Tips for growing carrots. Carrots: planting and care in open ground, cleaning and storage

According to legend, in the Middle Ages carrots were considered a delicacy for gnomes, who exchanged this root vegetable for gold bars...

Carrot - biennial plant family Umbellaceae, or celery. There are round, cylindrical and conical shapes. The color of carotene carrot varieties is orange or red-orange, while Asian varieties are lemon yellow, pink, red and purple.

Carrot varieties

• Early ripening varieties and hybrids (80–90 days): Nantes 4, Incomparable, Parisian Cartel, Parmex, Artek, Amsterdam, Nuance.
• Mid-season varieties and hybrids (100–110 days): Losinoostrovskaya 13, Leander F1, NIIOH-336, Vitamin 6, Nantes Improved, Altair F1.
• Mid-late varieties and hybrids (110–130 days): Typhoon, Forto F1, Canada F1, Moscow long A-515, Perfect.
• Late-ripening varieties and hybrids (130–150 days): Carlena, Coral, Rote Risen, Shantane 2461, Dolyanka, Valeria, Olympus.

Soil preparation

Carrots are a light-loving crop. Since autumn, the site has been dug up deeply. In the spring, a week before sowing, the soil is disinfected with a solution copper sulfate(1 tbsp per 10 liters of water), dig. Sometimes beds are made in the fall, and in the spring they are loosened and leveled.

The optimal temperature for the formation, growth and development of root crops is 15–20°C, for leaf growth – 20–23°C. At temperatures above 25°C growth is retarded.

Fertilizer and precursors

It is better to plant carrots after leafy vegetables, under which organic matter was added last year. If organic matter is needed in the year of sowing, then humus is added in an amount of 3–4 kg/m2. On light sandy and sandy loam soils organic matter is added in the spring, and heavy- in the fall. At the same time - phosphorus and potassium fertilizers (30–40 g/m2). Nitrogen - given during feeding. On acidic soils lime is added - 300–500 g per 1 m2, but only for the previous crop. Fertilizing: nitrogen – 20–25 days after emergence; phosphorus potassium - after another 2-3 weeks.

Sowing carrots

Convenient to sow carrot seeds on a tape. You just need to secure them on self-destructive paper with a certain distance from each other. It is enough to make grooves 1 cm deep, lay a tape with seeds, cover with soil and water. The distance between rows is 15–18 cm.

Furrows for sowing

The soil is dug up to a depth of 15 cm. Mineral fertilizers should be applied 1–2 weeks before sowing. After digging, the soil is leveled, grooves are cut across the bed with a distance of 20 cm between them.

Attention! The depth of the furrows on sandy loam soils is 2.5 cm, on loamy soils - 2 cm, on heavy soils no more than 1 cm.

Carrot sowing dates

• To get an early harvest carrots are sown from mid-April to early May.
• For summer consumption and winter storage carrots are sown from mid-May to early June.
• To obtain young carrots in the fall in mid-July short-fruited varieties are sown.
• Pre-winter sowing at the end of November, December-January will provide more early harvest than with early sowing in the spring.

Carrots are sown in mid-May for winter storage. For 1 sq. m of beds add ½ bucket of humus, 1–2 cups of stove ash, 2 tbsp. spoons of complete mineral fertilizer and 1–2 tbsp. spoons of superphosphate.

4 stages of sowing seeds

1. Do grooves at a distance of 20–25 cm, depth 1–1.5 cm.
2. Before sowing spill the soil at the bottom of the furrow and after a while start sowing.
3. Select large seeds, wash them off essential oils under the stream hot water in fabric bags. Pour the seeds into your palm, and then, slowly, passing them between your thumb and forefinger, lower them evenly to the bottom of the grooves. You can mix the seeds with coarse sand 1:5.
4. Fill the grooves sifted soil, preferably peat, and compact it slightly. You should not water the ground after sowing, otherwise the seeds will move to deeper layers of soil and may not germinate.

Germination time

Carrots are a cold-resistant crop, the seeds begin to germinate at a temperature of +3...+4°C, but when sown in cold soil they will last about 3 weeks until germination. In warm soil, this process will be reduced by 2–3 times.

