How to grow carrots: secrets of a good harvest. Growing carrots - all the secrets and subtleties of care Carrot care and cultivation

Secrets bountiful harvest carrots

Carrots are a traditional garden crop that is always popular with gardeners. In order to collect a good harvest of high-quality carrots and make supplies for the winter, you need to already in early spring follow the rules for planting and cultivating it.

Choosing a place for the beds

Proper organization beds are very important:

you should choose well-lit ones, sunny places. Carrots in the shade will not grow well and their taste will suffer;
It is important to observe crop rotation. The most suitable areas for sowing carrots will be those areas of the garden where potatoes, onions, tomatoes, garlic, and cabbage grew last year. You should not plant - on the same beds, or in close proximity, or after crops such as parsley, celery, dill, parsnips.

When to sow carrots in open ground

Optimal temperature soil for sowing early carrots 8°C. If the earth warms up, the moisture from it will evaporate faster. Even a slight increase in soil temperature is undesirable for the germination of carrot seeds.

Early sowing of carrots in Russia can be done in March. Approximate dates the following:

in the southern zone - from March 5 to 15.
in the central part of Russia - March 25 - April 10;
in the Urals and Siberia - from the second half of April.

This should be done in greenhouses and greenhouses, or under covering material in open ground. For northern climate zones, the timing of the first sowings is postponed to May and depends on weather conditions. For sowing in the ground, it is better to choose resistant and early-ripening varieties of carrots: Alenka, Laguna, Kolorit and Fairy.

Preparing carrot seeds for sowing

Before sowing, no matter in open ground or for seedlings, carrot seeds should be soaked in warm water for 10 hours for germination. Remove floating grains as unsuitable.

In order to speed up germination, seeds are stratified at a temperature of 20-24°C for 2-4 days. Before planting in the soil, they are soaked in a solution wood ash for saturation with microelements.

Planting and caring for seedlings

To achieve good yields and large root crops, you should carefully monitor the appearance of weeds in carrot beds. They must be removed regularly, otherwise the carrots will not develop.
This vegetable does not like thickening, so immediately after the first leaves appear, it is worth thinning out the seedlings. This must be done so that the distance between the sprouts is at least 6 cm.

Rules for sowing carrots in open ground

The grooves for planting carrot seeds are made about 2-3 cm deep.
The distance between rows should be 15 cm.
Before sowing, the beds are well moistened and then sprinkled with wood ash. Manure should not be applied as fertilizer; carrots do not tolerate acidity.
To speed up germination, it is worth stretching over the beds plastic film to create a greenhouse effect, and remove it as soon as the first shoots appear.

Watering

The taste of carrots is greatly affected by the amount of moisture and frequency of watering:

plan to irrigate 2-4 times a week;
make sure that a crust does not form on the surface of the soil;
loosen after watering.

Along the edges carrot beds It is worth planting compatible plants. They will help get rid of many pests and diseases. In order to repel the main pest - the carrot fly, additional treatment is necessary.

Bottom line

Before sowing carrots in open ground, you need to prepare: plan the beds on the site to ensure crop rotation, select frost-resistant and early-ripening varieties, and pre-treat the seeds. To grow an excellent harvest of carrots with good taste and large roots, do not forget about weeding and thinning, and water well.

Carrots are a well-known vegetable that has long occupied a place of honor on our table. This is a unique plant, the root crop of which is saturated with a huge amount of useful microelements and vitamins, especially vitamin A. But in order to get a rich and tasty harvest, it is necessary to comply with all the conditions for growing carrots. Today we will talk about how to care for carrots in open ground: planting, watering, etc. (photo materials attached).

Main varieties and varieties: detailed description

Carrot - herbaceous plant. It can be either annual or perennial. In the first year of “life”, only a leaf rosette and fruit are formed, and already in the second year, seeds are formed. The carrot fruit is presented in the form of a cone or cylinder, quite fleshy (the fruit can reach a weight of 1 kg or even more). Carrot inflorescence is a multi-rayed umbrella with small flowers white, red and yellow color on the sides and also central flower Red.

The root vegetable of the plant contains a significant amount of useful substances: flavonoids, sugars, B vitamins, ascorbic acid, etc.

