Carrots are in second place after potatoes in the ranking of the popularity of root crops grown in our dachas. And the most demanding root crop in terms of growing conditions and care, although this is not obvious. Especially novice gardeners complain that the carrots did not grow well, or that they were small, crooked, “hairy”, cracked, bitter, with black spots, rotted and molded during storage. A lot of troubles can happen to carrots as they grow. To avoid them, you must strictly follow carrot agricultural technology.

This is an open ground plant. There is no need to grow carrot seedlings in our latitudes. The first of the specific conditions for carrots is soil.

Soil for carrots

It should be loose. Most often, our gardens have heavy soil.

And you need carrots:

• loam or sandstone;
• increased fertility;
• well aerated;
• with additional baking powder (sand);
• with acidity as close to neutral as possible (pH 6-7);
• moisture-absorbing;
• not forming a soil crust.

Soil for carrots - preparing high-quality soil

It is advisable to observe these conditions not separately, but all at once. They are all important, but the most important, perhaps, is the looseness of the soil. The root crop must receive oxygen, otherwise it will have poor taste and suffer from fungal diseases.

Important! When sowing seeds in insufficiently loose and moisture-absorbing soil, their germination rate is greatly reduced.

Predecessors are suitable and not so

The second important factor. The plant cannot be grown in one place even for two years in a row. Carrots are not suitable for monocultures, since already in the second year of cultivation in the old place they begin to be affected by aphids, nematodes, Alternaria blight and especially carrot flies.

The place where the root crop is cultivated must be changed annually. Return to the old one - no earlier than the fourth year.

Predecessors of carrots

Suitable	Absolutely not suitable
Cabbage	Carrot
Bows	Caraway
Tomatoes	Parsley
Legumes	Dill
cucumbers	Parsnip

Sowing process

The timing of sowing carrot seeds in open soil depends on several factors. They are:

• weather;
• varietal characteristics;
• purpose of cultivation.

Before sowing, the seeds must be prepared, and the soil must be treated and filled with fertilizers.

Soil preparation

Before sowing the root crop into the garden bed, it is necessary to add nutrients there. For carrots, the presence of humus or compost is required during the period of germination and the beginning of development. The norm of humus or vegetable compost per square meter of bed is 5 liters.

In addition to organic matter, nitrogen-potassium-phosphorus fertilizers are also added. The soil is dug to the depth of a spade two weeks before sowing.

If your soil is heavy loam, add sand as a loosening agent, as well as sawdust and ash. The root vegetables will be sweet, juicy, smooth and store well.

Important! Fresh manure cannot be applied to carrots (even if sowing is done before winter). The addition of unrotted organic matter will certainly lead to branching of root crops and a significant deterioration in taste. There is also no need to apply nitrogen fertilizers in excess of the norm, otherwise the root tissues will become coarser, the juiciness will decrease, but an excess of nitrates will appear.

On the eve of sowing, the soil on the ridge is loosened, leveled, and watered. Grooves two centimeters deep are made in the soil, with a distance of 15 cm between them.

Seed preparation

One of the ways to sow carrots is winter sowing. In this case, the seeds are not processed in any way and do not undergo preparation. Sowed dry.

During the winter in the ground they go through the process of vernalization, and in the spring they begin to grow very early. Since seeds germinate already at +8°C, ready-made root crops sown in winter can be obtained two weeks earlier than those sown in the spring. But such carrot roots are not suitable for long-term storage.

Advice! In spring, early carrots are sown in early April, late carrots - from mid-April to early May. The earlier you sow carrots, the more moisture stored in the soil from winter will reach the seeds.

Carrots take a long time to germinate - some varieties may take up to 25 days. This process is intended to speed up the preparation of seeds, as well as to disinfect them in order to protect them from future diseases.

Methods for preparing carrot seeds

Way	Description
	First, the seeds are placed in a jar with a saline aqueous solution (2 tbsp/1 l). Those that float up should not be sown - these are dummies that do not contain an embryo. The settled seeds are removed from the water, washed and immersed, wrapped in a cloth, in hot (+60°C) clean water for a quarter of an hour. Rinse again with cool water. Dry for 24 hours and sow.
	This method is the simplest. There is no need to prepare solutions, and long soaking is also not required. After placing the seeds in a bag, put it in the refrigerator or bury it in the soil in early spring. Before sowing, the seeds are removed, washed, dried and sown.
	This method is suitable for your own seeds, as a disease prevention. The seeds in the bag are placed in a glass of warm water (+40°C stable temperature, to which 1 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide is added. The solution can be prepared from manganese (slightly pink). The seeds are kept in peroxide for 24 hours, in potassium permanganate for 2 hours Then washing, drying and sowing.
	This processing method increases the yield of carrots and also accelerates the ripening of root crops. You need only 20 g of ash per liter of water. It is infused for two days. Then it is filtered and soaked for 4 hours. Treatment is carried out one day before sowing.

