How long does it take for carrots to grow? How to grow productive carrots

There are no small details in animal husbandry; every detail plays its role. This also applies to the method of supplying water to horned pets. The taste of the resulting product, both milk and beef, largely depends on the quality of the drink. For proper growth and weight gain, cows need to receive a sufficient amount of clean drinking water. Convenient drinking bowls will not only solve this problem, but will also greatly facilitate the farmer’s work. There are many options for water supply systems for cattle, all of them are suitable for different scales and methods of breeding. About the advantages and disadvantages various types drinking bowls and we'll talk in our article.

Norms and water consumption of cattle when kept in a barn

The amount of cow fluid consumed determines its milk production. The animal's body requires large amounts of water to produce milk. On average, in order to produce 1 liter of product, approximately 3 liters of liquid are consumed. As for the daily intake, up to 70 liters of water should be supplied for 1 adult animal. This number is approximate; when serving drink, it is important to focus on the needs of the animal.

In addition to quantity, there are standards that determine how water is supplied. Drinkers must comply with certain standards, the main ones being:

• adjustable water supply;
• ease of cleaning and maintaining equipment hygiene;
• safety of materials (they must be non-toxic and not be surprised when in contact with water);
• safety of the design, absence of dangerous sharp edges and other elements.

The drinking bowls must also correspond to the age category of the cattle and provide drinking water to the entire livestock (that is, the type of drinking bowl must correspond to the number of livestock).

Types of drinking bowls for cattle: how they can work

There are many types of drinking troughs for cattle. Each type is aimed at different types farms. For example, for a large farm, automatic equipment is more suitable, but on a private farmstead in , such expenses are unnecessary and more simple options. Some types are suitable for adult livestock, others for young animals. There are also options that you can make yourself, thereby saving a tidy sum.

Individual

This type of equipment is intended for supplying drink to animals kept in separate pens. This is the simplest system in terms of organization and does not require any special maintenance. The design of an individual drinking bowl is extremely simple: a container where water is supplied and from where the animal drinks, and a supply system (automatic or made of a hopper type, when water is supplied as the animal consumes it). Some improved options include a drain that prevents water from stagnating, or heating of the liquid for the winter season. The main advantage of an individual drinking bowl is full compliance with sanitary and hygienic standards, eliminating the risk of the development and spread of any diseases. He will tell you about keeping cows tethered.

The disadvantage of individual drinkers is the inconvenience of their maintenance and the need to constantly monitor the operation of each individual system in the stalls.

Group automatic drinkers

Group drinking bowls allow you to supply water to not just one, but several cows at once (in some cases, the entire herd). Group drinking bowls can be portable or stationary. The first type is used to provide for animals during grazing and is temporarily installed directly in the field. The second one is located in the stall and mounted on permanent place. For stationary drinkers, an automatic supply of tap water is most often organized; filling containers manually is difficult.

The advantage is that the entire livestock always has access to drink. However, a significant drawback is the unhygienic nature of these structures.

Read about the 100 head barn project.

The drinking container should be large enough so that several animals can have access to it at once. Drinkers should be installed slightly above floor level, about 10 centimeters, so that cows do not touch the edges with their throats.

Calves are kept isolated from the general herd for some time. In such a separate stall, they no less need a water supply, although their water consumption is much less than that of adults. Many farmers, wanting to cut costs, use ordinary buckets or basins for watering, which is not recommended. Firstly, simple containers are unstable, a calf can knock them over (hence the dirt, the environment for the development of bacteria, diseases). Secondly, a bucket is not enough; the calf needs more water to constantly drink. It should also be remembered that feeding newborns requires not only water, but also nutritional liquid formulations (for example, whey-based). You cannot use the same container for fertilizing and feeding, or you will have to wash it after each use.

A large container (raz, trough, bath) is suitable as a drinking bowl for calves, which must be secured at a level accessible to the animal. It is important to ensure that the container is securely fixed.

Read about the feeding diet of cows.

Heated in winter

To supply livestock with drinking water winter time there are no fundamental differences (of course, provided that a constant temperature is maintained in the stalls). Durable plastic will serve well as a material for the cold season. It is not recommended to use metal, since in such containers the liquid is supercooled. It is advisable to equip winter drinkers with a heating system, but the choice is yours. It is better to serve warm water in winter, periodically adding vitamins and mineral complexes to it.

How to make a drinking bowl for cows with your own hands

Video about a homemade automatic watering device with heating

This video provides complete instructions for a homemade automatic drinker.

conclusions

1. Providing cows with water plays an important role in their maintenance and helps to increase milk yield and rapid weight gain.
2. Drinkers can be individual or group, each type is suitable for different conditions of keeping cattle.
3. Calf drinkers have special characteristics and design requirements.
4. You can make drinking bowls yourself, which will save money. However, the efficiency and operation of factory equipment is beyond doubt; in the manufacturer’s price list you can find automatic drinking bowls (AP) with the ability to heat up.

Also read about drinking bowls for pigs in.

Carrots belong to the Umbrella family. It grows in the wild in America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Afghanistan is considered its homeland, as many of its species grow there. It is believed that carrots began to be cultivated four thousand years ago. In Rus' it was first mentioned in the 16th century.