Depending on the length of the growing season, the vegetable can be divided into three subgroups: early-ripening (ripening period is 2-3 months), mid-ripening (ripening period is about 3-3.5 months, the fruits are very juicy, sweet) and late-ripening carrots (ripening period is about 4 months ).

There are a large number of different varieties of carrots, but some of them differ from others in particularly high yield, excellent external and taste qualities of the root crop, as well as immunity to various diseases. Let's consider just these varieties (you can get acquainted with them in more detail using photos found on the Internet):

Amsterdam. Early ripening, very productive variety. The root crop reaches a weight of 100-200 g. The plant is extremely resistant to various diseases and cracking.
Finchor. The variety is early ripening (ripens within one and a half months), and is practically immune to diseases. The plant does not need hilling. The root crop is quite large, in the shape of a cone.
Incomparable. The variety is perfect for sowing in winter. It is also not afraid of pests. The fruits are very tasty, bright orange in color.
Forto. The variety is very productive, resistant not only to diseases, but also to low temperatures(including frost). The fruits grow quite large and long (up to 20 cm).
Queen of Autumn. A very popular variety. It is characterized by high productivity and immunity to pests. The fruits are cylindrical in shape with a bright taste - juicy and sweet.
Gold autumn. A popular variety with excellent yield and good disease resistance. The fruits are large and juicy.

Planting a plant in open ground

Carrots are a plant very resistant to cold, including sub-zero temperatures. But at the same time it loves light - it takes at least 12 hours sunlight per day. The correct time for planting is a very important point, on which the yield of carrots will directly depend. The period largely depends on the selected variety. So, early ripening carrots can be sown in winter, but you should take into account the peculiarity of the climatic conditions of your region.

The ideal time to sow seeds in open ground is early spring. Early ripening varieties can be sown when the temperature is consistently positive, around 4-6 degrees. It is better to sow medium and late varieties when the air temperature warms up to 15-18 degrees, that is, by the end of spring - in early May.

Carrots are a rather “tight” plant. initial stage growing - it takes a very long time to produce the first shoots. This process can last up to one and a half months. To speed up the growth process, you should prepare the seeds in advance. There are several ways to prepare seeds:

Heat treatment. The seeds are wrapped in cloth and immersed in hot water (about 50 degrees) for half an hour. Then they need to be immediately taken out and immediately immersed in chilled water for a couple of minutes.
Soak. Carrot seeds are soaked in warm water for a day. Important point: The water needs to be changed every 3 hours. Then the seeds need to be washed with water, dried and placed in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Advice. Experienced gardeners add wood ash to the water for soaking seeds (1 tablespoon per liter of water).

Burial. Enough effective method, which consists of preliminary burying the seeds in the ground in small bags to a depth of 15 cm. On the day of planting, the seeds must be dug up, thoroughly dried and planted again in the ground.
Pelleting. Creation of a nutritious shell for seeds. Mullein, humus, and peat are used in equal proportions to create a nutrient mixture. The seeds must be immersed in it for just a few minutes, then removed and dried.

It is necessary to choose a place for planting carrots carefully: it should be sunny and level. The soil must be prepared in advance: starting in the fall, the earth is dug up with one and a half shovels.

Advice. Try to dig the soil deeper, because if the root crop begins to grow actively and rests against a dense, undug layer of soil, it will grow crooked.

Fertilizers are also added to the soil: superphosphate (20 g), potassium (15-20 g), nitrogen (15-20 g) and a little humus. All figures are given per square meter. On the eve of sowing, the soil needs to be slightly loosened and leveled. Furrows for sowing about 5 cm wide are prepared. A distance between rows of 25-30 cm must be maintained. The seeds are planted very closely to each other - at a distance of only a couple of centimeters, 2 cm deep. It is advisable to cover the sowing with a soil-peat mixture on top.

Caring for carrots

Carrots are a plant that is quite demanding to care for, so to obtain good harvest you will have to try your best.

Since carrot propagation is a rather delicate process, it is important to properly and regularly care for the crops. The soil must be weeded periodically. You can start doing this even before the first shoots appear.

To prevent a crust from forming on the soil surface, be sure to regularly fluff up the soil. It is advisable to do this after watering the plant. Also, carrots should not have “neighbors” in the form of weeds. The area sown with this vegetable must always be clean.

