How to Grow Carrots

Carrots are a great vegetable to succession plant.  They even work well for a winter harvest. When the weather gets cold in the first year of growth, carrots convert a lot of their starches to sugars, so the roots become sweeter in winter.

Difficulty: Easy

Square Foot: 16 carrots/sqft.

All carrots are high in beta-carotene, a pigment that we metabolize as vitamin A when we eat it. A lack of vitamin A can result in poor vision, hence the notion that carrots are good for your eyesight. Carrots are also rich in Vitamins C, B6, and Niacin.

The seeds can be sown from early spring right through late August for a harvest that will last nearly year-round, so they form an essential part of nearly every vegetable garden.

Avoid nitrogen-heavy fertilizers and manure that has not been composted for more than a year, as you may end up with big, bushy tops on pitiful, spindly roots.

Here are some more good tips on how to grow carrots from seed.

Timing
Direct sow two weeks before the last frost to mid-July for harvests from July to November. Direct sow winter-harvest carrots in the first two weeks of August. Sow at 3 week intervals for a continuous harvest. Optimal soil temperature: 7-30°C (45-85°F). Seeds take as long as 14-21 days to germinate.

Starting
Because carrot seeds are tiny, they need to be sown shallowly. Direct sow the tiny seeds 5mm (¼”) deep, 4 seeds per 2cm (1″), and press soil lightly after seeding. Make sure the seeds are only just buried.  

The trick with carrot seeds is to sow them shallowly and then maintain moisture in that top layer of soil until they germinate. Because they may take as long as three weeks to germinate, this can be challenging, especially in hot weather when the surface of the soil is nearly always dry.

The way to achieve this is to water very deeply prior to planting, and then either water very regularly or employ some other means to reduce evaporation.

Some growers like to use lightweight row cover, which helps to maintain moisture. But you can also simply lay a 2×4 beam, or even plywood, over the damp seedbed. This is lifted every few days to check on progress, and then removed at germination.

Growing
Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8. The softer and more humus-based the soil, the better. When soil is dry enough in spring, work it to a fine texture. Loosen the soil with a pitchfork (don’t turn) up about 10” down. Keep weeded and watered.

You’ll want to thin carrots in order to allow them room to grow, and so they don’t compete for available nutrients, moisture, and light. Thin to 4-10cm (1½-4″) when the young plants are 2cm (1″) tall. Use wider spacing to get larger roots. As they grow, carrots push up, out of the soil, so hill soil up to prevent getting a green shoulder.

Harvest
Carrots can be harvested at any size, but flavour is best when the carrot has turned bright orange. After harvest, store at cold temperatures just above 0ºC.

You can store in sand or sawdust, or simply leave carrots under heaped soil in the garden during the winter, and pull as you need them. They are usually ready anywhere from 65-80 days, depending on your variety.

Companion Planting

Plant with bean seeds, Brassicas, chives, leeks, lettuce, onions, peas, peppers, pole beans, radish, rosemary, sage, and tomatoes. Avoid planting with dill, parsnips, and potatoes. Carrots planted near tomatoes may have stunted roots, but will have exceptional flavour. Chives also benefit carrots.