If the weather is dry, then it is better to protect the crops from the sun and wind by covering them with paper or film to retain moisture, placing it on bricks and securing them on the sides so that they do not blow away in the wind.

Caring for carrots

Caring for carrots involves timely watering, loosening the soil, fertilizing, weeding etc. To obtain a high yield, a sufficient amount of moisture in the soil is necessary.

Watering carrots

In a relationship glaze Carrots are quite patient. But you should not abuse this ability. In case of severe and prolonged drought, carrots should be watered once every 5 days, but generously. Two to three weeks before harvesting, watering is usually stopped. This advice must be followed.

Hilling and weeding

An important trick - hilling allows you to avoid sunburn and greening of the shoulders of root crops.

Weeding and hilling carrots should be carried out on cloudy days or in the evening - sunlight and a strong carrot smell attract carrot flies. If the carrots were sown with dry, loose seeds, then they must be thinned out. This is done when the carrot tops at shoots grow to such a size that they are easy to grasp with your hand.

Pest protection

Exists dangerous pest – . She lays eggs at the top of the root crops, so the root crops must be earthed up at the stage of five, seven and ten leaves. This technique will also help avoid greening of the carrot shoulders.

One of the most popular vitamin vegetables On the tables of our country it is carrots. It is planted in almost all gardens and plots, but not everyone can boast of its rich harvests. Now we’ll figure out how to plant and care for it correctly in order to count on stunning harvests.

Correct beds

So, carrots are the most popular vegetable that is used in many dishes. But what is important here is proper fit and good care, which you will carry out in open ground. Understand this topic in more detail. It seems to be an unpretentious root vegetable, but it will be better if you can comply with some factors to which the carrot will certainly respond gratefully. She will be especially pleased with loose and fertile soils; she loves sandy loams and medium loams, they have especially a lot of oxygen. Please note that varieties with very long fruits require soil loosened very deeply, about one and a half shovels deep.

In terms of acidity, it needs neutral values, for example, 6-7 pH. The formation of a dry crust on the ridges is unnecessary; let them be slightly moist. Heavy and dense soil, where it is difficult for air to reach, will not contribute to the pleasant taste of the vegetable, even with excellent care. Yes, and it will be a problem for seeds to germinate in such soil, while adult bushes will be at risk of fungal diseases.

Do not forget about crop rotation, the most suitable predecessors carrots are:

• Legumes and grains.
• Brassicas.
• Garlic.
• Onion - turnip.
• Tomatoes.
• Potato.
• Cucumbers.
• Zucchini.

But very unsuitable precursors are herbs:

• Caraway.
• Dill.
• Celery.
• Fennel.
• Parsnip.
• Coriander.
• Parsley.

Planting carrots in the same place every year is also a bad idea; this can only be done after 3-4 years, then you will no longer be afraid of pests and various diseases.

Places well lit by the sun are especially suitable for its beds. Even its direct rays are not afraid of carrot bushes. But with little sun, the harvest will be small and tasteless.

Preparing the ridges

In order to learn how to grow carrots in open ground, you need to read the information below. Fertilizers are important point. Rotted manure or humus (half a bucket per square meter of bed) will perfectly prepare your beds for planting carrots. If the soil on your site is heavy, then it should be diluted with sawdust, it will loosen and be saturated with oxygen. And wood ash will add potassium to the soil. This will sweeten the carrots' taste and make them more shelf-stable. And you can dig up an area for carrots in the fall. It is better to dig up one and a half bayonets, this will loosen the soil better, and it will be easier for you to harvest in the fall - the carrots will be easier to pull out. In the spring, all you have to do is go through the rake and you can start sowing.

As we said above, only rotted manure is used; fresh manure will lead to flowering of the bushes and branching of the carrots themselves. Even great further care the situation will not improve. Be careful with nitrogen components, their excess will lead to hardening of root crops and the accumulation of nitrates in them.