Carrots now grow on literally any personal plot. At the same time, she is capricious, and for happy harvest, it is important to know the rules of its cultivation.

Autumn sowing

1. You can plant carrots in winter, and the harvest will appear two weeks earlier. The seeds will undergo winter hardening, and in the spring, due to the melting of snow, they will become stronger root system.
2. In autumn, only early varieties are planted, which are not suitable for winter storage.
3. In areas where winters are very cold, the beds should be covered with sawdust, leaves, and spruce branches.
4. Crops should be located on a hill so that the seed material is not washed away by melt water.

Spring sowing

The most popular season for planting is of course spring. Spring can be divided into early and late periods.

1. The root vegetable is a moisture-loving plant, so it can be planted immediately after the snow melts.
2. You can plant at the end of April, when the air temperature is +15 and the soil warms up to +5.
3. If you plant earlier, the seeds will take longer to germinate.
4. The beds can be covered with film to speed up seed germination.
5. When the shoots appear, the film is removed.
6. The late spring sowing period lasts from late May to early July. In this case, the carrot harvest should be expected in late August - early September.
7. Carrots love moisture; if you manage to sow before heavy rains, you won’t have to wait long for seedlings.

Choosing good seed

Early varieties

Early varieties are distinguished by reduced sugar content. They are not suitable for long storage, but just two months after planting they will delight you with the first root crops.

Lady. A high-yielding variety, after three months it can be completely harvested. The root crop has an elongated cylindrical shape, up to 20 cm in length, with a bright red color. Does not crack. Increased carotene content.

Fun F1. Hybrid from Siberia. The harvest can be completely harvested after three months. It grows up to 20 cm and weighs about 200 grams. The pulp has a sweet and juicy taste.

Nantes 4. Harvest in 80 days. Orange color, up to 14 cm and weight 160 g. The shape is cylindrical. Contains a lot of useful carotene. Suitable for all climate zones.

Sugar finger. Ripens within 65 days. Orange in color, grows 12 cm in length. Sweet taste. Contains a large amount of carotene.

Medium varieties

Medium varieties are formed in 105 – 120 days. Excellent storage in winter.

Losinoostrovskaya. The shape is cylindrical. The ripening period does not exceed 100 days. Tender, very juicy carrots. Does not grow well on clay and sand. Requires abundant systematic watering. Good variety for long-term storage.

Boltex. High-yielding carrot variety, fully formed in 120 days. Bright orange color, length 19 cm, thin skin.

Vitamin 6. Cylindrical shape. Orange color. Completely formed in 100 days. Up to 19 cm. Suitable for winter storage.

Late varieties

Late varieties are characterized by long growth for 110 - 130 days. Suitable for long-term storage.

Red giant. The variety was developed by breeders from Germany. Grows in 110 days. Cone shaped. They grow 24 cm and 100 grams. The flesh is red in color. Keeps for a long time.

Queen of Autumn. Ripens in four months. 22 cm. Juicy carrots. It is recommended to sow the root crop in winter.

Carlena. Formed within 130 days. The variety likes loose and fertile soil and timely, abundant watering.

When choosing a carrot variety, you need to consider climate zone where it will be grown, soil condition, ripening period. As well as shape, size and storage ability. Once you have decided, you can move on to choosing suitable site and prepare the ground.

Selecting a site and preparing the soil for planting

When choosing a location, you need to pay attention to three points:

1. site location;
2. the quality of the given soil;
3. crops that previously grew in this place.

Carrots love sunny places, without shade. The place of future sowing should be under the sun all day, otherwise the formation of root crops will slow down.

Prefers light and loose soil. But not sour. It grows poorly in acidic soil and does not gain sweetness. Sand and old sawdust will help improve the soil, and lime, wood ash and chalk will help reduce acidity. This vegetable crop is selective towards its predecessors.

Carrots are prohibited from planting after parsley, dill, fennel, beets, and sorrel. Successful predecessors for it are tomatoes, pumpkin, onions, garlic, potatoes, and lettuce.

It is better to prepare the soil for sowing in the fall. You need to dig with a shovel one and a half bayonet lengths. If you dig shallowly, the carrots will grow to a hard layer and go sideways. Therefore, instead of smooth, long root crops, you will get ugly specimens.

Fertilizers are added to the soil before digging. Rotted manure is placed half a bucket per square meter. Sawdust is added to heavy soil at the rate of 2 - 3 liters per meter. Carrots grow well if you add fertilizers with phosphate and potassium; wood ash, sand. They dig everything up and leave it. In the spring, they dig everything up again, level it and sow the seeds.

It must be remembered that it is prohibited to use fresh manure as fertilizer. It harms the culture. Fresh manure is rich in nitrogen, and root vegetables are characterized by their ability to quickly accumulate nitrates. Carrots grow irregular shape, and the smell of fresh mullein attracts various garden pests.

The soil is ready, now you can approach the selection and preparation of seeds.