Sowing and germination

You can use the “grandmother’s” method and simply germinate the seeds in a damp gauze and saucer until persistent five-millimeter roots appear.

The prepared seeds are sown densely in the grooves prepared in the garden bed and covered with light soil. The soil is compacted from above with a board or hands.

The optimal temperature for carrot seedlings is +15… +18°C. Prepared seeds germinate within 10-12 days.

Caring for carrots

Maintenance activities include weeding, loosening, digging, watering, pest control and fertilizing. All are required, none can be ignored.

Carrots are a long-day plant, so they need a lot of sun to thrive. Growing this root vegetable in the shade and even in partial shade is another mistake made by inexperienced gardeners who complain about crop failure.

Breakthrough

Or thinning is a mandatory procedure. It is carried out twice. The first time a green root vegetable produces two true leaves. A distance of 2.5-3 cm remains between shoots.

A month later, when the young carrots have grown to 1.5 cm in diameter, a second breakthrough is carried out. This time, a distance of 6 cm is left between the plants, and the torn roots can be used for food.

Video - Thinning a carrot bed

Important! Do not leave uprooted plants or tops in the garden bed, even for a short time. The smell of carrots will attract carrot flies, which will then destroy all plantings.

Carrots need to be constantly removed from weeds, loosened and planted so that the head of the root crop does not become green and bitter. Loosening is carried out after each rain or watering to destroy the soil crust, which blocks oxygen access to the roots.

Watering

Watering is carried out frequently (every other day in hot weather), but the doses of moisture are small. The maximum amount of moisture required for carrots is:

• after sowing until seedlings emerge (make sure that the soil does not dry out);
• during the formation of the root crop;
• during the period of its intensive growth.

It is better to water carrots in the evening, at sunset. It has been proven that in dry years, timely watering increases the yield and improves the quality of root crops.

Watering stops completely 20 days before the expected harvest, otherwise the root crops will crack.

Pest Control

There are many preventative ways to prevent carrots from being damaged by pests and diseases.

1. Timely tillage.
2. Maintain crop rotation.
3. Destruction of residues and tops after harvesting.
4. Seed disinfection.
5. Planting partner plants nearby (for example, onion phytoncides repel carrot flies).

If prevention does not bring the desired result, and the carrots are still damaged, the crops need to be treated.

Root crops are treated with “Lepidocide” and “Bitoxibacillin” against carrot flies and aphids. These are biological products. Treatment is carried out twice - immediately after detection of pests on the leaves of the plant and two weeks later.

Phytocid or Mikosan are used against Alternaria and other diseases caused by pathogenic fungi.

Timely use of “medicines” will protect carrots from pests. Just do not carry out the treatment immediately before harvesting. After this, you must wait at least 20 days.

Top dressing

During the growing season, the root crop is fed twice. You can use both mineral fertilizers and organic matter.

The application of mineral fertilizers is carried out according to the following scheme.

1 feeding– at the age of 21 days (three weeks after sprouting). Ingredients: water, balanced azophosphate, potassium sulfate. Proportions: 1 l/1 tbsp/1 tbsp.

2 feeding- a month after the first.

Important! Organic fertilizers for this root crop should be used with caution. It is better to add them in solution.

Bird droppings are diluted 1/10 in water, settled, diluted with water again 1/10, poured into the grooves.

Mullein is diluted with water 1/20, infused, and watered into the furrows, which always follows the main watering.

If you want to get sweet carrots, 20 days before harvesting the root crops, the tops need to be sprayed with a solution of humates (1 g per 10 liters of water) plus nitrogen fertilizing in a proportion lower by half. After this procedure, the beneficial substances from the tops “go” into the root crop, and the carrots turn out juicy and sweet.

Video - How to feed carrots

Video - Caring for sown carrots

Carrots belong to plants of the Apiaceae family. The homeland of carrots is Central Asia, from where this plant spread first to the Mediterranean, and then throughout the world. This plant has been included in the human diet for more than four thousand years. Currently, there are more than a thousand varieties and varieties of this plant, grown in the national economy of almost all countries of the world. Planting and caring for carrots are distinguished by their simplicity, which, along with excellent culinary qualities, has ensured carrots a place in the top ten most popular vegetables on the planet.