In addition, the plant must be well thinned. This applies, of course, only to those cases where the seeds were sown too densely. The plant is first thinned out when several leaves appear on the sprouts. As a result, the distance between individual shoots should be at least 3 cm.

In order for root vegetables to grow large and juicy, carrots must receive a sufficient amount of moisture. Accordingly, watering should be regular and generous. An insufficient amount of moisture will lead to the appearance of lateral shoots, which will spoil not only appearance fruits, but also their taste.

The ideal watering regime for carrots is once every 7 days. In this case, the amount of water should be:

about 2-3 liters per square meter– until the first shoots emerge;
about 10 l – after repeated thinning of the plant;
15-20 liters - during active growth of the root crop.

Application of fertilizing and fertilizers

Carrots are not very demanding when it comes to fertilizing - it is enough to “saturate” the soil only 2 times during the entire growth period. The first time is 30 days after the first shoots appear, the second time is another 30 days later. A nutrient mixture is prepared in the following composition: 400 g of wood ash, 20 g of nitrophoska, 20 g of potassium nitrate (you can add urea and superphosphate). All figures indicated are based on one bucket of water.

Disease and pest control

Let's look at the diseases and pests that carrots are most afraid of:

White rot. Occurs when there is an excess of fertilizers containing nitrogen. The control method is to introduce copper-containing preparations into the soil.
Bacteriosis. This disease is easily prevented if only healthy seeds are used.
Gray rot. This is a real fungus, which can only be overcome by disinfecting the plant.
Felt disease. The vegetable is affected already during storage. The control method is to eliminate infected root crops.
Fomoz. Brown spots that appear on carrots indicate that the plant's predecessors were unsuccessfully selected. The control method is to eliminate damaged, flaccid fruits.
Hawthorn aphid. Preventing the appearance of this pest is quite simple: you just need to make sure that hawthorn does not grow near the place where carrot seeds are planted.

Combination of carrots with other plants

The following plants are considered the best predecessors for carrots: representatives of the nightshade family (potatoes, tomatoes), cucumber, legumes, onions, cabbage, etc. There is an excellent combination of carrots with plants such as garlic, beets, again, cucumber, beans, etc. d.

Advice. You should not plant carrots for more than two years in a row in the same area. You should also avoid precursors such as parsley, dill, celery, etc.

So we got acquainted with the process of growing carrots in open ground. As you can see, this process is quite simple if you implement a number of measures in time, described in detail in our article. We wish you good luck and a rich harvest!

Stages of growing carrots: video

How to grow carrots: photo

Since ancient times, humanity has been engaged in agriculture. Today, all types of vegetables and fruits can be bought in the store without any problems. But no store-bought product can compare with one grown locally. personal plot. It’s much more pleasant to know that the fruits are grown with my own hands, so much time and effort has been invested into them. And if it also brings benefits, then it is doubly pleasant. One of these vegetable crops growing in the country is carrots.

Carrots are a common crop for growing in the countryside.

No summer season is complete without planting carrots. Carrots are grown in open ground. Experienced gardeners We are sure that the root vegetable will please the eye as a result correct landing and proper care, and they know exactly how to grow large and long carrots, and even sweet ones. They always have a couple of secrets in stock.

Summer residents have to work hard: choose the right place, prepare the land, plant and care in a timely manner in order to get a good harvest by autumn. But any spring suffering begins with the choice of seeds.

Selection of seed material

Modern counters of any stores, including country stores, are replete with a variety of goods, in which it is easy to get confused. Therefore, before you go shopping for seeds, decide why you will plant the root crop:

for use in the summer-autumn period;
for winter storage.

In the first case, the vegetable must be used immediately, since it cannot be stored for a long time at home. The “Vitaminnaya-6” variety is perfect for this application. Varieties that can be stored before the onset of cold weather should have a long growing season. This type can be used for blanks. To keep the harvest in winter time, you should choose varieties such as:

Queen of Autumn (sweet and sour carrot flavor);
Gold autumn;
Moscow winter.

Queen of Autumn - an attractive variety of carrots

Preparing beds for planting

Everyone has it an experienced summer resident They have secrets in store that help them know how to grow a good crop of carrots. The preparation of the beds can be done either in the fall or directly in the spring a couple of weeks before sowing.