Seed preparation

Carrot seeds take a long time to germinate, up to three weeks. The seed coat is impregnated essential oils. They prevent moisture from getting inside. First, the seeds need to be sorted. This is done using salt water. The seed material is thrown into salted water and mixed. Those that float are thrown away, and those that settle can be planted.

Four effective ways, which will ensure rapid germination:

1. Soaking seeds in biostimulants (Epin, Fitolife) for 20 hours.
2. Treatment with boiling water. Seeds should be placed in a cloth and kept in hot water 20 minutes. Then in cold water.
3. Burying seeds in the ground. Seed material is buried for 10 days. When they take it out, the seeds already have sprouts. They can be planted.
4. Soak. Carrot seeds are wrapped in wet cloth or cotton wool for a day.

Any method will speed up seed germination.

To increase the frost resistance of seeds, they are hardened. To do this, soaked but not yet sprouted seeds are put in the refrigerator, on a vegetable shelf and kept for a week. Hardening can also be carried out by alternating temperatures.

Seeds purchased second-hand, grown independently, and not famous manufacturers. Seeds from large and well-known producers are usually already ready for planting, they are treated with both insecticides and fungicides.

Granulated seeds that have undergone industrial processing are completely ready for sowing and preliminary preparation dont need. Some seeds are sold on tape. This simplifies planting and allows you to avoid thinning the carrots in the future.

Manufacturers also offer seeds in the form of pills. A small carrot seed in a shell of microelements and fertilizers. Such seeds are convenient for planting and they immediately receive all the substances necessary for growth. From this point of view, purchasing seeds from large manufacturing companies will reduce the time spent on preparation and provide more high germination rate.

Seeds prepared independently or industrially can be sown.

Planting carrot seeds

Before planting seeds, it is necessary to assess the soil moisture. If it is dry, you need to moisturize it. Furrows are made in the bed 15 cm apart and 2 cm deep.

There are several planting methods:

1. Small seeds are scattered by hand along the grooves.
2. Soaked and sprouted seeds are planted more carefully.
3. Seeds in the form of dragees.
4. From a syringe. Make jelly from flour, add nutrients, cool, and add seeds. Using a syringe, sow evenly into the furrows.
5. Seeds on strips of paper. This method will avoid further thinning.

Then the top is covered with earth and compacted by hand or a special board. The carrots are planted. In the future, she requires systematic care.

Planting care

For a good harvest the following care is required:

• regular watering;
• loosening;
• timely weeding;
• thinning;
• feeding

Watering

It is carried out after planting the seeds. He is very important. Lack of moisture affects the taste. Carrots become bitter in taste. And it begins to produce lateral roots seeking moisture, which affects appearance. Water once every 7 days, taking into account precipitation. They start with three liters per meter, increasing the volume to 20 liters as they grow.

Three weeks before harvesting, stop watering completely.

Loosening

Pass between the rows. Weeding is done as the weeds grow. This procedure can be combined with thinning. Thinning is carried out twice. When the leaves appear and when the carrots are formed. Ideally, the distance should be 15 cm. After the leaves appear, the plant needs to be fed. You can use urea in an amount of 15 g. per meter It responds well to fertilizers with phosphorus and potassium.

Collection of grown carrots and their storage

It is better to harvest carrots in dry weather. You should dig with a shovel. Do not cut the tops, but unscrew them. This will not harm the fetus. Store in the cellar at +5 degrees.

Carrots can be placed in bags with holes, boxes with sawdust and sand. Sawdust is preferable. If the cellar is not humid enough, the sawdust can be moistened with water. Carrots prefer high humidity.

Diseases and garden carrot pests

To collect healthy, beautiful and delicious carrots it is important not to let her get sick and interfere small pests, destroy the future harvest.

The plant is susceptible to the following diseases:

1. Dry rot. Fungus. Carrot leaves have gray - brown spots, the entire root crop is affected. The crop may rot.
2. Gray rot. Causes wet rot.
3. White rot. Also a fungus. It affects everything in the garden. Spread by mycelium. May enter the soil with manure.
4. Bacteriosis. The reason is bacteria. First the leaves turn yellow, then it spreads to the root crop itself, and ulcers form. The plant begins to smell bad.
5. Powdery mildew. It appears as a white coating on plants. The affected area is hard and breaks.
6. Cercospora blight. Caused by a fungus. Brown spots can be seen on the leaves. Gradually they increase in size and rot.

To prevent diseases, it is important to adhere to the following rules:

• seeds should be disinfected in a weak solution of potassium permanganate;
• treat the soil and plants with biological products; in June the entire garden should be treated with immunocytophyte;
• fertilize.

In addition to diseases, there are pests that love this root vegetable:

• carrot fly;
• carrot psyllid;
• carrot moth;
• root-knot nematode;
• mole cricket;
• wireworm;
• naked slug;
• winter cutworms.

The fight comes down to spraying and watering carrots with solutions of various drugs.

Carrots are a popular plant. It’s rare that a dish is complete without it. It is rich in carotene and other vitamins. Carotene strengthens memory and is good for vision. It's low in calories and full of benefits. By growing this crop in the garden you can get a tasty dietary product. It takes a little effort and you will be pleased with the harvest.

