Gardening Hacks to Grow Carrots. Priceless Knowledge That Will Bring You Generous Harvest
Carrot is one of the most common vegetables in our gardens. It is not very demanding, it sows easily and, last but not least, everyone likes it.
Carrots are sowed directly into the ground soil and growing it is really easy. You just need a pinch of land in a sunny spot, far from any shrubs and, of course, you need the seeds.
Carrot – when to sow it
Carrot can be sowed from April till the end of May. The second half of May is usually when the late varieties are sowed.
Appropriate soil
Carrot does not have some any strict requirements concerning the soil.
The soil has to be free of weeds, stones, moist and it also has to be scarified.
Of course excessively dry soil will call for watering. If it is too wet, the roots may rot.
It is definitely recommended NOT to sow carrot into the ground which has been recently fertilised using organic matter as this attracts pests. If we use manure, we’d better wait three years before we sow carrots there.
How to sow carrots
Carrots has to be sowed shallowly, approximately 1 cm deep. Sowing it deeper makes to sprouting time much longer, and as a result, the sprouts are much weaker.
We sow it in a spot where it will continue to grow all the time. It can also be sown in under foil or in balcony containers.
To accelerate sprouting, you can soak the seeds at home for several hours.
We sow carrots directly into the ground in lines 30 cm apart from each other. It will sow very densely as it is really difficult to separate the seeds.
You can mix the seeds with sand or soil. When you sow it like this, it won’t grow so densely.
Sprouting carrot
At temperature over 3 degrees C carrots sprout after 10 – 20 days. At first it is a tiny plant and this is when it requires most effort, as the patches need frequent weeding.
It can be tedious at times, as telling tiny carrot leaves from weeds is not easy.
Carrots don’t have to be thinned, even if densely sowed. However, if you want to do it, we’d better do it in the evening and make sure the carrots taken out are not left on the ground. The smell of fresh carrot attracts carrot flies, one of the worst carrot pests.
Companion planting
Carrots can be planted next to onion or leek as their scent repels pests. Carrot also enjoys the company of marjoram, pepper mint and rosemary. Garlic will prevent carrot against fungus diseases.
Carrot is not keen to grow near potatoes, beetroots, cauliflowers, broccolis, cabbages and celery.