At what temperature do carrots germinate. How long does it take for carrots to sprout after sowing, what to do if carrots do not sprout. Spring care for carrots in the open field

Carrots are a popular and favorite vegetable crop for everyone. suburban area. Rich in trace elements, carotene, vitamins, substances that increase immunity and help cure many ailments. Carrots are one of the main crops in baby foods. And it is very sad when the labors spent on growing it end up with crooked ugly squiggles of dubious taste, because in the case of carrots, the external corresponds to the internal content. How to grow carrots that are even, large, tasty, high in useful substances? We'll figure out.

Conditions for a good harvest of carrots

Carrots are a frost-resistant crop that can be sown before winter and at several times from early spring. AT southern regions it is sown in warm winter (February) windows and an early harvest of a delicious vegetable is obtained. Carrots are not afraid of frost.

To grow a decent crop, you need to pay attention to:

• biological characteristics of carrots,
• compliance with the requirements of growing technology,
• structure and fertility of the soil, its preparation for sowing,
• soil acidity,
• features of moisture supply.

The main causes of small-fruited carrots

• Carrots do not tolerate swampy lowland areas, closely spaced fruit and forest tree crops. It will not be smooth and graceful, and even more so when grown in the shade, under the canopy of the garden.
• The culture needs a deep loose nutrient soil, air and water permeable. The presence of small gravel, pebbles, rhizomes and other inclusions in the soil causes distortion and crushing of the carrot root.
• The root crop needs bright lighting. Beds with carrots are arranged so that each plant receives sufficient lighting. Tall crops (tomatoes, eggplants) should not shade the tops of carrots. Carrots are best located south of tall neighbors.
• Carrots will not bear fruit in acidic soils. Therefore, a year before sowing a crop on a selected bed, the soil is deoxidized by introducing humus, chalk, lime, dolomite flour. The soil under carrots should be neutral with zero acidity within pH = 6-7.
• Ugly, branchy, bursting carrot roots and small root crops are obtained with poor-quality soil preparation, spring pre-sowing deoxidation of the soil, the use of fertilizers containing chlorine, with an excess of nitrogen fertilizers, thickened crops.
• The value of carrots is determined by the amount of nutrients that are formed in the root crop as a result of metabolic processes with the timely receipt of moisture and nutrients. Therefore, the lack of moisture and nutrition at the beginning and their excess at the end of the growing season of carrots will change not only external forms and signs, but also significantly reduce the taste.

How to get large carrots?

Selection of a plot for sowing carrots and predecessors

The site should be leveled, without a slope, evenly lit. Good predecessors and neighbors are zucchini and other pumpkin, legumes, turnip onions, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants. Celery, parsley, dill, other umbrellas are undesirable neighbors and predecessors. In the cultural turnover, carrots return to their original place in the 4th–5th year.

Soil preparation for sowing carrots

The soil for sowing carrots has been prepared since autumn. After harvesting the previous crop, the tops are taken out of the site, provoked by irrigation to receive an autumn wave of weed shoots. If the site is unfavorable, they clean it of stones, rhizomes, dig a shovel onto a bayonet. Scatter the mixture or complex fertilizers containing no chloride forms. Fertilizers are embedded in the soil while crushing coarse clods of earth and leveling the surface of the site with a rake.

Important! Deoxidizers must not be added at the same time ( dolomite flour or lime) and fertilizers. These two methods of preparation are spaced apart in time. You can apply deoxidizers in the fall (if necessary), and fertilizers in the spring, 2-3 weeks before sowing.

In the spring, a bed for carrots is once again deeply dug up, especially if the soils are heavy clay and loamy in composition. To fluff them, you can add perlite or vermiculite, sand to the root layer.

Fertilizing carrots

From mineral fertilizers during the main soil preparation, nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizers are applied at the rate of 50-60 and 40-50 g/sq. m. on soils of medium fertility. You can make nitrophos, ammophos at a dose of 60-80 g / sq. m. or a fertilizer vegetable mixture in the same dose. Fertilizers can be applied for digging or during the final preparation of the site (for looting).

On highly fertile soils, 1/2-1/3 of the above-mentioned doses of fertilizers are applied under carrots, sometimes they only manage to add ash - a glass per square meter. m. and subsequent top dressing during the growing season. On infertile soils, the main dose of fertilizers is not increased, but enhanced feeding is used in the first half of the carrot growing season.

Sowing dates for carrots

Carrots are frost-resistant crops. Seedlings can withstand temperatures as low as -2°C. Developed plants do not die during short-term frost down to -4°C. Using these properties, some gardeners sow the crop as soon as the soil warms up to + 3 ... + 4 ° С. But for such early crops, as well as for winter crops, you need to choose early ripe varieties of carrots. Yes, and shoots are obtained on the 20th - 30th day.

The best for sowing carrots is still considered to be warming up 10-15 cm of the soil layer to + 8 ... + 10 ° С. Shoots at the same time appear on the 12th - 15th day. If the initial period of development of carrots will take place at low temperatures, the plants will flower in the first year, and the root crop will be rough and tasteless. Optimum temperatures fluctuate within +17…+24°С. With an increase of more than + 25 ° C, the metabolic processes in the root slow down, the carrot root becomes fibrous. It is necessary to reduce the temperature of the soil by watering and mulching, and the air - by fine spraying (foggy irrigation).