Description of the plant

In nature, there are varieties of carrots in the form of annual or biennial plants. Most varieties are biennial varieties. In the first year of life, carrots form a rosette of several leaves and a large root crop; in the second year of life, the plant begins to produce seeds

Root vegetable carrots have a conical or cylindrical shape. It consists of fleshy plant tissue that has a sweetish taste. The weight of the root crop can vary widely (from 30 g to almost a kilogram).

Inflorescences Carrots look like umbrellas, consisting of many small white or white-yellow flowers. Fruit carrots are an achene about 4 cm long, which contains several hundred small seeds.

Carrot roots not only have good taste, but also contain many substances useful for human life, such as carotene, flavonoids, vitamins A and B, and ascorbic acid.

Carrots are used in almost all cuisines of the world, not only as a side dish, but also as a spice. It also finds application not only in cooking, but also in the pharmaceutical industry, traditional and folk medicine. Carrot juice is used as an adjuvant therapy in the treatment of metabolic diseases, heart and vascular diseases, as well as vision diseases.

Planting carrots

General issues

When growing carrots, the main thing is to decide what kind of carrots you need. The existing variety of carrot varieties allows you to obtain harvests almost throughout the entire season: from super early to extremely late. As a rule, late varieties of carrots have greater shelf life, that is, they are much more suitable for long-term storage.

If you plan to eat young carrots in the summer, you need to use early-ripening varieties. If we are talking about stocks for the winter or next year, late-ripening varieties are used.

The choice of variety will determine the entire sequence of actions when growing a vegetable. Some methods used for growing early varieties are not applicable to late varieties and vice versa. Naturally, the timing of sowing vegetables indirectly depends on the timing of ripening.

Traditionally, three schemes for planting carrots are considered depending on the ripening period:

• early carrots are planted either in the fall (the so-called “before winter” method), or in mid-spring, usually in the 2-3rd decade of April
• mid-season carrots are planted a little later - 1-2 decades of May
• late ripening varieties can be sown from the beginning of May to the end of June

In the latter case, you should not be afraid of long growing periods, which for carrots can last up to 4 and a half months. Compliance with all the rules of agricultural technology will allow carrots to ripen and gain vitamins before the 2-3rd decade of September.

Growing conditions and location

Illumination

Carrots prefer well-lit areas. Moreover, the term “prefers” is hardly appropriate here: carrots must be grown with maximum lighting. There should not even be a hint of shadow or partial shade. The plant's exposure to sunlight should be at least 75% of the daylight hours. Therefore, the optimal area for planting carrots is the southern slope of the site, devoid of high vegetation on all sides except the northern.

On the north side of the area allocated for carrots, it is allowed to plant some kind of natural fence, for example, in the form of a hedge of corn or nightshades. You can also place cucumbers on trellises in this place. All this will create additional protection for the area with carrots from the cold wind.

Soil for planting

The soil for carrots should have neutral or close to neutral acidity. Growing carrots on alkaline soils is not allowed. Therefore, liming of excessively acidic soils should be done with caution. You should not use lime for liming; it is better to use wood ash. However, its application rates should not exceed 120-150 g per 1 square meter. m.

The soil for carrots should be moderately fertile, however, it should not be over-fertilized with particularly active fertilizers. This applies to both organic and mineral fertilizers. It is strictly forbidden to use fresh, unrotted manure (even applied last year), as well as any type of saltpeter, to fertilize carrots. Such restrictions are due to the fact that at an early stage of ripening, carrots very vigorously absorb nitrates from the soil, which, naturally, will negatively affect the quality of the product. In general, any excess nitrogen is undesirable for carrots; The plant has enough strength to ensure its growth and vegetation on its own, without nitrogenous fertilizing.

The soil structure for carrots also has one feature: the vegetable grows best on hard and compacted soils.

Separately, it should be said about the predecessors of carrots. The ideal predecessors of carrots are vegetables that, like carrots, are good at extracting nitrogen from the soil. These include:

You should not grow carrots in the place where they already grew last season. Also undesirable predecessors of carrots include the following plants:

The use of legumes as a precursor to carrots (or simple green manure) also remains questionable. On the one hand, the soil after them is enriched with natural nitrogen, which, of course, is much better than nitrogen in the form of nitrates. On the other hand, as already noted, excess nitrogen is undesirable for carrots, since it will be aimed at producing an abundant green part of the plant, which can adversely affect the formation of the tuber.

Sometimes it is recommended to use green manure in the form of legumes if the carrots are planted in partial shade. In this case, excess nitrogen will be beneficial for the plant, since it can compensate for the lack of lighting. In other cases, it is not recommended to use legumes as a predecessor to carrots.