Even experienced gardeners have incidents with carrots - sometimes they don’t sprout, sometimes they produce poorly, or even the root vegetables turn out ugly and tasteless. Growing carrots is a delicate matter and, despite its apparent simplicity, it is replete with many nuances. With this vegetable, a negative result can be evidence of both lack of care and excessive zeal. We propose to consider what mistakes are most often made when cultivating crops and how to avoid them.

Carrots are a delicate matter!

Selecting a location and preparing the bed

Climatic conditions Middle zone Russia is ideal for growing carrots in open ground - they turn out dense, juicy, and sweet. For sowing, choose an open area of ​​the garden so that it gets a lot of sun - in the shade the plants stretch out, grow with large tops and small root crops. The soil needs to be loose, preferably sandy loam, with a neutral reaction of the soil solution. Considering that ideal conditions are rare in nature, harvest bed you can do it yourself. Clay soils loosen and enrich - add humus, compost, peat, leaf soil, river sand.

When deciding where to grow carrots, advanced gardeners create special organic beds with an airy structure that are very light. The soil is dug up before winter, the acidity is reduced by liming, mineral fertilizers are applied: nitrogen (20–30 g/m²), superphosphate (40–50 g/m²), potassium salt (40–50 g/m²). You need to be careful with organic matter, because root vegetables do not tolerate fresh manure. They are suitable for areas fertilized a year earlier - after cucumber, zucchini, potatoes, cabbage. Typical mistakes:

• Digging is carried out in the spring. This disrupts the structure and reduces the natural moisture of the soil. Seeds, being at a depth of 2–3 cm, do not receive capillary moisture and significantly lose germination.
• They add a lot of nitrogen. Carrots overfed with nitrogen contain a lot of nitrates, taste worse, and are poorly stored.

It is important! No matter how hard you try, but acidic soil(pH below 6–6.5) you will not be able to grow sweet carrots. An acidic environment interferes with the absorption of valuable microelements, including phosphorus and potassium. Taking into account the characteristics of the crop, liming of the soil can be carried out only in winter - before autumn digging.

Seed requirements

Effective carrot cultivation technologies are unthinkable without high-quality seed material. When choosing a variety or hybrid, pay attention to the ripening time, soil requirements, humidity, and relate this to the conditions of your region. Pelleted seeds do not require additional preparation, but they have the peculiarity of watering the soil before and after sowing. The multilayer shell needs to be able to get wet; without this, the seed will not receive the necessary nutrition and water, and therefore will not germinate. Encrusted and primed seeds are sown dry. But ordinary ones need to be prepared for sowing - pre-soaked, disinfected, stimulated with growth regulators. There are many procedures, their main function is to speed up the emergence of seedlings.

Typical mistakes:

• Sowing with dry untreated seeds. They take a long time to germinate, and if they are still sown in cold soil, they can sap.
• Dried seeds do not germinate. There is not enough moisture to dissolve the granule.

Subtleties of sowing

The secrets of growing carrots at this stage are in the correct determination of the timing and technology of sowing. To obtain early harvest for summer consumption, carrots are sown as soon as the soil is shaken and warms up to 6–8⁰ C. When winter sowing the moment of ripening can be accelerated by 1–2 weeks. In order to obtain high-quality and shelf-stable root crops for planting for the winter, the sowing dates are shifted by approximately 1–1.5 months - to the first ten days of June.

Sow carrots shallowly (1.5–2 cm), placing them in rows, 12–15 cm ribbons or wide ridges. The bottom of the seed furrow must be compacted, moistened, and only after that the seeds are laid out. They are covered with dry substrate on top - soil from the garden, humus, mulch from rotted organic matter. Sowing methods for growing carrots are recommended to be sparse or precise. They require additional costs and patience, but they will pay off handsomely during harvest and save you time on thinning.

Typical mistakes:

• The furrows were cut, but not compacted or watered. The seeds lay unevenly, rolled under clods of earth, did not receive the necessary moisture - the shoots were uneven and unfriendly. The tip of the root has died due to drying out - a forked root crop will grow.

From sowing to germination

The main thing in growing carrots from sowing to germination is to conserve moisture. Beginning gardeners, seeing that seedlings do not appear, resort to watering. A crust forms on top of the soil, then it becomes covered with cracks through which water intensively evaporates. How to deal with this? Firstly, if you follow the “dry on wet” principle when sowing, the top layer will reliably retain moisture. Secondly, when a crust appears, surface loosening is carried out with a rake. To make rows of carrots appear earlier, add radishes, lettuce, and spinach to the seeds - they will act as beacons.

Typical mistakes:

• Watering until germination. The achene does not have enough strength to break through the formed crust - the shoots are weak, uneven, and delayed.

Plant care

The technology for growing carrots at the care stage includes such mandatory measures as weeding, loosening, thinning, watering and fertilizing. The thinning procedure is excluded if sparse or precision sowing was used. In this case, if there is a need, the density is adjusted while weeding.

Thinning

The first thinning is carried out with the formation of 2–3 leaves. Weaker shoots are removed, leaving an interval of 2 cm between the remaining ones. The carrots are broken through for the second time when the root crop has grown in diameter to 1.2–1.5 cm, leaving plants after 4–6 cm. How to grow large and even carrots depends , including from the secrets of thinning.