The first step is to decide on a location. Remember that the vegetable loves well-lit areas. Before planting, remember what grew in your garden bed last year. This is an important factor affecting the yield. It’s good if the following grew here before: cucumbers, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, garlic or cabbage. You should not plant carrots after dill, parsley, parsnips - the root crop will not grow.

Before sowing, the soil is cleared of various types of weeds. Professionals believe that it would be a good idea to re-dig the beds in the spring; this ensures better air permeability of the soil.

Be sure to enrich the soil with carrot fertilizer. It is recommended to use the following composition for this: 2 tbsp. potassium sulfate, 4 tbsp. granulated superphosphate, a little ash and dolomite flour. The mixture of ingredients is applied per square meter of land. The soil is ready for sowing.

Carrots do not tolerate weeds

Preparing the seeds

Carrot seeds, like any other, need preparation before sowing in open ground. Thanks to this approach, seed germination will be significantly better. Every seasoned gardener has its own method in the bins, which is easy to use at home. Let's look at the most interesting ones:

Use of growth stimulants for treatment. All actions are carried out according to the instructions strictly attached to the chemicals. The process itself takes no more than 20 hours, and germination exceeds all expectations.
Sowing seeds into the soil. A cloth bag is taken, grains are placed there and the whole thing is buried 15 cm into the ground. The contents must be kept like this for at least 10 days, after which they are taken out of the ground.
Soaking the seeds for a day. Take a cloth, cotton wool or toilet paper and well moistened, you only need to keep them in this condition for a day, after which you can start planting.
Heat treatment with boiling water. Boil water, place the seeds in a rag bag and immerse them in boiling water for 20 minutes. With help cold water Cool the contents of the cloth bag.

Carrot seeds can be treated with commercial growth stimulants

Planting carrots in the ground

It would seem that the technology for growing carrots in the country is extremely simple; there is no secret here. But is this really so? Schemes used for sowing vegetable crop, a huge variety. Everyone chooses the one that is more convenient. Among the sowing methods, the following should be highlighted:

in bulk;
in rows;
grooves.

Now let's learn more about how to grow carrot seeds.

Growing carrots in bulk is a troublesome task, but most gardeners are confident that the method is the most effective and efficient.

In addition, it is the fastest of all presented. Vegetable grains are scattered over the entire surface of the bed, pressing lightly on them. After watering, the plants can be covered with film. Despite the attractiveness of the process, it has a number of negative aspects:

some of the seeds remain on the surface of the soil and there will be no seedlings from them;
shoots in some places are either sparse or too dense;
After germination, the crop is difficult to weed.

This method of planting vegetables may leave you without a harvest at all, since the young shoots can be clogged with fast-growing weeds.

The second method - sowing in rows - is more effective and common among summer residents. The harvest is richer. The root crop is planted in the ground, maintaining a distance that varies from 7 to 10 cm. But there is also a minus here. The grains are washed away when it rains and may not be found in the place where they were planted.

Sowing in rows is the most popular method among vegetable growers.

Furrow seeding is a more economical process. If country cottage area It has small sizes, then the method is just for you. First of all, mark out a garden bed at your dacha. It should be narrow, but quite high. Furrows are made on the surface of the soil, 15 cm apart from the edges, fertilizer for carrots is selected and applied, and watering is carried out. Vegetable seeds are sown in them.

The first weeding is done after the sprouts appear, that is, approximately in June, about two weeks after the root crop was planted. The next weed control is carried out after 20-30 days.

Is it possible to plant carrot seedlings?

Quite a lot is known about how to grow carrots in open ground. Is it possible to plant a vegetable through seedlings? Yes. Some varieties are sown in a protected place - in a greenhouse or greenhouse. Most people tend to assume that the crop does not tolerate transplantation well. This leads to damage to the tails, as a result of which it grows ugly. Actually this is not true. The seedlings take root well and the harvest grows excellent. The main thing is not to forget to use fertilizer for carrots.