Using beds

Effectively growing carrots has several nuances. Firstly, carrots do not like excessive soil moisture; the soil must be well drained. Secondly, the optimal temperature for planting carrots is the range from +12°C during the day to +5°C at night. In addition, carrots are planted in rows.

Taking into account the above, it is advisable to grow carrots in garden beds. Conventionally, their height should be no less than the length of ripe root crops of the selected variety (from 15 to 25 cm). The width of the beds depends on the number of rows of vegetables planted. On average, about 30-40 cm of bed width should be allocated per row.

In this case, the optimal solution would be to grow carrots in two rows in beds 60-80 cm wide and 20-30 cm high. There are no restrictions on the length of the bed - it all depends on the configuration of the site and the ease of its maintenance and watering.

Read also:

• How to make and decorate beautiful garden beds with your own hands: simple, tall, smart. For flowers and vegetables. Original ideas (80+ Photos & Videos) + Reviews

Preliminary soil preparation

Regardless of which planting method is used, the soil for carrots requires preliminary preparation. It involves digging up the area to a depth of about 25 cm. In this case, it is necessary to thoroughly loosen the soil and remove the remnants of the weed root system from it.

After which organic fertilizers (for example, humus or compost) are added to it and the area is dug up again. If liming of the soil is necessary, it is carried out simultaneously with the application of fertilizers. Sometimes, in the case of excessively viscous soils, it is allowed to add some sand to the site.

When planting in beds, it is advisable to completely fill the bottom layer of soil with compost or humus to a height of about 3-5 cm, which will increase soil fertility and provide carrots with the necessary set of nutrients for almost the entire season.

If organic fertilizers are not available, you should resort to mineral fertilizers. However, you should not be too zealous, especially with regard to nitrogen.

Fertilizer consumption rates per square meter. m of carrot plot are as follows:

All processes for preliminary soil preparation should be completed at least two weeks (in the fall, perhaps more) before the planned planting of seeds, so that the soil has time to settle and compact.

Read also:

• The importance of superphosphate as a mineral fertilizer in the care of tomatoes, potatoes, seedlings and other crops. Ways to use it in the garden (Photo & Video) + Reviews

Planting in spring

Seed preparation

When planting in spring, a mandatory procedure is the preliminary preparation of seeds. Carrot seeds contain a certain amount of essential oils that limit the access of moisture to the embryo, so they begin to germinate quite late.

When using dry seeds, the first shoots will appear only 2-3 weeks after planting. To reduce this time, the seeds should be exposed to warm water several times, which will wash off this protective shell from them.

There are several ways to speed up seed germination:

Placing seeds in natural conditions

The seeds are placed in a fabric bag and buried in the ground to a depth of approximately 20 cm a week before sowing. When the time comes for sowing, they are removed and dried for an hour. After which they can be planted in open ground. This is the easiest way; with it, the seeds become swollen, their size increases slightly and it is much easier to work with them. With such preparation, seedlings appear within 3-5 days.

Bubbling seeds

A bubbler is a special device designed to pass air or gas bubbles through a liquid. In gardening, this device can be used to stimulate seed growth. If an “industrial” bubbler is not available, you can make it yourself.

Seeds are placed in a container with warm water, and atmospheric air is supplied into it using an aquarium aerator. The process continues for about a day. After bubbling, the seeds are wrapped in a damp cloth and stored for 3-5 days in the refrigerator. Immediately before planting, they are taken out of the refrigerator and dried. This method allows you not only to speed up the germination process, but also to reject seeds that are unsuitable for planting - they will float up during the bubbling process.

Seed pelleting

With this method, the seeds are covered with a special nutrient coating. It also makes sowing easier (as the size of the planting material increases) and reduces the amount of seed per unit area. Ready-made pelleted seeds can be purchased at the store, or you can make them yourself.

To coat 2 tablespoons of carrot seeds, you need to take the following components:

• 1 cup liquid mullein
• 1.5 cups peat
• 1 glass of humus

The seeds are placed in a liter jar and 1/3 of each component is added to them, after which the jar is closed with a lid and shaken vigorously for three minutes. After which half of the remaining components are added to it, the jar is closed again and its contents are shaken again for 3 minutes. After this, the procedure is repeated with the remainder of the components.

As a result of this treatment, the seeds will be covered with a shell of nutritional composition. They should be laid out on a sheet of paper and dried. This method of accelerating seed germination is considered the most effective.

