all late varieties are capable of lying throughout the winter season with proper storage and remain tasty and healthy until next spring. The popular varieties "Red Giant", "Queen of Autumn", "Mo", "Flakke", "Incomparable", "Saint-Valery" and other late-ripening varieties have earned good characteristics. Particular attention should be paid to the "Perfection" variety, which has a high immunity to moisture decay.

Stratification and germination

What advice from experienced gardeners should you use in order not to end up with a crooked and tasteless "fodder" carrot? Planting and care in the open field begins with the preparation of the seeds of this root crop long before it hits the ground.

First of all, it is worth paying attention to when the seed was harvested. As a rule, summer residents use purchased seeds for sowing or rather fresh "homemade" seeds harvested from last year's harvest. If purchased ones are used, then before planting carrots with seeds in open ground, you should pay attention to the expiration date stamped on the bag with seed material: a guaranteed good result in the form of an excellent harvest can be obtained from seeds, which at the time of sowing are no more than 3– 4 years old.

Further, a reasonable solution would be to carry out preliminary preparation to increase the germination of seed. This procedure includes preliminary germination and stratification, that is, the period of keeping the seeds under special conditions.How is carrot seed stratification done at home? The entire preparation and hardening process will take at least 10 days.

The first thing to do is to soak the carrot seeds for two hours. The water should be at neutral "room" temperature.

After soaking, the seed is evenly scattered onto a damp cloth. From above, the seeds are also covered with a damp cloth.

They should be kept in the fabric until they swell. All this time, the fabric needs to be moistened. Preventing the seed material from drying out, they need to be gently mixed from time to time.

As soon as the seeds begin to hatch, they must be placed in the refrigerator. Hardening under such conditions is carried out for 10 days.

There is another, long-known method of pre-germination of seed material. For this, the seeds are simply poured into a bag of cotton fabric and "buried", that is, they are buried at a shallow depth into the ground for a period of about 10 days.

Where to plant carrots? Choosing a suitable place on the site

To get a good harvest, you will need to set aside a suitable place on the site for carrot beds that meets all the necessary conditions.

One of the main needs of this vegetable is plenty of sunlight. Carrots in the shade do not grow well and do not taste good.

If winter sowing is supposed, then it is necessary to make a bed not only on a lighted, but also on an elevated plot of land. This will avoid further erosion of seeds by melt water.

It is not unimportant what crops grew in this place last year. Carrots should not be grown for several years in a row on the same garden bed - the soil is depleted, giving the root vegetable microelements, so the earth must be given a "rest" for at least one or two years. In addition, natural enemies of this root crop can be transmitted, pests can remain in the soil from last season. For the same reason, you should not plant carrots after parsley. Beans, caraway seeds, dill, parsnips, and fennel are also considered bad "predecessors". Carrots grow best after cereals, nightshades (tomatoes or potatoes), onions, cucumbers, cabbage, garlic.

How to prepare the soil for a carrot bed?

Before planting carrots with seeds in open ground, the ground should be prepared.

The area set aside for spring sowing is best to start cooking in the fall. You will need to dig deep and thoroughly, choosing roots and weed residues, and apply fertilizers. After such preparation, in the spring, you just need to loosen the area under the carrot bed again and start sowing.

The soil should be light enough, loose enough, this will allow the root crop to grow well, maintaining an even shape. Dense soil is best mixed with sand, compost, well-rotted manure or peat.

Particular attention should be paid to the acidity level of the soil. Soil that is too acidic will negatively affect the taste of carrots. The optimal Ph level for growing this root crop is 6-7. You can achieve the desired acidity by introducing well-known means into the soil: dolomite flour, wood ash or chalk.

We form a bed: how much distance should there be between the rows?

For sowing, you will need to make grooves 2-3 cm deep at a distance of at least 20 cm between rows. After the groove, a small amount of water is spilled, the carrot seeds are sifted evenly and sprinkled with earth.

Several convenient ways to sow small carrot seeds

The small size of the seed material of carrots creates certain inconveniences during sowing: it is not easy to fill light seeds into the groove evenly and not too often. Here are some proven, convenient ways to plant small carrot seeds.