• You need to pull out the excess carefully, without damaging the growing seedling nearby. A damaged root crop sprouts a new root at the site of injury, that is, it bifurcates.
• If you like large carrots, leave the plants less often. To get leveled roots, they should sit shoulder to shoulder in the ground.
• Carry out any weeding on soft soil - after rain or watering.

Note! During thinning, a spicy aroma hangs over the bed, attracting carrot flies. To protect plants from pests, remove weeding waste in a timely manner and work early in the morning or in the evening.

Typical mistakes:

• Thickened seeding. Instead of high-quality root vegetables, you will get “mouse tails”.
• Sparse crops. Non-standard products, large specimens may produce side shoots and growths.

Watering

How to water carrots - the most controversial issue in crop cultivation technology. Supporters of traditional farming recommend doing this infrequently - 4-5 times per season, but plentifully. Water should wet the soil by 40 centimeters, which is 50–60 l/m². The first watering is carried out immediately after the seedlings, then approximately every 15–20 days. In natural farming, watering is not recommended. Seedlings need abundant moisture before the appearance of 5–6 true leaves. After the first thinning, the beds are mulched with a layer of 5–7 cm and not watered at all or extremely rarely - in the case of a dry summer. There is an explanation for this - the roots of carrots (not to be confused with root vegetables!) reach 2–2.5 m and can provide themselves with the necessary moisture.

In any case, watering must be stopped completely at least a month before harvesting.

Note! How to grow large carrots if you can’t do without watering and there is no water? Plant late-maturing varieties. In the autumn it will rain, dew and fog will fall and the root crop will have time to catch up.

Typical mistakes:

• Frequent, but surface watering. The root crop, in order to receive moisture and nutrition from the upper layers of the soil, begins to grow lateral roots. As a result, “hairy” carrots grow.
• Uneven hydration. If, after a long period of drought, you give abundant watering, there is a high probability of longitudinal cracking of the root crops.

Feeding

Root feeding of carrots is necessary if the full rate of fertilizers was not applied before sowing. They are effective in combination with watering. They are timed to coincide with the end of the breakthroughs, that is, 2-3 times per season. We need balanced fertilizers for root crops, such as Agricola, Bona Forte, Fertika (universal).

Typical mistakes:

• Lack of fertilizers. In depleted soil, the root vegetables will be small; from a lack of potassium, the pulp becomes dense and hard; without phosphorus, it will not gain any sweetness.

Cleaning

The answer to the question of how to grow sweet carrots often depends on the nuances of harvesting. You can’t dig up too early, because last month During the growing season, the vegetable intensively gains sugar. But it’s even more dangerous to leave carrots in the garden too long. A root crop that has been sitting in the ground begins to grow overgrown with young roots, becomes tough, and begins to taste bitter. To avoid such mistakes, when sowing, pay attention to the growing season of the variety and adhere to them.

Typical mistakes:

• Early planting of varieties with a short growing season. If the ripening period arrived at the end of August, and the root crops were removed a month later, you will end up with woody, hairy roots and tasteless carrots.

Confined soil technologies

Being a long lasting plant daylight hours, carrots are not the most popular indoor crop. However, growing carrots in a greenhouse allows you to get additional yields vitamin vegetable out of season.

What nuances should you keep in mind?

1. For sowing in greenhouse conditions early ripening varieties with short growing season, for example, Minicore (88–90 days), Saturno F1 (50–55), Amsterdam (80–85).
2. If you sow carrots in February-March, the root crops will ripen by May. The second time is planted no earlier than August and the vitamin harvest is harvested during December-January.
3. Until mid-February, while daylight lasts less than 10 hours, it is necessary to use additional lighting with fluorescent lamps.

Otherwise, care is not much different from open ground technologies. Although on high yields You shouldn’t count on it in a greenhouse; young vegetables with tender, crispy flesh will diversify your table and eliminate the need for long-term storage.

Carrots on raised beds:

Carrots are a rather finicky vegetable that can respond to unaccounted nuances in the growing process with a strange-looking harvest and a disappointingly low harvest. Caring for carrots in open ground implies a strict sequence at each point of successive stages of root development, and missing one of the points means jeopardizing all the work expended. How to care for carrots correctly?

How to grow carrots correctly? High yields begin with preparing the soil for planting, and initial preparations need to be made in the fall. A flat place is selected in the garden bed, sufficiently illuminated by the sun during daylight hours and, preferably, previously used for planting cucumbers, white cabbage or grain crops. Depending on what kind of soil carrots like, namely neutral or slightly acidic, the alkaline balance of the soil is regulated.

First, you need to assess whether the soil is suitable for carrots for this indicator. The easiest way is to collect a pinch of earth from a piece of clean glass. the desired area and pour it with table vinegar. Alkaline and slightly acidic environments will react with strong or moderate foam (as when extinguishing soda), while an acidic environment will not show any changes.