Placing seeds in a nutrient solution

Not the most effective, but the easiest and fastest way to prepare carrot seeds for planting. Typically, the solution used is a dilution of 10-20 g of a special product per 1 liter of water, which can be fertilizers such as sodium humate, the drug “Effekton” or the most common ash.

After the solution is ready, the seeds are immersed in fabric bags for about 1 day. After which the seeds are washed and placed in the refrigerator for several days, wrapped in paper cloth. Immediately before planting in the ground, the seeds are completely dried.

Boarding time

Carrots can be planted at a time other than the “traditional” one. Carrot seeds can germinate already at +4-6°C, so some correction of planting dates relative to the end of April is allowed. Seeds in the soil can tolerate frosts down to -6°C, so there is no need to worry too much about their fate after planting.

It makes no sense to delay planting until late in warm climates, unless this is due to either growing the crop by a certain date, or delaying the ripening period as much as possible in order to extend the shelf life accordingly.

There are also recommendations for planting carrots in different types of soil, depending on their density. It is believed that harder soils are better suited for growing late-ripening varieties of carrots, where they should be planted no later than the first days of May. On medium-heavy soils, carrots can be planted until the first half of May, and on light soils - until the end of May.

Work on the site

After the soil and seeds have been prepared for sowing and the right time has arrived, we proceed directly to planting. Seeds are planted to a depth of about 2-3 cm in light sandy or sandy loam soils. In heavy loams, seeds should be deepened no more than 1.5-2 cm.

The distance between the rows can be selected based on the size of the plot or each specific bed, however, it should not be less than 20 cm. Otherwise, the plants of neighboring rows will not only interfere with each other, but also the process of cultivating the land between the rows will be significantly complicated.

Seeds are planted at a distance of approximately 3-4 cm relative to each other. Maintaining such a distance is quite difficult, so landing methods are often used that slightly “automate” the process.

One such method is the so-called strip planting method. Its essence is as follows: dried carrot seeds prepared for planting are glued onto pre-prepared strips of paper at the required interval of 3-4 cm. Gluing is done using paste. For these purposes, any thin paper is used (toilet paper is often used).

When the paste dries, the paper is rolled up. When planting on a bed, in this case, not holes are prepared, but entire grooves, the depth of which corresponds to the density of the soil. A moistened tape with seeds is placed in this groove.

The seeds are covered with a layer of soil and compacted slightly. After which they are lightly watered and the soil is mulched with straw, hay or sawdust in a layer of about 3 cm. Mulching is necessary so that a soil crust does not form over the germinating seeds.

In some cases, when tape planting, when a tape with glued seeds is placed in an earthen furrow, one granule of complex mineral fertilizer is placed next to each seed - this will help the plant to form faster.

Planting in autumn

Planting carrots in winter has several advantages. Firstly, it does not require much thought about what time and what to sow. Whenever this happens, the seeds will not hatch and grow until spring arrives. Secondly, during winter planting, no measures are taken to prepare seeds at all, since during their wintering under snowy winter soil, all processes - from stratification to swelling and germination - will be supervised by nature itself.

Obviously, this method of planting, which frees the owner from complex and responsible activities, also has its downside. Unfortunately, it exists: in this way, only early and early ripening varieties of carrots can be grown, which cannot be stored for a long time.

Typically, autumn planting is carried out in the third ten days of October or the first ten days of November. The previously described soil preparation for planting in some cases (lack of rain, frequent cold snaps and weather changes) should be carried out not two weeks, but a month before the planned planting.

All activities in the garden bed are completely similar to planting in the spring. And the depth of the soil, and the sequence of actions, and the possible use of alternative planting methods - all this remains valid. However, as a material for mulch in the case of winter planting, it is not the usual covering materials that should be used, but their nutritious “analogues”.

These can be peat or humus. The mulch layer in this case is also 3 cm.

Correct predecessors for carrots

It is advisable to plant carrots after onions, cabbage, early potatoes and beets and green manures sown after them (phacelia, mustard, winter rye). For early carrots, it is better to remove the mulch from the garden bed in the spring. Otherwise, the mulched soil will take much longer to warm up, the sowing date will have to be postponed, and the seeds will take longer to germinate.

Late varieties can be sown directly under green manure mulch when it dries and the soil under it warms up. Humus is also used for mulch. To prevent the root crop from branching, manure is applied no later than two years before sowing carrots.

Planting carrots: need to be done on time

Carrots are a cold-resistant crop: spring sowing begins when the soil at a depth of 5-7 cm warms up to 4-5° (usually in mid-April). Summer carrots are sown in the second ten days of June.