How to improve the taste of the root crop?

With a properly prepared site, the taste qualities of carrot roots depend on the availability of basic nutrients during the growing season. nutrients(and their proper ratio), microelements, moisture, standing density and varieties.

Top dressing carrots

Carrots do not tolerate overfeeding and react to it with a decrease in the quality of root crops, especially with an excess of nitrogen fats. The flesh of the root crop becomes tasteless. But carrots need a good supply of potassium, which contributes to the accumulation of sugars in root crops, increases the shelf life and overall yield. Of potash fertilizers, it is better to use kalimag. It is chlorine free.

During the warm period, carrots are fed 2-3 times, sometimes on depleted soils - 4 times.

First dressing of carrots

3 weeks after the shoots of carrots - a solution of kalimag and urea (15 g / 10 l of water). 20 g of superphosphate can be added to the solution. With sufficient filling of the soil with fertilizers in the autumn-spring preparation, the first top dressing can be carried out later, in the phase of 5-6 leaves.

The second dressing of carrots

After 2-3 weeks, the second top dressing is performed by adding Kemira-universal (50-60 g / sq. M), nitrophoska, Rost-2, solute in the same dose.

The third dressing of carrots

The next top dressing is carried out after 2-3 weeks (in the phase of root growth) with ash (on moist soil) at the rate of 20 g / sq. m or a mixture of trace elements. The growth phase of the root crop falls on the end of June-July.

In order for the fruits to be sweet with tender pulp between 2 and 3 top dressing, a foliar solution is effective. boric acid(2 g/10 l of water). Potassium is very important in the composition of the elements, which contributes to the delivery of nutrients to root crops. Therefore, 3 top dressing can be carried out with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers at the rate of 30 and 40 g / sq. m.

Fourth dressing of carrots

On depleted soils, if required, the 4th top dressing is also carried out, which falls on the phase of root ripening. It is most often carried out in order to enlarge the fruit. Usually it is carried out in early to mid-September (depending on the ripening period of the variety). This top dressing can be carried out with the same fats and doses as the third, or in another combination, but excluding nitrogen fertilizers.

Dense planting of carrots. © Dorling Kindersley

Watering carrots

Small, bitter, woody fruits of carrots are obtained with a lack of moisture, especially during the period from sowing to germination, and in the phase of intensive growth of root crops. Before germination, the topsoil is kept constantly moist. Watering during this period is best done in the evening, mulching the aisles with fine mulch no higher than 2-3 cm. With fluctuations in the humidity regime and excessively abundant watering, carrots can form a large root crop, but it will be tasteless and replete with cracks.

After germination, the culture is watered weekly until the root crops grow, and then they switch to watering 2-3 times a month, but increase the watering rate. After each watering, mulching carrots is a must. It prevents the formation of a crust and reduces the temperature of the topsoil. Stop watering 2 weeks before harvest.

Rules for thinning carrots

Aligned carrot roots grow with the correct 2-3-fold thinning. The first thinning is carried out after the appearance of the 3rd sheet. Before thinning, the aisles are loosened and watered. Sprouts are removed by pinching or tweezers, but not pulled out, so as not to disturb the root system of the remaining plants.

Waste is removed away from the garden, so as not to attract a carrot fly. To scare it away after thinning in the aisles, you can scatter onion arrows or cover the plants. After 2.5-3.0 weeks, the crops are thinned out again, increasing the distance between plants from 2 to 6 cm.

The 3rd thinning is actually the sampling of the first crop. Carrots are demanding air regime soil. Once every 7-10 days, the aisles of the carrots are loosened, turning the mulch.

Carrot varieties

To grow sweet carrots, you need to select a zoned variety with a certain root quality. Breeders offer a wide range of seeds of early, medium and late dates ripening with a high content of sugars, characterized by dessert taste, long shelf life and other qualities.

For growing in the country, you can recommend universal varieties: Shantane, Nantes-4, Karotelka. sustainable unpretentious varieties. Nantes-4 can be used for winter crops. For all regions of Russia, the Moscow Winter A-545 variety is suitable. Early maturing variety Polar cranberries form a crop in 2 months and are recommended for cultivation in the northern latitudes due to their qualities.

In families with small children, varieties are indispensable: Vitamin-6, Viking and Sugar gourmet, Children's sweetness, which are distinguished by a high content of carotene and sugar. Sugar gourmet is one of the sweetest varieties of carrots. Children's sweets are perfectly stored until the next harvest. If necessary, in the annual catalog of varieties and hybrids, you can choose a root crop with the desired quality.

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

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

Carrot varieties

• Early maturing varieties and hybrids (80–90 days): Nantes 4, Incomparable, Paris Cartel, Parmex, Artek, Amsterdam, Nuance.
• Mid-season varieties and hybrids (100–110 days): Losinoostrovskaya 13, Leander F1, NIIOKh-336, Vitamin 6, Nantes improved, Altair F1.
• Medium 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): Karlena, Koral, Rote Riesen, Shantane 2461, Dolyanka, Valeria, Olympus.

Soil preparation

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

Optimum temperature for the formation, growth and development of roots is 15–20°C, for the growth of leaves - 20–23°C. Above 25°C, growth is retarded.

