The carrot is one of the crops that is a must in the garden, many think that it is a difficult crop to grow, but is quite the opposite. It is a crop that could be planted throughout the year due to the versatile temperature range that it could develop. Also is great for those gardeners that don’t have much time to devote, the carrot is a low-maintenance plant that requires minimal work. In this blog, we will teach you how to grow carrots at home.
In general, carrots love the sun, they also manage to grow in shade but they do it more slowly. Carrots like humus-rich, well-drained, and loose soil. We say that it is a crop with less work compared to others such as tomato because the carrot doesn’t need a transplant, is recommended to sow the seeds in the definitive place where they will grow since this plant does not tolerate transplants very well.
Below step by step all the details you need to know to grow healthy carrots.
1- Knowing the Plant – The Carrot
We always say that you must know the plant before planting, which is critical because you will devote 120 days to the care of this plant, and you must know in what conditions the carrot will grow healthy. Is not throwing the seeds and hope, this is why many gardeners fail.
The carrot is a biennial plant, during the first year it is used for its roots, and during the second year, induced by low temperatures, it begins the flowering and fruiting phases. It is advisable to plant the seeds directly in the final place. It has an emergence to-harvest cycle of 80-120 depending on the variety.
Temperature
It is a rustic plant that could develop in a wide range of temperatures but the minimum growth temperature is around 9ºC and an optimum around 16-18ºC. This plant supports frost considerably well.
Soil
It prefers clay-limestone soils, aerated and fresh, rich in organic matter with a pH of 5.8 and 7. Compact soils with many stones are bad for carrots, they produce deformed roots.
We recommend sowing in raised beds. With the beds, we will achieve perfect condition thanks to the unpacked nature of the soil after the preparation.
Seeds
The seeds are of various sizes and colors in detail the most sown.
2- How to grow carrots at home step by step.
Raised Beds
The preparation usually consists of granulating the soil as much as possible, looking to grind the soil until achieving a fine texture. The dimension of the raised beds could be 1.5 m wide and 30 cm in height (you can do it bigger or smaller, these dimensions are just standard). With these dimensions and the spacing of each row by 50 cm, 4 rows of seeds can enter comfortably and the roots will grow freely.
If you are growing in a pot or container, the process is similar, ensure that the soil is well loose and with good drainage, and consider that the container must be deep enough to allow the roots to grow freely.
Sowing
Depending on the quality of the seed that we buy, germination and growth can be slow and irregular, it is better to sow in considerable quantities in an almost continuous row of seeds, once germinated we can cut the extra plants, and with this, we will achieve a uniform number of plants.
That said, spread the seeds in wide rows to a depth of about 5mm, and close the rows with soil without pressing down, you can put a thin layer of mulch on the soil to keep moisture. When the plants have 4 or 5 leaves, cut and extract some plants to keep only one carrot every 8-10 cm. Is always important that before and after sowing the soil must be finely moistened.
We should see the plant emerge on the 7th or 9th day. Let’s not get too anxious if we don’t see it, depending on the depth or quality of the seed it may take a little longer. During the post-sowing days, we must water every day to maintain moisture in the soil (if you had a wet or a rainy day you can pass, just make sure the soil is moist)
General Cares on How to grow carrots at home
Pruning
The pruning is carried out in the initial stages at 10-15 days post-emergence when we have an excessive plant stand, we must leave fewer plants to guarantee that they do not compete with each other. It is recommended to leave 1 carrot plant every 8-10 cm.
Irrigation
The most important care is irrigation since inadequate watering can be detrimental to the correct formation of the root, in terms of size. Watering must be done daily, we consider that the root will grow to be large between 15/20 cm, therefore watering continuously but without flooding guarantees that the water reaches the lower layers of the soil. It is important to not form puddles.
As we always recommend, we must water in the morning, when the heat is not yet intense and the plant will have water and light throughout the day to photosynthesize. If we don’t have a chance to water every day, consider using mulching to retain moisture.
Eliminating Weeds
Since the carrot is a root, the plant is very susceptible to competition, especially from weeds, it is important to keep the population of harmful plants very low. This control should be done throughout the whole cycle and especially in the early stages. The use of organic mulching such as dry leaves or branches can be a key tool to facilitate work.
Fertilizing
Although the carrot is a fairly rustic plant in its soil needs, we say that it develops better in slightly acidic soils. If you are aware that your soil is alkaline or highly acidic, you can analyze correcting.
Fertilizing shouldn’t be a serious problem if we are growing in our homes, it becomes important if we are doing it for business purposes. If we can apply or incorporate hummus or some fertilizer with a high content of organic matter in the early stages this will boost your production.
Harvest
Although the plant is biannual, completing the cycle only in the second year, we must harvest in the first year in about 80-120 days depending on the variety.
The first sign that harvest is approaching is that the leaves will begin to wither and turn yellow, this marks that the root has completed its growth and maturation, and they are now ready to be extracted. We recommend moving the soil before harvest, this will help make extraction easier.
When we see that the first leaves begin to wither, we should not hurry, we must wait for ⅔ of the leaves to be in this state. Carrots harvested far in advance can be susceptible to rot as the outer layer is still a bit tender. These early-harvest carrots will also have a shorter life in the fridge. When extracting you must leave it to dry for 1 or 2 more days before washing. Harvest should always occur in dry, sunny weather whenever possible.
Common Problems
Bruises, perforations, and broken ends: these are signs of sloppy handling at harvest time, we must remove them carefully to avoid damage to the roots.
Bitterness: can result from pre-harvest stress caused by an inadequate frequency of irrigation.
Damage by freezing: results at temperatures of -1.2ºC or lower. Frozen carrots generally exhibit an outer ring of infiltrated tissue, which turns black in 2-3 days.
Conservation
Shelf life at 0ºC is typical:
Tied: 10-14 days – Immature roots: 4-6 weeks
Fresh cut: 3-4 weeks – Ripe roots: 7-9 months
Optimal relative humidity ranges from 98-100%, as high relative humidity is essential to prevent dehydration and loss of crispness.
Summary – How to grow carrots at home
The seeds must be sowed directly to the final spot where we seek to grow, it does not tolerate transplants well.
The soil should be slightly acidic with a lot of organic matter, free of stones.
Pruning and thinning should be done leaving 1 plant every 8/10 cm.
Irrigation must be continuous avoiding puddles.
On days 80-120 after emerging the leaves will wither indicating the end of maturation.
At harvest time, the soil should be lightly stirred before harvesting, to extract the root without much difficulty.