Most often, carrots are sown in rows (3-4 per ridge) with an interval of 15-20 cm and a row spacing of 45-60 cm. The furrows are made 1.5-2 cm deep and covered with humus or sand. When sprouts appear, they are thinned out, leaving 5 cm gaps between plants. If the seeds are of high quality, they are glued with a paste made of flour or starch at intervals of 5 cm onto a strip of soft paper, such as toilet paper. The strip is bent lengthwise to prevent the seeds from falling off.

In order not to have to thin out seedlings, gardeners also use the nesting method of sowing. For this purpose, small round holes with a diameter of 10-15 cm and a depth of 3 cm are made on the surface of a prepared and leveled ridge. Each nest is spilled generously with water, several granules of double superphosphate or complex organo-mineral fertilizer are placed in the center, 3-3 cm are sown to a depth of 1 cm. 4, usually coated seeds. The sowing is covered with a mixture of crushed coal and river sand and lightly compacted (rolled) with a hand or a plank.

Careful protection of carrots

Carrots must be protected from pests, soil crusts and spring drought. Several granules of double superphosphate or complex organo-phosphate are laid out around the nests and mulched.

In the phase of the beginning of root formation, carrots are sprayed on the leaves with a solution of humates (Rostock, Gumi, Gumat + 7), silicon-containing preparations (Ekost, Narcissus, Ecogel) and extracts of mycorrhizal fungi and medicinal plants (Emistim, Floravit) with a working fluid flow rate of 30 ml per 1 sq. m.

Proponents of organic farming add mulch to the rows several times a season. With the classic method of growing row spacing, the tops are regularly loosened to a depth of 5 cm on light soils and 10 cm on heavy soils before closing. If the carrot head rises above the ground, the plantings need to be lightly hilled or mulched - in the light the root crop turns green and becomes tasteless.

Thinning carrots

Rows of carrots are thinned out twice - one and a half and three weeks after emergence, leaving a distance between neighboring plants of 2-3 cm and 5 cm, respectively. It's better to do this in the morning. After which the bed is watered and sprinkled with ground hot red pepper to drown out the carrot smell, which attracts psyllids and. For the same purpose, onions and rejected marigolds are planted along the perimeter of the carrot beds.

Watering carrots: in moderation

Young carrots should be watered abundantly, but rarely. When there is little moisture, root crops grow small. If it saturates only the surface layer of the soil, the carrots turn out to be horned. Therefore, to ensure uniform irrigation and save water, especially in the southern regions of the country, drip lines are used. They are laid simultaneously with sowing the seeds to a depth of 5 cm. At the height of summer, carrots are watered according to the weather, preventing the soil from drying out. At the end of the season, watering is stopped, otherwise many small roots grow on the root crops and the harvest turns out to be “hairy”.

Gardeners have noticed that carrot varieties grow best in our country Chantenay(conical root vegetables) and Nantaequay(long conical root vegetables - Anastasia, Riga, Samson, Nayarit, Baltimore, Bangor, Samant A).

Growing carrots: notes for the gardener

Carrots are slow-witted: they sprout on the 14-21st day. This is due to the resinous essential substances contained in the seed coat. But while some gardeners prefer the natural course of events, others strive to help carrots grow faster.

There are several ways to do this:

• the seeds are placed in a gauze bag, kept in fresh portions of hot (50°) water 2-3 times for 20 minutes, then cooled in cold water and dried;
• bubble for 18-20 hours using an aquarium compressor in a jar with solutions of boric acid (0.01%) or growth stimulants ( Gumate, Silk, Fitolife, Epin);
• carrot seeds are wrapped in soft cloth and buried on a spade bayonet in damp soil, after 10-12 days the swollen, sprouted seeds are dug out, dusted with food starch, carefully laid out in grooves at intervals of 3-4 cm and sprinkled with sand or compost;
• rub between dry palms, then soak in cold water for a day (keep in the refrigerator or on an unheated veranda), periodically refreshing the water;
• soak for 6 hours in cold water, and then 2-4 hours in an infusion of wood ash (1 tablespoon per 1 liter of water).

When choosing carrots, remember: the earlier the variety or hybrid, the shorter and smaller the root crop.

The earliest harvest is produced by carrots of the Parisian carotel variety with rounded short roots.

Carrot variety Flakke with cone-shaped blunt-ended cylindrical root crops - the latest, but also the most productive.

Carrots that last a long time

Not all varieties and hybrids of carrots can be stored for a long time in ordinary basements and cellars.