Fertilizer and predecessors

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 the amount of 3-4 kg / m2. On the light sandy and sandy soils organic matter is applied in the spring, and on heavy- in autumn. Simultaneously - phosphate and potash fertilizers (30–40 g/m2). Nitrogen - give when top dressing. On the acidic soils lime is applied - 300–500 g per 1 m2, but only for the previous crop. Top dressing: nitrogen - 20–25 days after germination; phosphate-potassium - after another 2-3 weeks.

Sowing carrots

It is convenient to sow carrot seeds on a tape. You just need to fix them on self-destructing 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. Row spacing 15–18 cm.

Furrows for sowing

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

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

Sowing dates for carrots

• For 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.
• For young carrots in autumn in mid-July sow short-fruited varieties.
• Winter sowing at the end of November, December-January will provide an earlier harvest than with early sowing in spring.

Carrots are sown in mid-May for winter storage. For 1 sq. m beds contribute ½ bucket of humus, 1-2 cups of oven ash, 2 tbsp. tablespoons 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, a depth of 1–1.5 cm.
2. Before sowing shed the soil at the bottom of the furrow and after a while start sowing.
3. Select large seeds, rinse them from essential oils under running water hot water in cloth bags. Pour the seeds into the palm of your hand, and then, slowly, passing them between the large and index fingers, evenly lower to the bottom of the groove. You can mix the seeds with coarse sand 1:5.
4. Fill in the grooves sifted earth, better with peat and compact it slightly. Watering the soil after sowing is not worth it, otherwise the seeds will move to deeper layers of the 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 lie until germination for about 3 weeks. 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, laying it on bricks and fixing it on the sides so that it does not blow away with the wind.

Carrot care

Carrot care is 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 do not abuse this ability of hers. With a strong and prolonged drought, carrots should be watered once every 5 days, but plentifully. Watering is usually stopped two to three weeks before harvest. This advice must be followed.

Hilling and weeding

Important take- hilling avoids 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 the strong carrot smell attracts the carrot fly. If the carrots were sown with dry loose seeds, then it must be thinned out. This is done when the carrot tops on the seedlings grow to such a size that it is easy to grab it with your hand.

Pest protection

Exists dangerous pest– . She lays her eggs in the upper part of the root crops, so the root crops must be spudded in the phase of five, seven and ten leaves. This technique, in addition, will avoid the greening of the “shoulders” of carrots.

Frosts in late spring or early summer - present disaster for gardeners. Frosts in late summer or early autumn are also not a gift, especially for those who grow late-ripening crops. The weather often does not play by the rules and can easily deprive us of any hope for a harvest.

What garden crops are most vulnerable to frost? Spring-summer frosts are reflected in strawberries, garlic, seedlings of early planted vegetables. Summer-autumn frosts attack late planting crops that we plant in the second half of summer: all possible radishes, turnips and cabbages.

In order not to guess and once again not to check whether our crops will withstand such a frost or not, we offer you a reference table with the minimum survival temperatures of the most popular horticultural crops.

We did not include heat-loving crops (tomato, cucumber, pepper, zucchini, eggplant, watermelon, melon, pumpkin, etc.) in this table. These plants cannot withstand frost. Yes, if you harden the seeds and seedlings of tomatoes, after a couple of generations they will be able to show miracles of survival, but this is more an exception than a rule.

And the rules are such that pepper seedlings begin to die at a temperature of 0 ° C, cucumber seedlings are unlikely to survive a cold snap to -1 ° C ... -2 ° C. If the tomatoes are already firmly rooted in the garden, maybe they will survive after short-term frosts of -1 ° C ... -1.5 ° C, but you won’t have to wait for special harvests from them. Melon crops generally do not withstand even short-term drops in temperature to 0 ° C.

What frosts can withstand crops of garden crops

Name of culture	Minimum temperature for survival
Radish	Radish sprouts withstand frosts down to -4°C. An adult healthy radish plant can withstand frosts down to -6°C.
Garlic	Garlic sprouts withstand frosts down to -11°C.
Strawberry (strawberry)	Strawberries and strawberries withstand frosts down to -8°C. However, flower buds die at temperatures below -2°C.
White cabbage	Seedlings of white cabbage can survive temperatures as low as -3°C..-5°C. Although crops from frozen seedlings will be worse.
Cabbage	Beijing cabbage seedlings can withstand short-term frosts down to -2 ° C. But from prolonged exposure to low temperatures, it goes “into the arrow”. But mature plant perfectly withstands frosts down to -4°С..-5°С. Frozen and then defrosted heads of cabbage do not lose their taste.
Cauliflower	Cauliflower can withstand short frosts down to -2°C.
Broccoli	Broccoli seedlings withstand frosts down to -2°C. Mature broccoli plants can withstand frost down to -7°C.
Potato	Potato seedlings withstand short-term frosts down to -2°C. At lower temperatures, seedlings die.
Peas and beans	Shoots of peas and beans can survive frosts down to -4°С..-6°С. However, after such stress, they will lag behind in development, and their productivity will be low.
Perennial bows (chives, batun, slime)	Perennial onions are not afraid of frost, they will survive a drop in temperature to -10 ° C.
Onion	Onion sprouts withstand frosts down to -1°С, adult plants - up to -3°С..-5°С.
Carrot	Shoots of carrots withstand short-term frosts down to -3°C. Adult plants are not afraid of short-term frosts down to -4 ° C.
Rhubarb	Rhubarb tolerates spring frosts down to -10 ° C well, until its buds have blossomed. Young buds withstand frosts in the region of -2 ... -6 ° C.
Daikon	Daikon seedlings withstand frosts down to -3°C, adult plants - up to -5°C.
radish	Radish seedlings are able to withstand frosts down to -2°C..-3°C, and adult plants - up to -4..-5°C.
Turnip	Young turnip sprouts withstand frosts down to -2°С..-4°С. In autumn, ripe root crops are able to endure a drop in temperature to -6 ° C. Only turnips that have fallen under frost are no longer so tasty.
Celery root	Celery seedlings can withstand frosts down to -2°C, and if it has been hardened, even down to -4°C. Ripe roots are not afraid of autumn frosts down to -3 ° C.
Dill	Withstands frosts down to -5°C..-7°C.
Spinach	Will survive frosts down to -5°..-7°С.
Sorrel	Easily tolerates frosts down to -7°C.