Carrot seedlings take root well and produce high yields

Vegetable care

Summer residents often wonder: how to grow good carrots? She, like other plants, requires attention and timely care, which includes: weeding and fertilizing, watering and loosening. She needs moderate watering, but it should be regular throughout her growth. Humidification occurs on an increasing scale. By July, the watering rate gradually increases. Per square meter of soil with root crops will be within 20 liters. The closer autumn gets, the more watering rates will decline. Region must be taken into account weather, in accordance with which the corresponding adjustments are made.

The second important point when growing vegetables is feeding carrots. It must be done regularly. How to feed carrots? Each summer resident applies his own fertilizer to carrots. It could be organic or one of the types mineral fertilizer, or you can use both together. Fertilizers for carrots come in a variety of varieties. This will not harm the culture.

The first time carrots are fed 10 days after the first shoots appear on the surface. To prepare fertilizer for carrots you will need: potassium sulfate (1 tbsp), double superphosphate (1.5 tbsp). The norm is diluted into 10 liters of water.

Potassium sulfate activates carrot growth

Subsequent feeding occurs two weeks after the first. Fertilizer for carrots is done as follows: potassium sulfate and azofoska (1 tablespoon each) must be diluted in 10 liters of water.

You shouldn’t stop at just one type of fertilizer; caring for carrots requires complex measures, so in addition to mineral supplements for feeding, be sure to use organic matter. As a fertilizer for carrots, you can use bird droppings, which are diluted in water and watered with the mixture between the rows.

Watering with salt also has a beneficial effect on seedlings; you need to dilute 1 tbsp. in 10 liters of water and water the plants.

Yeast feed recipe

We often hear the saying that it is growing by leaps and bounds. Everything is correct and applicable as fertilizer for carrots. Yeast is a kind of fertilizer for vegetables. For this purpose, both dry and “live” yeast are used.

First recipe. 1 kg of “live” yeast is diluted in 5 liters of water. Before watering, the resulting concentrate is diluted again with water (1:10).

Second recipe. For 10 liters of water take 10 g of dry yeast, 2 tbsp. granulated sugar. Let it sit for 2 hours, after which the composition should be diluted again with water (1:5).

Despite the intensity of growth after such feeding, you should not get carried away with yeast. No more than 3 waterings are carried out per season.

Yeast dressing for carrots can be made from both live and dry yeast

Pests and diseases of root crops

Caring for carrots includes not only feeding with chemicals and yeast, but also controlling various pests. The main pests for the crop are aphids and carrot fly. They appear when the soil is overly moist or when there is no proper care. To combat it, seedlings are sprayed with Bitoxibacillin or Lepidocide once every two weeks. The chemicals effectively control insects.

If there is high humidity, fungus may develop. Here drugs such as Phytocid, Liposam and Mikosan-V will come to the rescue.

Thus, in order to get a good harvest of sweet and juicy root vegetables in your garden plot, you will have to work hard, that is, not only plant, but also choose the right fertilizer for carrots.

Carrots are a fairly unpretentious crop. She is not afraid of frosts and prolonged cold weather. However, to obtain a stable harvest, you need to know some nuances of agricultural technology. In this article we will look at how to grow and care for carrots in open ground.

If all rules of agricultural technology are observed, carrots produce an excellent harvest

How to grow carrots: infographics

You can see how to grow carrots in the country in our infographic.

Pre-sowing preparation and planting dates

Slightly acidic is suitable for growing carrots. fertile soil, sandy loam or light loamy type. The garden bed is prepared for spring in the fall. The soil is dug up mixed with compost, weed roots and stones are selected.

To plant carrots in open ground, deep digging using a bayonet shovel is used.

River sand, humus, peat, and rotted sawdust are added to heavy loamy soil. In the spring, the bed is loosened with a rake and, if necessary, dug up again. A week before sowing, the soil is watered warm water and cover with film so that the earth warms up and does not dry out.

Carrots are an undemanding crop when it comes to choosing predecessors. A good harvest is obtained by alternating:

with pumpkin - cucumbers, zucchini;
with nightshades - potatoes, tomatoes;
with cruciferous vegetables – radishes, cabbage;
with all types of onions;
with all legumes.