You can also plant carrots in winter; it will turn out like a spring crop. With the first warmth, it will already hatch and harvesting can begin a couple or three weeks earlier. But you can’t count on storing it for a long time; it’s better to use it right away or use it for preparation. If you still decide to plant it before winter, and you have harsh, frosty winters, put a thick layer of foliage on top of the beds, perhaps sawdust or straw. In extreme frosts, even this may not protect the seeds from death.

So, most often it is sown in the spring. Here you can also calculate everything according to timing - if you need early carrots, then plant part of the area with early varieties, this can be done when the temperature rises to +8C. The beds will still be filled with moisture from the melted snow, so all factors will be in favor.

Further, unexpected frosts and cold snaps will affect the harvest in that it will not be able to be stored for long and will begin to bloom, so that only in mid-April can you start sowing mid-season and late varieties that are planned for storage. Sowing can be continued until the end of May if spring is prolonged, but the main thing is not to delay planting, otherwise you will have to wait a very long time for seedlings.

If long and heavy rains are forecast, try to have time to weed out before them, they will benefit the seeds.

Preparing seeds for planting

This article will tell you how to grow good carrots in the country. Experienced summer residents advise planting carrots already in the form of germinated seeds. Here, the ripening time is reduced and the risks of non-germination of seeds are already reduced to a minimum. The germination procedure is simpler than steamed turnips, and consists of

Place the seeds in warm water for 10 hours. The pacifiers will immediately float to the top.

Other options for accelerating germination.

You can soak the seeds in water at +30C for a day, changing the water every 4 hours. You can do this not only in water, but also in a solution of wood ash in a proportion of 1 tbsp. spoon per liter of water. The temperature and shift schedule are the same. Then the seeds are taken out and kept in a piece of clean cloth in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Collect the seeds in a gauze or linen bag and keep it hot (+50C) for 20 minutes, then in it for 2-3 minutes. cold water.

In the same bag, the seeds are lowered into the ground for 10 days and buried.

Proper sowing

When sowing carrot seeds in both autumn and spring, moist beds are needed. We prepare grooves of medium depth. If the furrows are too small, the wind may simply blow away all the seeds. And from deep seedlings you will wait a very long time. The row spacing is 15 cm. The seeds are scattered 2 cm apart. In light soils, a placement depth of 2-3 cm is sufficient, and in heavy soils - 1.5-2 cm.

When sowing ungerminated seeds, you need to rub them in your palms to remove all the hairs.

And after filling the furrows, you need to compact the soil using a board, roller, or slamming with your hands. Then they cover it with 3 cm thick mulch on top. This will prevent the appearance of a dry crust, which may prevent the seedlings from hatching.

Carrots germinate at +15+18C. Untreated seeds germinate in 18-25 days. Short frosts at -4C are not terrible; you don’t even have to insulate the beds. But if frosts are prolonged, they can lead to flowering of the bushes.

If you decide to plant carrots in winter, then the timing for this is the end of October or the beginning of November. 3 weeks before sowing, you need to prepare the place. After planting the seeds in the furrows, peat is poured onto the ridges in a 3-centimeter layer. For insulation. And in the spring, when the snow melts, you need to cover the ridges with film. After germination, the film can be removed. And remember, only light soils are suitable for autumn sowing.

Proper agricultural technology

Now you can learn about how to grow a carrot crop. And you already understand that growing carrots is not difficult even for beginner gardeners.

Caring for the ridges consists of the following manipulations:

• Thinning.
• Loosening the more often, the better.
• Frequent weeding.
• Regular watering.
• Feeding.

The first thinning should be done when the seedlings have 2 leaves. We leave 2-3 cm between them. After 3-4 leaves, we carry out repeated thinning with a distance of 4-6 cm, at the same time you can weed the beds.

At proper watering you can count on a sweet and rich harvest. Carrots love water very much; if there is a lack of it, the fruits will become sluggish and taste bitter. So you need to water all spring and summer. Water should go into the soil at least 30 cm. If there is a lack of moisture, lateral roots form on the fruit, and its presentation becomes uncome il faut. And when excessive watering Root crops can crack and tops can grow, so finding the golden mean in watering is your task.