In general, dear gardeners, we stock up on film, tarpaulins, old bedspreads, water bottles, cardboard boxes, Epin or others

On our table is constantly present - a root crop, which is a source of carotene, our orange miracle. It is one of our favorite and most important vegetables.

No other vegetable can replace it, because it contains many substances useful for our body: a large amount of vitamins, essential oils, phospholipids, sterols, mineral salts, trace elements.

And even, the middle of the root crop, which many gardeners dislike, contains apigenin, a substance that has a beneficial effect on the work of the heart. Finely grated carrots can heal burns, purulent wounds.

In Rus', carrot juice was used to treat inflammation of the nasopharynx, heart and liver diseases. Also, carrot juice relieves fatigue, spring beriberi, if you drink it in half a glass 3 times a day.

And almost everyone knows that it is very useful for people with vision problems.

Carrots are widely used in cooking, both raw and in the preparation of a wide variety of dishes, as well as for juice.

A bit of history

According to pundits, carrots were first grown in Afghanistan, where the largest number of its species still grows. Initially, carrots were grown not for the sake of the root crop, but for the fragrant leaves and seeds.

The first mention of eating carrot root is found in ancient sources in the 1st century BC. AD

Archaeological studies show that carrots were grown much earlier - almost 2 thousand years BC.

Modern carrots were brought to Europe in the 10th-13th centuries, and in our country it appeared during the time of Kievan Rus.

At first, yellow and white root crops were grown, and only at the beginning of the 18th century did mention of orange carrots appear.

And the legends also say that in the Middle Ages, carrots were considered a delicacy of the dwarves and they exchanged this root crop for gold bars...

carrot requirements

Carrots are quite a demanding crop, and especially to the soil. It likes to grow in fertile, light, loose, permeable and weed-free soil.

The best site for planting carrots will be the one on which manure was applied 1-2 years ago, since fresh manure carrots react very badly. In this case, many ugly, branchy root crops grow with very poor taste.

Also, non-standard carrots can grow under the following conditions:

if fertilizers containing chlorine are applied, the roots will bend or branch;

if you deoxidize the soil on the eve of planting, the carrot becomes multi-tailed;

if there are any obstacles in the soil, for example, pebbles, organic residues and the like;

if there is excess moisture in the soil, the root crop becomes hairy or cracks, the tops grow excessively;

if you apply and feed unnecessarily with nitrogen fertilizers, carrots begin to branch;

if we thin out seedlings incorrectly;

if during the growth of carrots there is not enough moisture - at the same time, carrots, trying to take the moisture it lacks from the soil, release lateral roots, which badly affects its taste and appearance(the pulp becomes rough, the root crop is short and "horned").

Based on this, it is necessary to approach the preparation of the soil for planting carrots with all responsibility.

Firstly , it is better to prepare it in the fall: carefully dig; if it is necessary to deoxidize the soil, then add lime or dolomite flour for digging; you can also add phosphate and potash fertilizers. But, in general, it is best to make all kinds of additives in the soil for carrots, given what type of soil is in your area.

If you have peat soil, then it would be good to add river sand, humus and clay soil.

If the soil is clayey - river sand, peat, humus, and with fertile chernozem soil We only add sand in the spring.

Secondly , in the spring, the plot for carrots, prepared in the fall, must be loosened deep enough, adding a pre-complex mineral fertilizer; try to select all the pebbles so that nothing interferes with the growth of the plant.

Another important condition for the growth of carrots is a good illumination of crops. Shading has a very negative effect on plant growth, especially in the initial stages.

If our plantings are thickened and there are a lot of weeds, then the carrots stretch out, the formation of root crops slows down and a lot of small root crops (the so-called undercut) are formed.

Carrots are relatively cold hardy and drought tolerant plant. Its seedlings can tolerate frosts down to minus 2 about C, and already adult plants and up to minus 4 about FROM.

But in those root crops that have suffered frosts, the keeping quality is still reduced.

Carrot seeds germinate at temperatures above 3 about C, and the optimum temperature for its growth is about 18-25 about C. If the temperature rises above 25 about Plant growth slows down.

When choosing a site for planting carrots, it is also desirable to take into account the fact that the best predecessors for her are such plants as: tomatoes, legumes, cabbage, potatoes, cucumbers, green crops.

Sowing dates for carrots

There are several dates for sowing carrot seeds and they depend on when and for what purposes we want to get a crop.