One of the most popular, albeit patient work, ways is to stick carrot seeds onto toilet paper.Many summer residents prefer to spend a few winter evenings gluing seeds to paste (the most convenient way to do this with a match or a toothpick) and drying the resulting paper strips, so that instead of tiresome sowing, place "blanks" on toilet paper in the grooves and sprinkle them with earth.

It is much faster and easier to stir the seeds with a little sand before sowing. This seed spreads evenly into the furrow and does not stick together.

You can sow carrots in a paste of potato starch. To do this, the seeds are mixed with such chilled potato "jelly" and poured into the grooves through the kettle and sprinkled with earth.

Make seed pellets at home. Seed material in a special shell that does not need additional germination, for sure, every summer resident has met in stores. You can make such a "blank" yourself: cut paper napkins (toilet paper) into small squares, in each of which place a carrot seed with a drop of paste and a granule of a suitable mineral fertilizer. After that, you need to roll up the paper squares and dry. Such blanks can also be made in the winter and stored in a dry place until the beginning of the sowing period.

Fertilizers and feeding

It is imperative to apply fertilizers to the soil before planting carrots with seeds in open ground. This can be done even during the autumn preparation of the site set aside for planting this root crop. From natural fertilizers, rotted cow dung is well suited for this purpose at the rate of 0.5 buckets per 1 m² of land. It is important to remember that you cannot use fresh manure to fertilize the carrot bed: it will unnecessarily increase the acidity of the soil, which will cause the root crops to grow crooked.

For pre-dressing, you can also use nitrogen fertilizers mixed with phosphates. For example, at the rate of 1 m², you can apply the mixture in the following dosage:

• superphosphate (granules) double - 2 tablespoons;
• dolomite flour - 2 tbsp;
• wood ash - 2 tbsp;
• potassium sulfate - 1 tbsp;
• saltpeter (sodium) - 1 tablespoon

Periodic feeding of carrots can be carried out using a mixture of mineral additives in two stages.

Three weeks after the emergence of seedlings, a solution is introduced into the soil between the rows at the rate of:

• 1.5 tbsp. l double superphosphate;
• 1 tbsp. l potassium sulfate;
• 1 tsp urea;
• 10 liters of water.

Half a month after the first feeding, you need to add a solution at the rate of:

• 1 tbsp. l azophoska;
• 1 tbsp. l potassium sulfate;
• 10 liters of water.

Top dressing can also be carried out with an organic mixture - a solution of chicken manure with water (1:10) with the addition of superphosphate. The resulting additive must be insisted, and then diluted again with water 1:10. The resulting composition should also be applied no more than two times.

Additionally, growing carrots can be fed with a solution of boric acid with water in a proportion of 1 tsp. 10 liters. Such a composition should be introduced twice per season: in the first decade of July and by the beginning of the ripening of root crops (early August).

Important! The prescribed dosage should be strictly observed when using nitrogen-containing fertilizers. An excess of nitrogen when growing carrots leads not only to coarsening of root crops, but also contributes to an increase in the level of nitrates.

Watering rules

Carrots, like many root crops, can suffer from drying out of the soil and from excessive amounts of water. Proper watering of carrots is to observe the "golden mean".

Before sprouting, you need to water the seedbed often, but with a small amount of water.

Watering after germination is required only once a week, not abundantly: the ground should be saturated with water no more than 30 cm deep. Excessive water is guaranteed to cause cracking of the root crops, and if the beds are not shed deep enough, this will lead to the formation of many small shoots and yield the so-called hairy carrots.

Lack of moisture, prolonged lack of watering affects the taste of the crop: the carrot becomes very tough, loses its sweetness.

In extremely hot summer weather, watering can be done a little more often, as the soil dries up, about 3 times a week.

With sufficient humidity, experienced gardeners recommend abandoning watering about 3-4 weeks before the start of the carrot harvest. This contributes to long-term storage of the root crop, and also improves the taste of ripe carrots.