We water once a week, but according to the following scheme:

• Immediately after sowing, pour 3 liters of water per square meter of beds.
• After the first thinning, we spill 10 liters per 1 m2.
• After good development leaves, we increase the volume of watering by 2 times.
• And one and a half to two months before harvesting, we reduce watering. They are carried out once every 10-12 days, 10 liters per square meter. And 2-3 weeks before harvesting, watering is completely stopped.

Fertilizers are applied twice per season. This is done 1 month after germination, then again a month later. The solution is applied using the root method, and the following mixture is poured:

• 15 g superphosphate,
• 15 g urea,
• 20 grams of potassium nitrate,
• 1 tbsp nitrophoska,
• 2 cups wood ash.

This is all added to a bucket of water. Water the beds with this mixture after the main watering.

Over 4 thousand years of cultivation of this crop, a huge number of varieties have been obtained. This is with different terms ripening, and resistant to cold and disease, with different shelf life and different tastes. There is room for any gardener to turn around here.

Along with the above, carrots are a storehouse of vitamins and microelements. Few dishes are complete without it. At proper care it will have a pleasant sweet taste, and will delight you not only in first and second courses, but also in desserts and even in baked goods. Moreover, these rules are not so complicated.

Carrot (lat. Daucus) is a biennial umbrella plant. The root crop ripens in the first year, and in the second year a seed bush is formed (for collecting seeds for sowing). Growing carrots requires following simple rules for caring for the crop, which will help you get a good and healthy harvest.

When to sow carrots in open ground

• Early varieties of carrots (Kinby, Kolorit F1, Parmex, Touchon) can be sown and seedlings planted in open ground at the end of April, provided the weather is stable and there is no frost. These varieties are distinguished by their juiciness and sweetness; they are grown for cooking and eating.
• Mid-season varieties (Viking, Nantes 4, Typhoon, Perfection) are suitable for longer storage of root crops; sowing them in open ground begins in the middle of the month, and planting seedlings in open ground can begin earlier, on May 8-10.
• Late varieties (Selekta, Olympus, Java, Vita Longa, Valeria 5) are ideal for storage, transportation and preparations for the winter. Sowing occurs at the end of May, seedlings are planted in the second half.

In the northern regions it is worth paying attention to climatic conditions, and if necessary, sowing is postponed for half a month.

Favorable days for sowing lunar calendar are May 3-4 and May 30-31, when the moon will be in its waxing phase (1st quarter). It is recommended to do all sowing work before lunch.

Selecting a location and preparing beds for carrots

Fertile and loose soils are best suited for growing carrots, namely loamy-sandy soils with a neutral acidity of 6-7 pH.

It is important that a crust does not form on the surface of the soil, preventing air access to the root crops. Therefore, surface loosening of the beds is important at all stages of cultivation.

Increased soil moisture can lead to the development of fungal diseases and a decrease in the taste of fruits. Better arrange raised beds for carrots, or choose a place on a hill. Wetlands and places with stagnant water are not suitable.

Crop rotation rules for carrots

You should not plant vegetables in the same place for 2 years in a row. This significantly increases the likelihood of damage from pathogenic bacteria and pests.

• Good predecessors for sowing carrots are: cucumbers, grains and legumes, any types of cabbage, tomatoes;
• After growing most types of greens (fennel, caraway, parsley, dill, parsnips), it is not advisable to use these beds for sowing carrots.

Preparing the soil for sowing

Growing carrots in the country involves cultivating the soil in two stages. In the fall, the soil is loosened and, if necessary, mulched with sawdust. In the spring, before sowing, rotted manure is added to the soil in the amount of 1 bucket per two square meters of bed.

You can add to fertilizers:

• If the soil is heavy, you can add 2-3 kg of sawdust - this will make it loose.
• A small amount of wood ash (450-500 grams per square meter of bed) will significantly improve taste qualities vegetables and will prolong the shelf life of the crop.

