No matter whether carrots, carrots, carrots or roots: With these 10 tips, you too can successfully grow the classic in the vegetable patch.
Not only popular with rabbits - carrots are a real favorite in German vegetable beds. After all, the orange roots are not only delicious, but can also be harvested fresh from your own garden over a long period of time. With these 10 tips, we'll show you how easy it is to harvest crunchy carrots instead of wrinkled beets.
Tip 10: Spoiled for choice of (variety)
There are now a large number of carrot varieties that differ in their local conditions, taste and shape. If you like something a little more unusual, you can even grow white, yellow or purple carrots in your own garden. But which is the right variety for your garden? In order to be able to nibble on fresh carrots throughout the gardening season, it is advisable to plant several varieties. Early varieties can be harvested from the end of May, late varieties until autumn.
Tip 9: Location and Soil
The soil is crucial for the carrot, after all it is the root that is later harvested. The carrot prefers it loose and sandy. If, on the other hand, the soil is loamy or if stones block the way down, the roots tend to develop further peaks. Bizarre growth forms or low growth can also be signs of unsuitable soil. You can improve the soil before planting with a high quality organic soil such as our peat-free Plantura Organic Tomato & Vegetable Soil to give the carrot the best possible starting conditions. Otherwise the carrot likes it sunny. However, neighboring beds with celery, fennel and parsley should be avoided. These not only need the same nutrients as the carrot, but are also attacked by the same pathogens.
Tip 8: Sowing
Carrots are not particularly sensitive to cold. Early varieties can therefore be sown as early as the beginning of March, or even as early as February under fleece. Before sowing, however, the bed should be well preparedwill. Loosen the soil and remove stones from the soil (if possible). Then make several, about 3 cm deep grooves in the soil, into which you can sow the carrots, each 2 to 4 cm apart. There should be a distance of 20 cm between the individual grooves. Radishes or dill can be planted here. Not only do you make optimal use of the space, dill even promotes the growth of the carrots.
Tip 7: Thin out
It may feel wrong to rip up plants you've seeded yourself, but intermittent thinning is a must for a good carrot crop. If the carrots are too close together, they take away the nutrients from each other and only grow poorly. So you end up with more carrots, but they are very small. In addition, the carrots can grow together or form bizarre shapes, which also hinder their growth. It is better to sort out sickly and stunted plants as well as plants that are too densely grown at an early stage. It is best to thin out when the plants are about 5 cm high. This gives you a better overview of how many carrots actually have to be removed. If you don't have the heart to throw the small carrots on the compost, you can simply move them to another part of the garden.
Tip 6: Fertilizers and Nutrients
"A lot helps a lot" unfortunately doesn't apply to the orange vegetables. Carrots are medium feeders, which means they need a steady supply of nutrients. They react to a suddenly occurring high nutrient content with strong leaf growth, but we want to harvest the roots and not the carrot leaves. You should therefore avoid fertilizers, especially when sowing, even if you actually want to do something good for them. Instead, green manure can be worked into the soil in autumn of the year before sowing the bed. Deep-rooted plants such as fodder radish, which also loosen up the soil, are ideal.
Tip 5: Let the water flow
Carrots like it moist. Especially immediately after sowing, care should be taken to ensure that the soil always retains some residual moisture. The bigger the carrots get, the less water the plants need. In fact, you should now make sure that the carrots are growing laterdon't get too much water. Otherwise the plant puts too much energy into its leaf growth, and the size of the root falls by the wayside. So if you want to harvest large carrots, you should ensure a balanced water balance.
Tip 4: Stay underground
Since carrots are not very competitive, it is very important, especially when they are young, to regularly remove the weeds between the rows. This measure can lead to the heads of the carrots being accidentally freed from the protective earth. If this is the case, you should cover the heads with new soil after work. If part of the carrot is exposed to sunlight for too long, unsightly discoloration occurs, which in extreme cases can also affect the taste.
Tip 3: When flies fly
The carrot fly is the most feared carrot pest. The fly lays its eggs near the ground, the larvae then eat through the carrot root. Rotten, inedible carrot remains remain. If you want to protect your carrots naturally, you can grow them in a mixed culture with onions or leeks. Flies avoid the smell of these plants and therefore do not infest the carrots. A suitable plant protection net can also provide a remedy against the small insects. If you have already had a carrot fly infestation, you should not plant carrots on this bed for at least three years. The larvae of the carrot fly hibernate in the soil and can infect newly planted carrots.
Tip 2: Rich Harvest
There is no perfect time to harvest carrots. The bigger the roots get, the more intense their flavor becomes. On the other hand, if you like it a little milder and sweeter, you can harvest the carrot earlier. Of course it is also possible to harvest some carrots early and let the others grow, so that the carrots always come fresh from the garden. In general, the carrot takes about three months to mature. The carrot can be easily pulled out of the ground by pulling on its leaves. In the case of heavy soils, it is advisable to loosen them up a little beforehand. The leaves should be turned off immediately after harvest, otherwise the carrots will quickly become limp and dry out.
Tip 1: Carrots for thewhole year
Carrots aren't just for summer and fall. Even in winter you don't have to do without the he althy snack. Traditionally, the late carrots, which are harvested just before the first snowfall, are stored in sandboxes, underground cellars or cool rooms. The refrigerator is also suitable for storing carrots. Wrapped in paper, the carrots will keep for a week or so before they begin to shrivel. If you want to have some of the great turnip for longer, you can freeze it ready to cook. The consistency of the carrot changes, but the fresh taste remains.
Tip: Our Plantura vegetable growing set also contains carrot seeds - as well as everything else you need to grow delicious carrots from your own garden.