When planting, you need to focus on the timing of ripening and harvesting. Recommendations are given in the table:

Type of sowing	Landing time	Variety type	Target	Estimated cleaning time
Spring	Mid-April – early May	Early and mid-season	For summer consumption	Early July
Summer	June 20 – 30, after stable heat has established (15-18 °C)	Middle and late dates maturation	For storage in the cellar for long-term storage	September October
Podzimny	Late October – mid November	Cold-resistant early and mid-ripening	For early collection	Late June – mid July

Sowing before winter is not practiced in all climatic zones. In cold winters, there is still a risk of seeds freezing even under cover. For northern regions, early spring sowing is recommended. It is carried out when the soil warms up to 5°C.

Rules for sowing seeds

Carrots have a long (up to 3 weeks) germination period due to the seeds contained essential oils, which prevent moisture from reaching the embryo. To speed up germination, it is recommended to carry out pre-sowing preparation - disinfect, soak, and germinate planting material. For rejection poor quality material seeds are poured with warm water for 10 hours. Viable seeds swell and settle to the bottom, while substandard seeds remain on the surface.

Carrot seeds have a germination rate of no more than 55–75%. For sowing, fresh seed is taken. It is not advisable to store carrot seeds for more than 2 years, since germination capacity is quickly lost.

Seeds on the tape ensure uniform germination and eliminate the need for thinning. Such tapes can be purchased in specialized stores

Sow carrots to a depth of 2–3 cm in prepared moistened grooves at a distance of approximately 2 cm from each other. The row spacing is at least 15 cm. Sprinkle humus, humus or other light, loose biomaterial on top.

Carrot seeds are sown in shallow furrows and lightly sprinkled with soil.

The optimal temperature for the growing season is from 18 to 25 o C. In hot weather, plant growth slows down.

Compliance with agricultural techniques for cultivating carrots

The essence of agrotechnical measures when cultivating carrots comes down to the following:

Timely loosening. Compacted soil with a crust formed on the surface provokes curvature of the fruit. Heavy loamy soils are loosened after each watering, the rest - as needed.
Regular moisturizing. Insufficient watering is the cause of the bitter taste and lethargy of root crops. The depth of moisture depends on the degree of development of the root crop. A bed of long-fruited carrots is watered so that the water penetrates to a depth of at least 30 cm. Surface watering slows down the growth of the main root in depth and provokes the development of lateral roots.
Timely feeding. For normal growth of carrots, two feedings per season are enough. The first dose of fertilizer is applied in the fourth week after germination. The second feeding is carried out 1.5 months after the first. Dissolve 0.5 kg of wood ash or 1 tbsp in a bucket of water. a spoonful of nitrophoska. You can mix 15 g of double superphosphate and urea and 20 g of potassium nitrate per 10 liters of water.
Regulation of crop density. At the stage of appearance of real leaves of the tops, the first thinning is carried out. The gap between plants is left at least 3 cm. If the seedlings are sparse, then there is no need for the first thinning. After 3 or 4 weeks, thinning is repeated to a distance of 8–10 cm. Neighborhood with weeds Not recommended for carrots. Weeds are pulled out immediately after they appear.

Tip #1: The first weeding can be greatly simplified if, when sowing, carrot seeds are mixed with lettuce or radish seeds. These plants will germinate much earlier and will be beacons indicating where the carrot shoots should appear. The bed can be weeded earlier than usual, without fear of damaging the main crop.

Prevention of carrot diseases

At unfavorable conditions carrots are affected by fungal diseases and damaged by insects. To prevent massive damage to the crop, you need to take care of the safety of the plantings in advance and take preventive measures. To limit pest access, early landings covered with non-woven fabric. It protects seedlings from insects and protects against possible frosts.

Preventative measures for common carrot diseases are given in the table:

Disease / Pathogen	Symptoms	Causes	Agrotechnical protection measures
White rot / Marsupial fungus Sclerotiniasclerotiorum	Formation of mucus on root crops, covered with a white “cotton” coating	Excessive nitrogen content in the soil; untimely harvesting (withered, overcooled, unripe or overripe root crops are affected)	Compliance with crop rotation; balanced application of mineral fertilizers; Compliance with cleaning deadlines; optimal storage mode
Carrot fly / Shade- and moisture-loving insect of the family Psilidae and its larvae	purple-red tint and gradual drying of the leaves; ugly appearance and bitter taste of root vegetables; rotting during storage	Thickened planting; darkened area;	Timely thinning and weeding; alternating crops of carrots with onions, garlic, tomatoes, lettuce; surrounding plantings with marigolds, calendula, rosemary, sage, tobacco;
Dry rot (phoma)/Mushroom Phoma rostrupii Sacc	Oblong gray-brown spots on leaves; brown depressions with black dots on root vegetables; rotting during storage	Hot and humid weather; infected seed	Timely removal of tops and weeds from the garden bed; application of potash and phosphorus fertilizers; sorting before storage; disinfection of storage; dressing seeds before planting