• Nitrogen fertilizers - they increase the level of nitrates in vegetables and contribute to the coarsening of their tissues;
• You cannot use fresh manure, as the root crops will begin to actively branch and become smaller. In addition, this will attract mole crickets.

Planting carrots in open ground

Many gardeners prefer to sow carrots directly from the package, but not all grains are of high quality and will germinate. Preliminary culling and pre-sowing preparation of planting material will save time, obtain better germination and stronger seedlings.

Seed preparation

Carrot seeds are rich in vegetable oils, which blocks moisture from reaching the embryo. It is recommended to pre-rinse and soak them. There are several methods for pre-sowing preparation of planting material.

• Digging into the soil will help to significantly increase germination: the grains are placed in a fabric bag and placed in damp soil to a depth of 30 cm for 10 days; before sowing, they are removed and dried. The seeds swell well in damp soil and produce good shoots;
• Pelleting is a nutritious coating that greatly facilitates the procedure of sowing small seeds and increases their germination. For preparation you will need: 0.2 kg of liquid mullein and powdered peat. Place a tablespoon of seeds in a liter jar and add 1 tablespoon of powder and manure, cover with a lid and shake thoroughly for several minutes. The procedure is repeated several times until a shell is formed on the seeds, after which they are dried and stored in a dry place until sowing;
• Soaking in a nutrient solution (1 tablespoon of ash per 1 liter of warm water). The grains in bags are placed in liquid for a day, then kept on a damp cloth in the refrigerator for 3-4 days for stratification. Before sowing planting material dried.

Advice when buying seeds from China through Aliexpress

Carrot planting technology

• On pre-prepared beds, shallow furrows are made (up to 2 cm deep), the distance between them should be at least 15 cm;
• For convenience, small seeds are mixed with sand and sown, keeping 3-4 cm gaps between grains. You can also sow in a solid line - the “groove” method, and after germination, thin them out;
• The top of the planting is sprinkled with soil and compacted with a palm or a wide board.

It is recommended to cover the bed with film to maintain soil moisture and prevent weed growth. In warm weather conditions and preliminary preparation of planting material, the first shoots will appear on the 10-12th day. After this, it is necessary to remove the covering material, since young greenery can easily withstand short-term frosts.

Carrot cultivation and care in open ground

After sowing, the most important stage begins - caring for carrots. It is important to act systematically and follow agricultural techniques for growing crops.

Watering carrots requires special attention when grown in open ground. Lack of moisture can lead to the death of young plants. Excessive watering also has its disadvantages: the fruits overgrow and lose their taste.

• After thinning, the amount of water is increased to 10 liters per square meter.
• When the carrots form leaves, the roots begin to active growth, then the water rate increases to 20 liters per unit area.
• 2 months before harvest, the frequency is reduced to 1 time every 2 weeks.

It is recommended to stop watering carrots 10-20 days before harvesting - this stimulates the roots to elongate. For the procedure, you must use only warm, settled water (ideally, melt water). It is recommended to water in the late afternoon, then the sun will not leave burns on the greenery.

Thinning carrots

The procedure is carried out on days 12 and 22 after germination. Small and weak plants are removed; if this is not done, the root crops will be frail and thin.

Loosening and weeding

The procedures are carried out immediately after thinning.

• Weeding frees access sunlight to green bushes;
• Loosening will help better nutrition fruits

If the soil is not loosened, the root crops grow small and crooked.

Feeding carrots in open ground

When growing carrots, fertilizing is carried out 3-4 times during the entire growing season.

• The first procedure is carried out when 3-4 leaves appear on the sprouts. To do this, use a solution of ammonium nitrate (30 g per 10 liters of water).
• The next feeding of carrots is carried out after 3-4 weeks using superphosphate (30 g per 10 liters of water).
• Feeding carrots in June is necessary, since during this period the root crop grows especially quickly and gains juice. For fertilizing, you can use wood ash (a glass per square meter) or potassium sulfate.
• The fourth procedure is performed at the moment the root crop ripens (usually in September, but the time may vary depending on the variety). You can use any fertilizers that were used previously; boric acid (a tablespoon per bucket of water) is especially suitable.