Varieties and hybrids for long-term winter storage

Among those suitable for winter storage are the following:

• mid-late - Anastasia, Aristo, Askania, Basel, Baltimore, Callisto, Canada, Concerto, Red Boyaryna, Nigel, Nanko, Nantindo, Narbonne, Nectar, Nerak, Sirkana, Flam, Chantane red cored;
• late - Vita longa, Kamaran, Carlena, Carotan, Maestro, Feria.

Selection of site and soil

It is better to place carrots in an open sunny place with good ventilation. It produces root crops of higher commercial quality on sandy loam and light loamy soddy-podzolic soils. On heavy loams, the properties of carrots sharply decrease due to the large number of branched root vegetables.

Predecessors and neighbors

Good predecessors for carrots are cucumbers, early potatoes, tomatoes, and green crops. But it is best to place it after

onions and spring onions. Carrots sown after them become immune to white and gray rot diseases.

Seed preparation

It is advisable to use last year’s seeds for sowing; they must have at least the same germination capacity. 70%. They check it this way: rub a few seeds between your fingers - they should smell like fresh carrots.

There are many ways to prepare seeds for sowing. The drug "Epin" gives good results. In its solution (2 drops per 100 ml of boiled water), the seeds are soaked for 4 hours. After drying, they are ready for sowing.

Sowing carrots

Sowing for long-term storage is carried out in the second or third decade of May. Carrots sown in summer (before June 15) are stored even better, but here it is necessary to use techniques that accelerate the emergence of seedlings, since the weather is often dry at this time. The seeds should be sprouted, and then

After sowing, it is necessary to water abundantly, and then cover the bed with span-bond.

When sowing carrots using the ridge method, two grooves are made at the top of the ridge at a distance of 8 cm from each other, 1-1.5 cm deep. The bottom is compacted with the back of a metal rake, sowing is carried out, and then the seeds are covered with loose soil. Seeding rate – 0.4 g/sq. m.

On a flat surface, intercropping can be used. The most successful combination is to force onions into the aisles of carrots. Salad is also suitable for these purposes. Carrot shoots develop slowly, and these crops can be used for food after a month. The furrows are cut with a row spacing of 45 cm. To avoid thickening, the seeds must be mixed with sifted peat, sand or lettuce seeds, the shoots of which will mark the rows of slowly germinating carrots. It is advisable to mulch the rows with sifted peat or humus after sowing. This technique prevents the formation of soil crust.

Particular attention should be paid to thinning carrots that do not tolerate thickening. The first time is thinned when the plants are 6-7 cm high, leaving 2-3 cm between them. The second time, when the root crop reaches the thickness of a pencil, a distance of 4-5 cm is left between the plants. It is advisable to thin out in the evening after abundant watering. The torn plants must be immediately removed from the garden bed so that their smell does not attract the carrot fly.

© V. LEUNOV G. Fomenko, agronomist-vegetable grower

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- a relatively cold-resistant plant. The minimum temperature for seed germination is not less than +4-6°C. Shoots appear at a temperature of +8°C on days 25-35, at +18°C on days 8-17, at +25°C on days 6-11.

Until the seedling has formed root hairs, it lives on the reserves of nutrients from the seed itself. If the period between germination and development of root hairs is prolonged, which happens at low or, conversely, high temperatures, then these reserves are quickly consumed, and the plant becomes weakened and more sensitive to pathogens in the soil. Therefore, large seeds with a large supply of nutrients are used: they survive better under unfavorable conditions.

Carrot seedlings can withstand short-term frosts down to -4°C. However, this culture is prone to stalking (flowering) when it develops 5-8 leaves. Therefore, when sowing before winter or very early, it is necessary to calculate their timing so that the plants do not fall into the cold period. With the formation of 3-4, as well as 8 or more leaves, the risk of flowering is reduced.

Optimal temperature for the formation, growth and development of root crops it is +15-20°C, for the growth of the above-ground parts of plants - +20-23°C. At temperatures above +25°C, the growth and ripening of root crops is delayed.

Cold, poorly drained areas often produce pale, irregularly shaped roots. In hot summers, when the soil overheats, the color of root crops becomes less intense.

Carrot seeds swell slowly, so sufficient soil moisture is necessary after sowing. For normal growth and development, carrots need constant but moderate moisture throughout the growing season. A sharp transition from dryness to soil moisture leads to cracking of root crops.

Carrots prefer areas with loose, fertile light loamy or sandy loam soil. Clay and heavy loamy soils, when drying out, form a dense crust that prevents seed germination, resulting in sparse, uneven seedlings. Carrots do not tolerate heavy clay and acidic soils containing organic matter.

Soil density affects the shape and length of root crops. Leveled carrot roots are obtained on sandy loams and loose peat bogs with a neutral reaction of the soil solution; branched root crops are often formed on floating and dense soils.