You can also pay attention to the area being clogged with grass:

• neutral soils are rich in lush, long vegetation: stinging nettle, quinoa, clover;
• acidic soils, where it is impossible to grow sweet carrots, will abound in mint, horsetail, violet and buttercup;
• on soil with weak acidity you will find burdock, alfalfa, small chamomile and thistle;
• alkaline environment, the poorest and just as unsuitable for growing carrots in open ground as acidic, it is characterized by: poppy, sweet clover, bindweed.

The second task in the question of how to grow good harvest carrots is to create conditions for saturating the soil with oxygen. This is required so that the carrots have a sweet taste and grow slenderly in length, and do not go horned and squirm in all directions, bumping into the hardness of unloosened earth. Gnarled carrots occur when the vegetable begins to send out branches in search of a convenient direction and softer soil, and not sweet ones - due to lack of air.

Light fluffy soil that is not clogged with clay can be worked with a garden rake, but hard, compacted layers must be completely broken up by deep digging.

How to plant carrots correctly

How to grow carrots in even rows and with uniform distribution along the groove? In order to get a good harvest, vegetables should not sit tightly together, which means there should be a distance between the seeds that is convenient for thinning later. There are many such convenient methods in agricultural technology:

• with a mixture of flour and water, the seeds are glued to a strip of paper towel or napkin at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other, then these tapes are placed directly into the grooves after pre-planting watering;
• combine the contents of a packet of seeds with 1 glass clean sand, mix everything and introduce this mass in a thin stream into the dug groove;
• boil two tablespoons of starch in a liter of water and pour this lukewarm substance, with seeds added to it, into the prepared grooves;
• Most gardeners, when planting this crop, traditionally plant the seeds in the soil at a distance of about 4 cm and a gap between rows of 15 cm.

What to do immediately after landing? The bed is covered with polyethylene, which is held until the first shoots appear. The vegetable tolerates low temperatures and even soil frosts quite tolerantly, but prolonged cold is the reason why carrots go to the shoot to the detriment of root development.

Watering carrots

Carrots in open ground do not require as much regular as even watering - the plant does not care how often the soil is moistened, but the moisture level must be constant and unchanged. Deviation from the level of water saturation in the soil that is comfortable for the root crop leads to pathologies of root formation:

• superficial and slight moisture of the soil leads to the formation of a woody rhizome - the pale core of such a vegetable tastes bitter, and the carrot itself sometimes grows into bulky, shapeless tangles;
• When growing carrots, it is also dangerous to oversaturate the soil with watering - there is a risk of getting nondescript, twisted monsters with branched tops.

One of the signs of improper and uneven watering is a horned carrot that has two or more root forks. To avoid mistakes of this kind, it is better to water root crops, adhering to the approximate scheme:

• when the first shoots appear, 7-8 waterings are carried out throughout the month, 6 liters of water per 1 m2 of plot;
• in the first month of summer the norm increases to 11-12 liters, multiplied by 5-6 waterings;
• in July there should be only about five waterings, but 13-15 liters per meter of area;
• the onset of August entails a reduction in water consumption and labor costs - carrots are growing already on two waterings of 6 liters of water each.

14-20 days before the day scheduled for harvesting, watering is stopped. Then the soil is moistened once to make the digging process easier.

Weeding and thinning carrots

Growing carrots in open ground should be accompanied by repeated weeding, especially in the period before germination, when weeds with powerful rhizomes may not allow the vegetable crop to sprout. Weeds should not be allowed to grow too tall - late weeding is one of the reasons why gardeners subsequently miss out on useful crops, because along with the grass, young tops of the ungrown vegetable also end up in the general heap.

How to get high yields with regular weeding? There are two theories equally substantiated by the experience of gardeners on how to weed vegetables:

• after watering or rain - thus, the weeds are easily pulled out with the entire root system;
• before watering, when the ground is dry, the thin roots of the grass in this case remain in the soil and dry out, which prevents the germination of new weeds.

Another mandatory procedure, without which growing and caring for this crop in open ground is impossible, is proper thinning of plants in the garden. When seeds are initially planted at the same distance from each other of 2-3 cm, thinning is a rather corrective procedure and not always mandatory.

Continuous sowing by any of the methods, when the seeds went into the furrow chaotically, in the long term always means one or two stages of breaking through the excess growth. Should I do this? Necessarily. The first thinning is carried out immediately, as soon as individual bushes of tops can be distinguished from the hatching greenery.

Often the answer to the question: why do carrots grow ugly lies precisely in the wrong actions when removing excess sprouts.

There are certain secrets on how to correctly perform this simple operation.

• What to do and in what order to perform the actions:
• before thinning, the beds need to be watered generously from a garden watering can;
• The sprout should not be pulled, but pulled straight up from the ground, without swinging it;
• it is necessary that there is a distance of 3 or 4 cm between the preserved bushes;

Immediately after the procedure, the garden is watered with warm water. At the same stage, it is customary to carry out the first hilling of carrots and the first loosening between the rows. And, if the second part of the algorithm big questions

does not cause, there is a lot of controversy about the first one.

So – do you need to hill carrots?