Feeding carrots with folk remedies is very popular among experienced summer residents. There are many recipes, many of which include yeast, nettles and ash. One of the most interesting infusions is prepared using all three components.

Triple Fertilizer Recipe for Carrots

The container is almost completely filled with nettles and filled with water to ¾ of the volume. For more intense fermentation, yeast or starter is added to the barrel. Potassium-rich ash will only complement the nutritional mixture. The mixture is stirred periodically and kept in the sun. To feed, 1 liter of the resulting liquid is diluted with 10 liters of water. The average fertilizer consumption is a bucket per bed.

Growing carrots in open ground video

Secrets of agricultural technology for growing carrots and a good harvest

Following a few simple nuances will greatly facilitate growing carrots in open ground in the Moscow region.

• It is necessary to follow the rules of crop rotation;
• It is recommended to disinfect seeds that you have prepared yourself before sowing in a 1% iodine solution;
• Give preference to proven and disease-resistant varieties;
• Buy seeds and seedlings from companies you trust;
• When purchasing new varieties on foreign sites, first check them for germination, and when sowing in open ground, do not allocate more than 10% of the beds for them;
• Carry out preventive spraying with the drug “Baikal” or nettle infusion against pests and diseases.

Bottom line

Good preparation soil and seed material will guarantee good germination. And proper agricultural technology and caring for carrots in the open ground will provide you with a good and high-quality harvest.

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 for 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 bag of seeds with 1 glass of 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 branchy 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?

Spud up correctly Often even from you can hear 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 late varieties of root crops? 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 vegetable crop according to all the rules, but the vegetable withers, 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 an invariable ingredient in salads and soups; they are added to canned vegetables. Many varieties of carrots retain their fresh taste and smell all winter long. Growing carrots in open ground allows you to provide your family with this useful product for the whole year.

There are dozens of carrot varieties available at seed stores and farmers' markets. The root crops of this vegetable vary in weight, color, and shape. Thus, in early-ripening varieties the root crop is short and thick, while in late-ripening varieties it is long. In forage varieties, the root crop has large diameter and average length.

Bright Orange color The root crop is often decisive in the choice of seeds. The brighter the carrot pieces, the more beautiful the dish or canned food looks.

Root crops of early ripening varieties gain weight and volume within 50-55 days. Late-ripening varieties stored for storage ripen in the soil for up to 120 days or more.

• Popular early ripening varieties include Alenka, Belgin White, Dragon, Karotel Parishskaya, Kolorit, Mars, Fairy.
• Popular mid-season varieties are Altair F1, Nantes, Viking, Losinoostrovskaya, Moskovskaya Zimnyaya, Olympets, Typhoon, and Chance.
• Of the late-ripening varieties, Imperator, Olipmus, Yellowstone, Java, and Chantenay have proven themselves well in mid-latitude conditions.

If the variety is a selection hybrid, then the relevant information is indicated on the packet of seeds. Hybrid carrots produce very even, smooth roots, but their taste is often inferior to traditional varieties.

Landing dates

In order to get the harvest as early as possible, you can plant the seeds in the ground in the fall. This must be done after sub-zero temperatures have set in, in November - early December, so that the seeds do not germinate. Carrots will sprout quickly as soon as they come off winter snow and the soil will be warmed by the sun's rays.

Pre-winter planting of carrots is not suitable for the northern regions of the middle zone, Siberia and Far East, since severe frosts will destroy the seeds.

Deadlines spring planting depend on the weather conditions of the region. Villagers often adhere to traditional sowing dates.

• In the middle zone, early-ripening varieties are planted in early April, as soon as the soil thaws and the air begins to warm up to plus 12-14 degrees.
• In the southern regions of Russia and the CIS countries, spring sowing of early vegetables is carried out already in the first or second ten days of March.
• Late-ripening carrots, intended for winter storage, are planted in open ground in mid-June.

Choosing a place for beds

Carrot beds should be warmed by the rays of the sun all day long. In shade and partial shade, the root crop will be thin and weak, and the carrot tops, on the contrary, will be plentiful. Carrot beds should not shade bushes, tree foliage, tall garden plants and flowers. The soil must drain water well.