So, for example, to get an early harvest, carrots must be sown from mid-April to early May ( early spring sowing). Carrots sown during these periods can be harvested in a bunch from the end of June to the end of July, and from August we already get a real root crop for summer consumption.

The next sowing date is from mid-May to early June ( summer sowing ). This is the main period for sowing carrots, which we will lay for winter storage.

If we want to get young carrots in the fall, then short-fruited varieties can be sown as early as mid-July.

BUT winter sowing seeds (from October 20 to November 15) can provide us with an even earlier harvest. But not every site is suitable for these purposes. For winter sowing, it is necessary to choose a place in our summer cottage, where in spring the snow melts earlier and the soil should be light, sandy loam, so that in spring there is no flooding of crops.

When sowing seeds before winter, they are only disinfected, and then dried. In the spring, they will pick up moisture, swell and germinate naturally. It is not recommended to germinate seeds, as the sprouts will freeze. Using these sowing dates, we will be able to have fresh carrots from summer to next spring.

In addition, when sowing late carrots until the 20th of June, the development of plants does not coincide with the greatest activity of the carrot fly (in May), which makes it possible to grow better root crops.

How to sow carrot seeds

Essential oils found in carrot seeds in large numbers prevent rapid access of moisture to the embryo and delay germination. Therefore, before sowing, it is necessary to carry out pre-sowing preparation of seeds: disinfection, soaking, germination.

You can read about how, as well as correctly, in previously published articles.

Then the treated seeds are dried and sown. With this treatment, seedlings appear much earlier (after 6-10 days), while if sowing is carried out with dry seeds and in insufficient wet soil germination can take up to 40 days.

It is best to grow carrots in garden beds. Before sowing, we thoroughly loosen the prepared beds to a depth of 10-15 cm, then level the surface and make narrow grooves up to 5 cm and a depth of about 2 cm. You should not make grooves deeper, as this can significantly slow down the germination of carrots. We make grooves at a distance of 25-30 cm.

In order for us to have friendly and uniform seedlings, the seeds must be planted to the same depth.

And also experienced gardeners it is advised to sow carrot seeds so that they are soft on top and hard on the bottom.

To do this, we level the bottom of the grooves and seal them with a beam specially prepared for this purpose.

After that, we spill the grooves with water and sow the seeds in moistened soil, trying to keep the distance between them 1.5-2 cm.

Sowing small carrot seeds at such a distance is quite difficult. I want to advise several methods of sowing, with the help of which you can facilitate this process:

Mix small seeds with sand: mix 1 tablespoon of seeds with 1 glass of sand, then divide the resulting mixture into 3 parts and use each part for 1 m 2 of beds.

Mix carrot seeds with seeds of beacon plants (lettuce, radish). They sprout much earlier and thus show us where the carrot seedlings are. This gives us the opportunity to carry out the first weeding of the beds with carrots, without fear of damaging the plants, much earlier than usual.

Also very convenient is the liquid sowing of carrots, in which the germinated seeds are mixed with a liquid paste made from potato starch. Then carefully "pour" them into the grooves from the kettle.

Then we cover the seeds with loose sifted soil or a mixture of peat and sand, or clean peat with a slight compaction to ensure better contact of the seeds with the soil and moisture inflow.

Watering the ground after sowing is not worth it, as the seeds can move into deeper layers of the soil and will germinate for a long time, or even may not sprout at all. To avoid drying out of the soil, the bed on top can be covered with plastic wrap.

In addition, under the film, the earth warms up much faster. The film will need to be removed after shoots appear.

How to care for carrots

Carrots need our constant attention. Caring for it is periodic loosening of the soil, timely watering, top dressing if necessary, regular weeding and pest and disease control. The most crucial moment in the cultivation of carrots is the germination of seeds and the emergence of seedlings.

At this point, the formation of a soil crust is possible, which must be carefully destroyed (preferably after watering), as it prevents the timely emergence of seedlings. To prevent the formation of a soil crust, crops can be mulched with peat.

After the first shoots appear, you can proceed to the first loosening. At the same time, we act very carefully, trying not to damage the delicate sprouts.

The best time for loosening is immediately after the rain, and if there is no rain for a long time, then we first water the carrots, and only then proceed to loosening.

When the carrots have 1-2 true leaves, we thin out the crops, leaving a distance of 3-4 cm between the plants. We do the second thinning 2-3 weeks after the first and after it the distance between the plants should be 4-5 cm.

With a smaller distance, the roots will not reach normal sizes, especially late-ripening varieties.

In order not to form ugly root crops, thinning of crops must be carried out correctly.

First, the bed is watered and only after that the extra plants are pulled out. Moreover, we pull up, and not to the side, without loosening, otherwise the main root of the left carrot may break off and the lateral roots will begin to grow, forming a “horned” root crop.

Thinning is best done in the evening, as the smell of carrots when plants are damaged can attract pests. Rejected plants should preferably be taken away from the garden and covered with earth or compost to drown out the smell.

Let me remind you once again that weeding and thinning should be carried out after rains or watering, and immediately after these operations, the bed should be watered again.

At the same time, the soil around the abandoned plants must be slightly compressed, and the holes in the ground should be filled up.

An operation such as hilling is also important, because during growth top part root crops are exposed and turn green in the light, forming solanine, which, during storage, penetrates into carrots and gives it bitterness.