You can often hear even from experienced gardeners that carrots are not hilled. However, if you are not too lazy to do this painstaking work at least three times during the development of the vegetable, you can protect the future harvest from three misfortunes at once:

• from damage to the exposed part of the root by a carrot fly, which likes to lay eggs at the base of the vegetable;
• from the protrusion of greenery at the top of the rhizome;
• from exposure to direct sun rays, which leave burns on the surface of the root near the tops.

Mulching a vegetable

How to grow large carrots and at the same time eliminate the risk of drying out the soil, the danger of pest invasion, and also significantly reduce the amount of weeding and loosening? For this purpose, there is a technology for covering the soil with mulch, and the technique itself is called “mulching.”

How to mulch a carrot bed? The most common way to mulch a garden bed is to cover the space between the rows of planted vegetables with hay, straw chaff or sawdust. The latter option is preferable, since covering with sawdust retains moisture longer and provides a more reliable shield against the invasion of cabbage grass and other pests.

Covering the soil with sawdust has another important advantage over grass flooring - weeds do not grow through it, while dried grass itself may by default have mature and ready-to-germinate seeds that will grow when in contact with moisture. Small wood chips have the same properties, along with sawdust.

It is recommended to mulch carrots when the outer part of the plant reaches 14-16 cm, and the vegetable itself is about 7-8 cm in diameter at the widest part of the root. Is it possible to mulch root vegetables? late varieties? It is not only possible, but also necessary, since the shelter retains the temperature it receives from the sun during the day for a long time, and as a result, the root crops are juicy and not cracked.

On forums there are often complaints like the following: “I mulch vegetables according to all the rules, but the vegetables wither, the tops fall off, and the end result is a horned or otherwise ugly carrot that lacks sweetness.” Important condition Before the procedure, dry the material. Whatever mulching is done, the covering should not rot and thus serve as a habitat for the proliferation of harmful microorganisms. And the secret of withering, falling tops is rotting of the root, to which oxygen does not reach through the dense crust of damp mulch. That's all the secrets of proper mulching.

Common mistakes

Let's name the most common mistakes gardeners make that answer the most common complaints about why carrots don't grow:

• the seeds were planted without prior soaking or in insufficiently heated soil (the norm is 7-9 C);
• sowing is too deep or the furrow is formed incorrectly (it is necessary to deepen the groove by 2 cm, then tamp its bottom with the edge of the palm or the handle of a hoe);
• lack of watering before or after planting, or watering with cold water;
• abundant watering of the soil until the sprouts emerge from the soil (until the green brush of sprouted plants appears in the garden bed, you cannot water the garden);

Carrots are the most popular vegetable among consumers. It can be purchased on store shelves all year round. But the root vegetable will bring great benefits if you grow it yourself in your summer cottage. This can be done subject to compliance certain rules growing carrots.

Almost any crop needs to be fertilized before planting in the spring, and this can be done in the spring after planting at the dacha, or it can be fertilized later directly into the hole. We will tell you in the article how to properly care for carrots, how much and what kind of fertilizer to apply, little tricks for applying manure and humus, how to water frequently and how to love the plant.

Before sowing seeds in open ground, a gardener must decide why he is growing carrots and when he wants to get the harvest. Sowing time:

1. Early spring sowing from April 15 to May 15. Throughout June you can already collect bunches of carrots, and with the arrival of August you can enjoy the sweet root vegetables.
2. Summer sowing from May 15 to June 10. The harvest will take place at the end of September; these carrots are stored in the cellar for winter storage.
3. Pre-winter sowing from October 20 to November 15 allows you to consume young root crops before harvesting the main harvest. The main thing is to choose right place for beds - it should be located on a hill so that the spring melting of snow does not drown the seeds.

If you sow at all possible times, then fresh vegetables will be on the table all year round.

During winter sowing, the formation of root crops occurs at a time when the carrot fly is just beginning its life activity. It is not yet capable of harming the harvest in the garden; the vegetables will be of better quality.

Choosing a place for a garden bed

It's no secret that carrots are an unpretentious root vegetable, but to get a rich harvest you still need to create comfortable conditions. When choosing a location for garden beds, the gardener should consider:

• this vegetable crop grows well in illuminated areas;
• fertile loamy-sandy soil with 4% humus and neutral acidity 6-7 pH;
• Previously, potatoes, tomatoes, corn and legumes were grown at the planting site;
• do not use for growing beds where they were previously grown spices(dill, parsley, fennel, etc.);
• it is forbidden plant vegetables in the same area 2 years in a row.

Large root crops of regular shape grow on peat soils, which were formed after the swamps dried out. And on clay soil the carrots will take on an ugly shape due to strong growth resistance.

Before frost, the area for vegetables must be dig up, remove roots and stones. But do not drive the shovel too deep into the ground and destroy the fertile layer. You should dig to a depth of about 0.3 meters. With the onset of spring, level and deeply loosen the surface.