Carrots do not grow well after parsnips, dill, celery and parsley. The harvest will be good if carrots are planted in place of tomato and cucumber beds, potatoes, peas, beans, beans, onions, cabbage, and garlic.

Soil preparation

Properly prepared soil creates favorable conditions for growing vegetables. Preparing the soil for planting seeds includes the following steps:

• fertilization;
• digging or ploughing;
• formation of beds.

Fertilizer application

Fertilizers are evenly scattered over the surface of the site before digging. In this case, the composition of the soil is taken into account. Cultivated peat bogs, black soil, loamy soils, and podzolic soils are suitable for obtaining a good harvest.

• Add 4-5 kg ​​of coarse sand and the same amount of humus per square meter to peat soils, and a bucket of turf soil. Mineral fertilizers for peat soil: urea or ammonium nitrate, superphosphate and potassium fertilizer according to the instructions for the preparation.
• Coarse sand is added to the chernozem to enhance its drainage properties, and old sawdust is added to deoxidize it (a bucket per square meter). You don’t have to use mineral fertilizers in chernozem (or add superphosphate according to the instructions for the preparation).
• Humus, coarse humus is added to clay (and podzolic) soils. river sand(1.5 or 2 buckets each), and half a bucket of old rotted sawdust per square meter. Mineral fertilizers include nitrophoska and superphosphate; the dosage of chemicals is determined according to the manufacturer's instructions. Soil acidity can be reduced by adding dolomite flour, slaked lime or natural chalk (half a glass per square meter).
• If the soil in the garden is mostly sandy, then add peat and sifted turf (at least 2 buckets per square meter). Be sure to add a bucket of humus and rotted (or steamed with boiling water with nitrogen fertilizer) sawdust. Mineral fertilizers are added in the same way as for clay soil.
• There is no need to add sand to loamy soils, since there is enough of it in the soil.

To destroy insect larvae and fungal spores, the soil is shed aqueous solution copper sulfate (1%).

Plowing or digging up an area for planting carrots

Plowing or digging up the beds is done 2-4 days before sowing. Dig the ground with a shovel full; this is especially important if the root crops of the selected carrot variety are long. While digging, you pick out the roots of weeds, wireworms, caterpillar larvae, May beetles, and other insects from the ground with your hands.

The soil should not be crushed too much. In the soil, whose structure resembles dust, there is no circulation of air and water around the root system of vegetables.

Formation of beds

The width of the bed should be such that when weeding and thinning seedlings, it is convenient to reach its middle on both sides. The height of the ridges depends on the composition of the soil and the level groundwater Location on.

So, if water stagnates shallow from the soil surface during rainy times, it is advisable to make high ridges (up to 30-35 cm). If the soils are sandy and the climate of the region is arid, the ridges are made low (or level with the surface of the earth). The beds are arranged in wooden frame or without it.

Seed preparation

There should be no traces of mold or spoilage in the seed material. Non-germinating seeds can be removed by flooding the planting material with water for 8-10 hours. Empty seeds float to the surface of the water, they are removed by carefully draining the water.

Carrot seeds are planted in the ground dry or moistened. Soaking is carried out in the following order.

• The seeds are poured into a saucer, onto a cloth or cotton layer.
• The fabric (cotton wool) is moistened with water, water is added as it evaporates, preventing the substrate from drying out.
• The air temperature during germination is plus 20-24 degrees.
• After 2-3 days, the seeds swell and can be planted in open ground.

When soaking, seeds should not be allowed to germinate, as during planting the delicate roots of the sprouts will be damaged.

Planting seeds

Before sowing, furrows are made in the garden using a thin board (slat). The use of a slate is preferable, as the soil is compacted, providing better contact between the seeds and pieces of soil.

The depth of the furrows for autumn sowing of carrots is 3-3.5 cm, for spring sowing - 2-2.5 cm. The distance between seedlings should be at least 5 cm. But since carrot seeds are very small, they are often planted thicker and then thinned out sprouts.