Hilling root crops is also best done on cloudy days or in the evening, so as not to attract carrot flies.

How much water do you need

Watering for carrots has great importance, since this plant does not like both excessive moisture and dryness.

Carrots have one feature - late crop formation. The growing season lasts approximately 4 to 5 months.

And the growth of root crops begins only after the end of leaf growth, in the last quarter of the growing season.

Therefore, during the growth period, plants are very demanding on soil moisture, and in the end they do not tolerate its excess well and, if carried out abundant watering, root crops can crack.

In warm and sunny weather, when moisture from the soil quickly evaporates, carrots are watered 3 times a week.

Do not flood young plants too much; approximately 4 liters of water per 1 m 2 will be enough for them. With the growth of root crops, the amount of water is gradually increased.

In the middle of the growing season, carrots can be watered once a week, while already using 8 to 10 liters of water per 1 m 2.

What to feed?

If we have fertilized the soil well for planting carrots since autumn, then it is possible to grow a good crop of root crops even without top dressing.

But still, it is better to do 2-3 more top dressings during the entire growing season.

the first top dressing is desirable to be done a month after germination (1 tablespoon of nitrophoska per 10 liters of water), second- 2 weeks after the first. In early August, carrots can still be fed with a solution of potash fertilizer - this third top dressing. Root crops will become sweeter and also ripen earlier.

And it is best in the second half of the growing season, when watering carrots, add ash infusion to the water (1 liter of infusion per 10 liters of water), since ash is the best potash fertilizer, which is remarkably absorbed by all plants.

In addition, ash protects plants from many diseases and pests. You can even just sprinkle the carrot beds with wood ash once a week before watering.

Very good to spend foliar top dressing carrots with a solution of boric acid (1 teaspoon per 10 liters of water). It will be enough to carry out such top dressing twice: during the period of active growth of the underground part of carrots (the first half of July) and when the carrots begin to ripen (the first half of August).

When and how to harvest carrots

Harvesting carrots can be carried out in several stages.

Firstly, as soon as the root crops grow up, they can be pulled out selectively for food. From this, in the beds, the remaining plants become freer and they receive more nutrition, moisture and begin to increase their mass faster.

And late varieties of carrots intended for winter storage are harvested from the second half of September to the first half of October, before the onset of frost.

It is not worth rushing with harvesting, because root crops grow intensively in the second half of September. But at the same time, it is impossible to be late, since carrots that have fallen under frost are poorly stored and die.

Carrots can be pulled out by the tops if your soil is light. On denser soil, this will be quite difficult to do, and you can’t do without the help of a shovel. Shake off excess soil with your hands.

After pulling out, we sort the root crops: we leave the whole and healthy ones for winter storage, the damaged ones are set aside for quick processing, and it is best to throw away the small and sick ones.

Then, for those root crops that we are going to lay for storage, we cut the tops to the very head.

If you liked the cultivated variety of carrots and you want to get your own seeds of this variety, then select the most good root vegetables(testes) and they leave about 2-3 cm of tops.

Then we dry the carrots processed in this way under a canopy (but not in the sun) and put them in storage.

How to store carrots

We store carrots in the basement (cellar) in wooden or plastic boxes. We put it in boxes in layers, pouring it with wet sand and try to arrange the root crops so that they do not touch each other.

It is also good to use moss instead of sand.

I want to advise another way to store carrots - "glazing" with clay. This is done as follows: we dilute the clay with water to the consistency of thick sour cream, dip the roots in this “glaze” and put them on a wire rack so that the excess glass liquid and the coating dry.

In such a shell, our carrots almost do not lose moisture and remain fresh until spring. But of course, at the same time, the storage temperature should be around 0 0 C and the storage should be dry.

If for some reason the previous methods of storing carrots do not suit you, then you can still thickly sprinkle the root crops with crushed chalk, while reducing the likelihood of putrefactive processes.

And if you additionally sprinkle the root crops with onion peel, then they will be stored even better.

In this article, dear friends, I only touched on the issue growing carrots, but, about all their diversity and about diseases and pests that annoy carrots, I plan to tell in the following articles.

See you soon, dear friends!

Kira Stoletova

Growing carrots, which is one of the most common crops in our region, is within the power of even a novice gardener. To achieve maximum yield and grow in open field a juicy vegetable with a sweetish aftertaste, a number of rules must be observed.

Seat selection

Carrots need light and loose fertile soils that pass moisture and air well. Soil acidity should not exceed 7.

Fertility is increased by introducing humus. But it takes time for it to give the soil all the nutrients. 1.5-2 years after the introduction of humus, the soil is enriched nutrients and becomes suitable for growing vegetable crops that need a large number of trace elements. If horticultural crops are grown on the site every year, then humus is applied annually.

To harvest a good carrot crop, it is planted in a well-lit area. Even a slight shade from a tree on the plot reduces the Yield. A vegetable is planted in a place where garlic or onions, tomatoes, White cabbage, cucumbers or potatoes.

Other crops, especially beets, are poor predecessors for carrots. They are either affected by the same diseases as this vegetable, or they need the same trace elements as carrots. The most undesirable vegetable crop precursors are celery, parsnips, parsley or dill.

Plant in the same place vegetable crop more than 2 years is impossible: the soil becomes poor. In addition, it accumulates bacteria and spores of fungi that infect the root crop.