How to plant seeds to get good seedlings

Gardeners practice a variety of methods for planting carrots, all of which have their own advantages and disadvantages:

1. Sowing seeds considered the most in a fast way. The gardener simply scatters dry seed into the prepared beds. At the same time, seed consumption cannot be called economical, and the seedlings will be too dense and uneven.
2. Dragee- these are seeds placed in a nutritious shell, the shoots are friendly and strong. Their sowing consists of point distribution in small holes. The cost of pelleted seeds is higher, but you won’t have to waste time on thinning.
3. Previously sprouted seeds give quick shoots. But in the absence of rain, you will have to water ahead of time; the sprouts are too weak and cannot cope with the pressure of the earth.
4. Roll method involves gluing small seeds onto long strips of paper. To plant, you just need to spread the strips in the garden bed, dig it in with soil, water it well and fertilize it. Shoots will appear evenly, but a little later.
5. Liquid paste cook from potato starch, cool to room temperature and mix with mineral fertilizers. Add seeds to the resulting liquid and stir quickly. Pour the paste evenly into the grooves. With this method there is no need to thin out the plantings.

Regardless of the chosen planting method, it is better to sow seeds less often, so as not to have to thin out in the future.

You can have a garden bed cover with film for 2-3 weeks before the first shoots appear. Thus, weeds will not interfere with plant growth, and a crust will not form on the soil, preventing moisture from penetrating to the roots.

If dry soil is selected for sowing planting material, then additional preparation is required. You can disinfect it by soaking the seeds in water heated to 40 degrees. But it's better to hold them in a solution of potassium permanganate– 1 g of substance per 100 ml of liquid. The procedure time should not exceed 20 minutes, after which the seeds must be rinsed well clean water and dry.

Some gardeners use specialized plant growth stimulants already at the seed preparation stage. But to obtain an environmentally friendly harvest, this is not recommended.

Secrets of caring for carrots after planting

Carrots belong to difficult to germinate and slow growing vegetable crops. Don’t think that once you sow it, you can forget about the beds until harvest.

In order for the root crops to be strong and large and consistent with the varietal quality, they should be looked after.

Fertilizers, fertilizing and folk remedies

A gardener will reap an average harvest in terms of quality and quantity if he limits himself to applying fertilizer during the autumn digging of the plot.

The plant needs feeding throughout the growing season.

So, first time feed the vegetable a month after entry. At 10 l. water dissolve 1 tbsp. l. nitrophoska is a classic mineral fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The same solution is also used in the second feeding after 2 weeks and on the third- at the beginning of August.

The best potassium fertilizer is this folk remedy How tincture of ash. To prepare it, you need to pour 150 g of dry ash in parts into a bucket of water. Stir the mixture until the ash is completely dissolved. At 10 l. dilute 1 liter of water. tincture and feed and water the root crops of carrots or beets with this liquid during the second half of the growing season.

How to water during the growing period

When growing root vegetables special meaning The irrigation system is playing. Indeed, if the soil moisture is insufficient, the young roots of the plant will die, and overwatering the beds will lead to the fact that only livestock will be able to feed on the harvest.

Therefore, immediately after sowing, the period begins proper watering beds:

1. The method used to stimulate the inputs is sprinkling(300-400 m3/ha), and then several receptions drip irrigation(20-30 m3/ha).
2. After the entrances appear, depending on weather conditions, watering is carried out every 2-3 days small volume of water.
3. During the period of root crop formation, the soil moisture regime changes - the frequency decreases, the volume of water increases.
4. Active growth of vegetables is accompanied by infrequent watering (once every 7-10 days), but moisture should penetrate into the ground to a depth of 10-15 cm.
5. One month before harvest, watering do not carry out even in the absence of rain. Excess moisture during this period will worsen the taste and keeping quality of vegetables.

Before digging up root crops, it is advisable to moisten the soil a little. Thus, the process is facilitated, and the crop improves its ability to be stored fresh.

Proper weeding

One of the least favorite things gardeners do is weeding their beds. But you can’t do without this tedious task, otherwise you can lose your entire harvest due to the “attack” of weeds.

At the initial stage, when the plants have not yet sprouted, an area with crops is recommended cover with several layers of newspapers and cover with film on top. With this method, the soil warms up well and retains moisture, but weeds cannot actively grow. After 2 weeks, the innovative shelter should be removed and wait for the emergence of seedlings.

After 10-15 days the plant appears first real leaf- this is a signal to start weeding. The procedure must be done very carefully so as not to capture the cultivated shoots along with the weeds.

When the 2nd leaf forms, weed combined with thinning, if sowing was carried out chaotically and the plantings were thickened. There should be a distance of 2-3 cm between plants. It is important to pull the sprouts up and not to the side, otherwise the root of the neighboring vegetable will be damaged.

The most convenient way to thin out is with the help of a female eyebrow plucking device - tweezers. It captures even the thinnest shoots without harming the rest of the plant.

During the entire growth period between the beds and plants, it is necessary to weed and loosen the soil. A month after the first thinning, repeat the procedure so that there is a distance of 4-5 cm between the root crops, but the already pulled vegetables can be eaten.

Growing carrots takes a lot of effort and time, but a rich and high-quality harvest of a healthy vegetable will cover all the inconveniences. The main thing is to follow the basic rules of planting and caring for plants. And then a tasty and crispy vegetable will be in the daily diet of the whole family, it will give all its nutrients and microelements.