Thinning, loosening, hilling

To collect even and large carrots from the garden, cultivation and care in the open field must necessarily include removing weeds, hilling root crops and timely thinning.

First of all, do not neglect the timely and regular loosening of the carrot bed. Despite the fact that already during preparation before sowing the soil was made as light as possible, after the first shoots it is necessary to provide the roots with a sufficient amount of oxygen. Damp soil should be loosened, after watering or rain, and with extreme caution. Delicate fragile "roots" of carrots during this period are located near the surface, careless loosening can easily damage them.

With the same caution should be treated and thinning - an important "operation" that allows you to get a harvest of large root crops. It should be carried out after the appearance of strong first "leaves" of carrot tops. It is important to remember that in case of improper thinning, the remaining roots can be injured, which will lead to unwanted shoots and to the harvest of "horned" carrots. Therefore, you need to carry out this procedure according to the following rules:

• it is necessary to thin out only in well-moistened soil;
• you need to take out the "extra" root crops slowly, pulling them upwards; you cannot swing or abruptly pull the root out of the ground;
• it is better to thin out in two stages: for the first time, it is enough to leave a distance between the roots of about 3 cm, after 14-16 days the procedure must be repeated, leaving the largest carrots at a distance of about 4-5 cm from each other.

Hilling carrots, covering the root crop with soil, is necessary to avoid the formation of a greenish upper part. If this is not done, solanine is formed in fruits with a "green stripe", which, when stored in winter, gives the carrots a bitter taste.

Pest control: how to protect crops from insects and diseases?

One of the main natural enemies of this root vegetable is the carrot fly. There are several simple, including preventive, methods of dealing with this insect:

• do not leave the removed tops of carrots and weeds after thinning near the beds;
• mulch growing root crops with clean straw or sprinkle the surface of the garden with one of the natural remedies for carrot flies: tobacco dust or hot pepper;
• it is recommended to settle onions as a "neighbor" next to carrots; the fly also does not tolerate its pungent smell.

Aphids start on the tops and aboveground parts of the plant, feeding on their juices. For the aforementioned insects, it is recommended to carry out treatment with insecticides ("Bitoxibacillin", "Lepidocide"), but not more than 2 times a month.

The wireworm, which is the larvae of the click beetle, spoils the harvest of root crops by gnawing holes in them. In order to collect most of these pests, you should dig holes - "traps", which are placed a small amount of well-rotted grass mass and a piece of raw potatoes. From above, the hole is covered with earth and left for 2-3 days, and then the larvae are removed and destroyed.

Garden slugs are less dangerous than wireworms, but they are best dealt with. As a "trap", you can lay out pieces of pumpkin in the garden or dig in several containers of beer near the beds. Slugs, gathered during the night to smell the "trap", are easier to collect and destroy.Needles needles scattered between the rows help well to ward off slugs from carrot beds.

Winter scoop. An adult insect does not threaten vegetables, but its caterpillars gnaw the aerial part of root crops. Insecticidal treatment with special preparations ("Etaphos", "Cyanox" and others) will help to get rid of them.

In addition to insect pests, there are a number of diseases that carrots are susceptible to. Here are the most common root lesions:

• Gray rot is a fungal disease. It requires urgent "treatment" - the treatment of all root crops in the garden with a disinfectant.
• White rot is a consequence of an excess of nitrogen that occurs with a large amount of nitrogen-containing fertilizers. To neutralize this disease, special preparations containing copper should be added to the soil.
• Bacteriosis and Alternaria (black rot) are diseases arising from the use of low-quality seed. They can be prevented by preliminary disinfection. Treatment - spraying with fungicides.
• Phomosis (or dry rot) is caused by fungal pathogens and practically cannot be disinfected. Preventive application of fertilizers containing potassium is a preventive measure.
• Felt disease occurs after harvesting carrots and interferes with the storage of root crops. You can fight it by spraying with fungicides.

Timely prevention and treatment of these diseases, together with proper care, will allow you to get a harvest of even sweet carrots, which can survive until spring.