Best time to sow carrots

To grow good carrots, you need to choose the right time to sow the seeds. This root crop is frost-resistant. In order for it to grow well, there must be a long daylight hours (12-14 hours).

Different varieties are planted at different times. Besides, climatic conditions differ significantly in different regions. In the Moscow region and the Leningrad region, for example, the climate is different, therefore, when choosing a landing time, they are guided by weather conditions:

• Early ripening hybrids are sown in open ground after its top layer has warmed up well. When determining the size of the beds, take into account that they have a short storage period.
• Mid-season and late-ripening hybrids are planted after the air temperature has risen above 15 ° C, and the soil has warmed up to the bayonet of a shovel. If sown too early, they will not keep well. After the air temperature rises to 18°C-20°C, the soil becomes excessively dry. This negatively affects seed germination.

The type of soil also affects the timing of planting. When growing a root crop on light soils, planting is carried out throughout May. On medium soils, seeds are sown no later than the 2nd decade of May. When choosing a landing date, study boarding calendar for carrots by day.

When growing a crop in a greenhouse or greenhouse, the planting dates are earlier. Growing carrots at home on a balcony or windowsill is not worth it. The root crop needs a large area.

With prolonged exposure of young plants to low temperatures (1 ° C-3 ° C), carrots bloom and begin to give arrows. It is impossible to prevent flowering after the carrots have released the arrows. The culture is planted after establishing a stable air temperature of more than 15°C.

Planting material preparation

The root crop is propagated by seeds. They are harvested from the plant at 2 years of age. It produces an inflorescence in the form of an umbrella. Inflorescences are rich essential oils, which prevent the access of moisture to the embryo, which complicates the germination process.

The seeds are pre-soaked. This helps to cull poor-quality ones, which after 9-10 hours rise to the surface of the water. After this time, the seeds are taken out of the water and spread on a damp cotton cloth, kept at a temperature of 21-24 ° C for 2-4 days. Then planting material dry naturally.

If the seeds are not soaked, the first shoots will appear in at least a month. Subject to this condition, the seeds will hatch in 10-12 days.

By soaking the seeds in hydrogen peroxide, it will be possible to simultaneously disinfect them. Some summer residents soak the seeds in a decoction before planting. onion peel or doused with boiling water. These measures do not always give the desired result.

Sowing seeds in open ground

Before planting carrots on the selected bed, they are loosened to a depth of 15-20 cm. With a standard sowing scheme, seeds are sown in grooves made with the help of glanders. Their width should be 4-5 cm, and the depth should not exceed 2 cm. Buried plantings slow down the process of growing vegetables. The optimal width between the beds is 20 cm.

Landing technology is simple. Seeds are laid out at a distance of 2 cm from each other in prepared grooves. Preliminarily, the soil inside the furrows is moistened. The fact that the seeds are small in size complicates the planting process.

Summer residents have secrets and tricks to simplify the process of sowing seeds.

• To avoid dense plantings, 1 tbsp. l. seeds are mixed with 1 tbsp. clean sand. This composition is enough to plant 3 sq. m plot.
• In order not to start the beds in anticipation of the first shoots of the root crop, carrot seeds are mixed with lettuce or radish seeds. These crops germinate much earlier. After their appearance, they begin to weed the area between the beds.
• Simplify sowing and by sticking seeds on strips of thin paper. A paste made from wheat flour and potato starch is used as an adhesive.
• To avoid thinning with a paste, glue 1 root seed and 1 fertilizer granule by placing them on a small paper square.

Carrots grow faster if they are covered with loose soil. Peat mixed with sand or earth is used as the top layer. The bottom layer of the ridges should be dense. They are watered after the first shoots appear. To make moisture evaporate more slowly, mulch with peat.

Growing in beds and hydroponics

Mid-season and late varieties are best grown on ridges 22-25 cm high and 15-18 cm wide. This method soil preparation is time-consuming, but allows you to increase crop yields. The root crop is also grown in hydroponics. The culture bears fruit well, does not lag behind in growth, but gives small and short tasty fruits.

Vegetable care

Caring for growing carrots involves loosening the soil, thinning seedlings, hilling, weeding and watering the site, and fertilizing.

Weeding the soil

With a well-made marking of the landing, they begin to weed the site even before the first shoots appear. All weeds are removed with roots. When growing carrots in the fields, one or another herbicide is used to control weeds. According to instructions, chemicals do not provide negative impact on horticultural crops, but use them in the country or small area near the house is undesirable.

Soil loosening

Soil loosening is carried out on the second day after watering. Crusts should not form on the surface of the beds. If the earth crust nevertheless appeared, moisten the soil a little before loosening. If the crust appeared even before the appearance of the first shoots, loosening is carried out shallowly so as not to damage the planting material and not to raise it to the soil surface.

Thinning beds

Caring for sprouted carrots involves thinning the beds. The first thinning is done after 3-4 leaves have appeared on the plants, provided that the distance between them is less than 6 cm. Even at a distance of 5 cm, the root crop will not be able to grow normally. It is better to break through it after rain. If the thinning time has come, and there is no rain, the soil is pre-watered.

In order to break through the culture and not harm it, young plants are pulled out in an upward movement, and not to the side. Harvested plants are laid away from the beds: they attract harmful insects by smell. Carrots are thinned out in the evening, after the end of the procedure, the bed is watered.