Tip #2: To prevent the covering material from crushing the seedlings, it is better to place it on the arches. For the same purpose, you can sow mustard or other fast-growing green crops along the edges of the bed. The mustard stems will raise the protective cover. The canvas can remain in this state until the first weeding and thinning.

To repel pests, a bed with carrots is surrounded by plantings of onions or garlic.

Carrots can be affected by several pests and diseases at the same time . Therefore, preventive measures must be comprehensive.

Controlling carrot diseases

If, despite preventive measures, pests still appear, it is necessary to treat the carrot beds with protective agents. In advanced cases you will have to apply chemicals– Arrivo, KS, Inta-Vir, Prestige, Karate Zeon. Fungicides and insecticides must be neutralized before harvesting, so you need to purchase products with a short protective period.

Instead of chemicals, available environmental products are successfully used:

a mixture of tobacco dust and ash for spraying between rows;
infusion of tomato tops, chamomile, burdock or yarrow for spraying;
fresh pine needles or sawdust coniferous species trees for mulching;
decoction orange peels for watering;
ground hot pepper for treating grooves.

4 main mistakes gardeners make when planting carrots

New universal remedy for treating carrots against pests

Pre-sowing application of fresh manure. Carrots respond to excess organic content with dense thick tops, substandard shape, thick skin and pleasant taste root vegetables To fertilize the soil with nitrogen, it is recommended to apply manure under the previous carrot crops.
Mulching carrot beds with fresh sawdust. Wood waste in its raw form greatly depletes the soil, binding the nitrogen and phosphorus contained in it. Only blackened sawdust that has lain for 2–3 years can be used as mulch or baking powder. It is even better to place wood waste in compost, where it will be enriched with nutrients and turn into a loose, breathable substrate.
Failure to meet deadlines autumn planting carrots. If you sow carrots in September-October, before the onset of persistent cold weather, the seeds will have time to germinate. In winter, tender sprouts will inevitably freeze.
Abundant watering of dry beds. It is recommended to moisten the soil after a long dry period gradually, over several days. Otherwise, the core will thicken and the roots will crack.

Answers to pressing questions from gardeners

Question #1: When harvested, all the carrots were smooth, but soon the root vegetables cracked. What is the reason?

The soil is too wet immediately during the harvesting period. It is recommended to harvest carrots in dry weather. This will prevent cracking and make it easier to prepare for storage.

Question #2: A good harvest of carrots has been harvested, but there are specimens with a bitter aftertaste.

Bitterness accumulates in root vegetables with a green head. This occurs under the influence of sunlight if the top of the carrot protrudes above the soil surface. When weeding carrot beds, the root crops should be lightly hilled.

Question #3: Carrots germinate extremely unevenly. How to get friendly shoots?

Before sowing, you need to compact the bottom of the furrow so that the seeds lie at the same depth.

Question #4: Despite the fact that the usual number of seeds was used for sowing, very rare, single shoots were obtained. What is the reason?

Most likely in poor quality seed material. A couple of months before sowing, it is recommended to test seeds for germination. For this a small amount of seeds are wrapped in wet cloth. Based on the number of sprouts, the percentage of germination is determined and the sowing density is calculated.

Question #5: Young carrot leaves acquired a curly shape without changing their natural color. This is fine?

Leaf curl is caused by carrot psyllid infestation of crops. This pest overwinters on coniferous trees, so it’s better to plant carrots away from them. If infection does occur, the root vegetables will slow down and acquire an unpleasant bitter taste. It is advisable to spray the beds with such agents as Decis, Actellik, Arrivo, Sumicidin, Sherpa. Treatment is carried out no later than 25 days before harvesting.