Planting includes the following steps:

• creating furrows for seeds;
• watering furrows;
• sowing seeds in furrows;
• sprinkling the seed material with earth or humus (2 cm);
• light compaction (slamming) of the bed surface;
• watering from a watering can.

The seeds germinate quickly in moist soil. If the weather is dry, the entire ridge is well watered before planting.

Caring for carrots

Carrot beds do not require much care. But to get high yield, they need to be cleared of weeds and watered, especially in the absence of rain. Carrot pest control is of great importance.

Weeding beds

Carrots grow slower than weeds. The first weed shoots appear before the carrot shoots. Weeds are removed when quinoa, wormwood, midge and other grasses reach a height of 1.5-2.5 cm.

Weeding of weeds is combined with thinning of carrots, if necessary. During the summer, you need to remove weeds from carrot beds 3-4 times. If this is not done, the root vegetables will not reach the desired length and thickness.

Watering carrots

Water should nourish the entire developing root crop. Poor watering will result in fruits that are thick at the top and thin at the bottom. The carrot flesh will be limp and may have a bitter taste.

In mid-July, when the carrot root crop is formed, irrigation water should seep into the soil by 30-35 cm. One abundant watering will provide the carrot bed with water for 5-7 days.

Carrot pests

Vegetables and tops are damaged by insect pests and their caterpillars. Root crops are eaten by worms and larvae living in the soil.

Wireworm

In waterlogged and heavy soils, carrots are damaged by a small yellow worm, the wireworm. The wireworm eats vegetables by making passages inside the root pods.

Wireworms are eliminated by applying fertilizers containing ammonia and insecticides. Folk remedy against wireworms - pine needles embedded in the ground when digging up the garden.

Carrot moth

This insect appears in the second half of June and lays eggs on the stems of carrot tops. The larvae eat the tops and root parts of the plant. You can get rid of them by spraying carrot greens with a decoction of tomato tops.

carrot fly

Insects appear in mid-spring and lay eggs in the soil. The fly larvae eat the roots of the seedlings, and the plant quickly dies. A sign of the destruction of the roots is a change in the color of the carrot tops - they become bronze.

Carrot fly larvae are difficult to control. Deep plowing of the area in the fall helps reduce the likelihood of insect larvae appearing in the spring. Chemical insecticides are also used for control (for one-time watering of the soil).

Root nematode

The root-knot nematode is a small worm up to one and a half millimeters in size. Worms settle in root crops and eat them. To get rid of the nematode, it is recommended to dissolve a Decaris tablet in a liter of water and water the garden bed.

carrot psyllid

The psyllid larvae live on carrot tops, feeding on their juices; if there are a lot of pests, the tops dry out quickly. The larvae can be destroyed by spraying the tops with an aqueous solution of soap and tobacco.

Medvedka

The mole cricket and its larvae eat green tops. Insects can be repelled by odorous substances - vinegar, camphor oil.

The products are poured into an earthen hole in the garden bed, or moistened cotton wool is placed among the plants. You can buy Medvetox bait in stores.

Carrot diseases

Most carrot diseases are caused by fungi. Fungal colonies damage the above-ground parts and roots, making vegetables inedible. Carrots are susceptible to fungal diseases such as phomosis, cercoporosis, white, gray, felt, black, brown rot, bacteriosis, powdery mildew, and brown spot.

It is impossible to cure infected plants from developed fungal diseases. For annual prevention of infection, use:

• keeping the seed material before planting at a temperature of plus 52 degrees for 9-10 minutes;
• spraying carrot seedlings Bordeaux mixture, copper sulfate solution (1%);
• spraying seedlings with antifungal chemicals (fungicides).

Fungal diseases are promoted by excess moisture in the soil, very dense plantings, lush carrot tops, shaded beds, frequent rains, and the presence of tall weeds.

Growing in open ground in compliance with the rules of agricultural technology allows you to get a good harvest of carrots. For winter storage, only healthy, undamaged root crops that are free of worm holes and traces of rot are placed in the cellar.