Dive

Picking involves transplanting plants. It is undesirable to dive carrots: it begins to branch. This is due to the fact that during pulling, the central root breaks off.

Hilling

Hilling a vegetable crop involves pouring earth into the garden after an insignificant part of the root crop has appeared above the ground. Under influence sun rays the part that appears above the ground turns green, corned beef begins to stand out. This substance gives the vegetable bitterness during long-term storage.

Carrots spud on a cloudy day or closer to sunset. If you perform the procedure with sunny weather, you can attract a carrot fly to the beds. To fall asleep the part of the root crop that has appeared above the ground, light soils are used.

Watering

It is impossible to grow good carrots without proper watering. It does not withstand both excessive moisture and drought. Most of all, the root crop needs watering during the period of active growth. If the weather is sunny and warm outside, the beds are watered no more than once every 2 days.

Watering young carrots is carried out at the rate of 4 liters per 1 sq. m. By the end of the active growth phase, the number of waterings is reduced to once a week. For 1 sq. m beds take 8-9 liters of water. If the weather is dry, the amount of watering is increased.

Fertilization

If the vegetable crop is planted on fertile soils, fertilizers are applied twice a season. Only late-ripening hybrids are fed three times. Most vegetables need potassium. She feels less need for phosphorus and nitrogen. Excess nitrogen leads to a weakening of the root system.

As fertilizers for the first feeding, potash, nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers are applied in the amount of 60 g, 50 g and 40 g, respectively. Alternative option involves the use of ammonium nitrate, superphosphate and potassium chloride in the amount of 20 g, 30 g and 30 g.

As a second top dressing, nitrophoska is added (1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water), a solution of boric acid (1 teaspoon per 10 liters of water) or wood ash diluted with water. At the third feeding of late-ripening hybrids, nitrogen-containing fertilizers are excluded.

Liquid dressings are applied not under root crops, but between rows. In order for the root crop to acquire moderate sweetness, it is treated with humates (1 g per 10 liters of water) 15-20 days before harvesting.

Harvesting

It’s bad when the root crop outgrows, but it’s not worth pulling it out in advance. At a temperature of 4 ° C, carrots stop growing, and at sub-zero temperature affected by gray mold. Harvested in late August or early September. As a rule, by the end of August, the root crop fully ripens.

The ripening period of the culture is 80-115 days. There are early hybrids that ripen in 2 months (Saturno F1). They are collected in the middle of summer. Harvest is stored in a bag that passes air well, or a box.

If the root crop has not gone through all the phases of the growing season, and frosts are approaching, you should independently accelerate the ripening period. There are growth stimulants on the market. The use of these biological products does not harm the vegetable crop.

The average yield of a plant is about 100 tons per 1 ha.

Pests and diseases

It is not enough to know how to grow carrots. It is important to be able to reanimate the beds and get rid of harmful insects, infections and viruses. Carrots are most susceptible to white and gray rot, bacteriosis, felt disease and phomosis. Of the pests, the vegetable crop is attacked by hogweed, carrot fly and hawthorn aphid.

• White rot appears due to excessive amounts of nitrogen in the soil. It will be possible to save the plants by applying preparations containing copper.
• Gray rot is a fungal disease. Insecticides are used to treat carrots. As a preventive measure, soil disinsection is carried out. Affected bushes look weak, the tops wither even with enough moisture.
• Bacteriosis, or wet bacterial rot, is infection. The affected plants are removed from the garden, and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied under the remaining root crops. Affected plants are burned. If they are buried, the infection will penetrate into the soil. Prevention of bacteriosis is the timely loosening of the soil and compliance with the rules of crop rotation in the garden. To prevent the disease from affecting large and even carrots during storage, the crop is dried in the sun after harvest.
• Rhizoctonia, or felt disease, - fungal disease. As a fight against the disease, plantings are sprayed with a solution that contains mancozeb or copper oxychloride. As a preventive measure, they follow the rules of crop rotation and periodically disinfest the soil.
• Phomosis is one of the most dangerous fungal diseases. Affected plants are removed from the garden, the rest are treated with antifungal agents. As a prophylaxis of the disease, they are harvested on time and stored at a temperature not exceeding 10 ° C. The optimum storage temperature is 2°C. At lower temperatures, the root crop freezes, and at higher temperatures it becomes sluggish. Sluggish carrots lose their taste. After harvesting, carrot tops are removed from the site.
• To protect carrots from pests, flowers with a pungent odor are planted near the beds: marigolds, geraniums, etc., weeds are removed in a timely manner and vegetables that are affected by the same pests are not planted nearby. Tar helps to fight with carrot onions.

To minimize the risk of any diseases, use healthy high quality planting material. From low-quality seeds, weak and light carrots often grow, which in the development process often have to be treated with chemicals.

Conclusion

Carrot, having high productivity, is a cost-effective crop. It is good for health. For example, carrot juice is dripped into the nose with a runny nose. It is not always possible to grow even fruits. The reason for this is the introduction of chlorine-containing fertilizers, soil deoxidation before sowing, the presence of organic matter in the soil, excess moisture, violation of the thinning process, excess nitrogen.

To grow large carrots and get a good harvest, it is not necessary to acquire special equipment. The main thing is to take agricultural measures in a timely manner. This helps routing, where by day it is convenient to mark the time of watering, the date of fertilizing, etc.