For each climate zone you can create your own TOP the best varieties carrots based on taste, disease resistance, aesthetic appearance and other characteristics. If we select according to the degree of keeping quality, then the leading position will be taken by Shantane 2461. This late variety. It reaches technical ripeness 110–130 days after emergence. Root vegetables have a pleasant taste. The pulp is aromatic, sweet, dense. The variety is high-yielding, resistant to stemming, flowering and cracking of root crops. Distinctive feature– increased resistance to fungal and bacterial diseases.

carrots in Middle lane It is convenient to grow in Russia; the climate is suitable for this. I prefer carrots mid-season varieties, it lasts a long time and tastes good. It is optimal to sow mid-ripening varieties in mid-May. However, to avoid negative influence return frosts, you don’t have to rush to sow - plant carrots at the end of the month.

Soil for planting carrots

Planting carrots in beds

I prepare beds for carrots in an open, well-lit area; there is no shade there, and this has a beneficial effect on the yields - the soil warms up well. I choose the most leveled part of the site for the beds - without slopes or depressions, where cold air and excess moisture can accumulate.

Prepare beds for carrots in the fall, when there is significantly more free time than in the spring.

First, I remove all the plant parts remaining from the crop growing on the site, then I dig up the soil with a shovel full, trying to remove the maximum number of weeds, after which I loosen the soil with a rake and level it. For those who have heavy soil on their plot, I advise you to dig it up with sawdust, scattering it at the rate of 3 kg per 1 sq. m. m.

I don’t make the beds too big and I don’t advise you to optimal width beds that allow you to care for plants without problems is 1 m, or a little more. I arrange the beds on the site so that their length runs from north to south.

Carrot planting scheme

The scheme is simple: first, I draw grooves along the beds about 5 cm wide and about 2 cm deep or a little more. I make the outer furrow no closer than 10 cm from the edge of the bed, maybe even a little further, and the rest, 18-20 cm apart from each other. Some gardeners believe that they will save a lot of space if they make narrow furrows, but experience has shown that such beds further care very inconvenient.

In order for carrot seeds to germinate faster, I always sow them in pre-moistened soil. Before planting, I first water the beds with a weak solution of potassium permanganate (light pink), after which I thoroughly moisten each furrow with water. room temperature, consuming 5-6 liters. Before sowing, it is also better to keep the seeds in water for about a day so that they swell. I scatter the prepared seeds along the furrow at a distance of about 1 cm or a little more from each other.

Follow the sowing scheme, and you can significantly save seed material and your own effort - you do not have to thin out the carrot seedlings immediately after they appear.

Caring for carrots after planting

After sowing the carrots, I sprinkle the furrows with a mixture of river sand and peat, in equal parts, until level with the soil surface, and then cover them with film. There should be 10 cm of free space between the soil and the film, so I lay bricks along the edges of the bed, then lay the film on them, and lay another brick on top of the same bricks, stretching the film.

To prevent water from accumulating on the film, which can press it to the ground, I make several holes in the film through which excess water will drain onto the soil.

The film plays a purely positive role; it retains moisture in the soil, helps to increase the soil temperature, due to which seedlings appear in just a week. Immediately after the emergence of seedlings, the film must be removed so as not to interfere with their growth.

The rest consists of regular thinning, loosening, fertilizing and timely watering.

Nikolay Khromov, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, senior researcher

Planting carrots in open ground: video

For information on the experience of planting carrots in open ground in the spring in the Tula region, see. Carrots are sown at the end of April or early May. Carrot seeds are soaked in hot water for half an hour or in a damp cloth for 2 days. The swollen carrot seeds are dried and powdered with ash. To make the crops sparser, sand is added to the carrot seeds and mixed. Carrots are convenient to use in joint plantings, for example, with onions or peas. When growing, you need to observe crop rotation, for example, sow carrots after potatoes.

Planting carrots on paper: video

Experience of sowing carrot seeds different ways see: how to plant carrots in jelly and on paper, using ash and sand, how to prepare seeds and beds for sowing. Carrots can be sown in joint plantings with beets and onions. Before planting, the seeds are prepared. First, carrot seeds are soaked in hot water at a temperature of 50-60 °C for 2 hours in a thermos, and then for 15 minutes according to the instructions in a growth stimulator solution. Immediately before sowing, after soaking, the carrot seeds are dried on a linen napkin.