Carrots are very sensitive to the concentration of the soil solution, especially at the beginning of the growing season. As a rule, normal growth and development of plants is ensured by a pH of 6-7 and a balanced ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium in the soil (2.5: 1: 4: 3).

Plants absorb nutrients more intensively in the second half of the growing season. A lack of nitrogen slows down the growth of leaves, they turn yellow and die, an excess has a bad effect on the keeping quality of root crops. Phosphorus increases their sugar content. If there is a deficiency, the leaves acquire a reddish tint. Potassium improves the taste and texture of root tissues, increases the storage period, and improves the quality of seeds. Its deficiency can be determined by the appearance of yellow mottling on the leaves.

It is known that carrots grow very slowly at first. Weeds quickly overtake it in growth and oppress it. The period from the beginning of the emergence of seedlings to the formation of the first leaf lasts 3, sometimes 4 weeks, so you need to choose a site for carrots very carefully, sow on land that is free from weeds, and deal with them in a timely manner.

The most favorable soils for carrots are humus-rich sandy loam, light loamy and slightly acidic peaty soils. The optimal ratio of batteries is: N:P:K = 5:1:6. The soil should have good drainage and not be very heavy. Organic matter is added no later than a year before cultivation. The best predecessors are cabbage, onions, potatoes, cucumbers, under which manure was applied. In garden beds, carrots are returned to their old place after 4-5 years, which serves as a preventive measure for the development of diseases.

In areas with a small cultural soil layer (10-15 cm) and close groundwater, carrots are grown on high ridges. The depth of groundwater should be at least 60-80 cm. With closer groundwater, severe branching and deformity of root crops are observed. For varieties with long root crops, the soil is cultivated to a greater depth (two shovels deep).

When growing carrots, they require well-lit areas. When shading or dense planting, especially in the first period of life due to weeds in the area, the plants become very elongated, reducing the yield and quality of root crops.

Class 1 carrot seeds have a relatively low germination rate - 70%. Field germination of seeds can be increased by almost 20% if you sow calibrated large seeds with a length of more than 0.7-0.9 mm.

Carrot seeds germinate slowly. To speed up germination, it is necessary to free them from essential oils contained in the seed coat and inhibiting their germination. Before sowing, the seeds are soaked in warm water (+18-25°C), changing it 2-3 times a day.

The sowing time in central Russia is late April - early May. Pre-winter sowing is carried out at the end of October - beginning of November, after the first frost, only with dry seeds.

The seeding rate is 0.5 g of seeds per 1 m2 for spring sowing, 0.7 g per 1 m2 for winter sowing. The distance between the grooves on the ridge is 15-20 cm. The depth of seeding is 1.5-2 cm.

To ensure an even flow of moisture to the seeds, after sowing in the spring, the soil is compacted in rows. To speed up seed germination and obtain vigorous shoots, carrot crops I are protected with covering material - spunbond or lutrasil. Pre-winter sowing is mulched with peat or humus in a layer of 2-3 cm.

Plant care

Plant care consists of weeding, loosening row spacing, thinning (if necessary), hilling, watering, fertilizing, pest and pathogen control.

The soil crust greatly inhibits seedlings. They destroy it by cultivating the soil between the rows with hoes or rakes. The first thinning is carried out in the phase of 1-2 true leaves, leaving the plants at a distance of 1.5-2 cm, the second - 15-20 days after the first (the distance between plants is 4-5 cm). Weeding is carried out simultaneously with thinning.

The critical period with regard to moisture is the period of seed germination and the moment of intensive root formation. With a lack of moisture, carrot roots become rough and woody. In dry weather, the weekly watering rate is about 10 liters per 1 m2. With excessive moisture, the tops of plants grow strongly, and the growth of root crops is delayed. Cracking of root crops occurs during a sharp transition from dryness to high humidity. Therefore, after the formation (molting) of the root crop begins, regular watering is necessary.

Carrots are fed once or twice a season with mineral fertilizers in dry or dissolved form at the rate of 10-15 g of urea, 20-30 g of superphosphate and 15-20 g of potassium salt per 1 m2.

Diseases and pests of carrots

In the first year of life, carrots almost never get sick. Only in certain zones are there severe outbreaks of powdery mildew on the leaves (mainly in the south or in hot, dry summers) or rhizoctonia (felt disease) on the roots. In recent years, cases of bacteriosis have become more frequent. In the second year, carrot seeds are affected mainly by Phoma and Alternaria blight.

Carrot roots are most affected during storage. The most common are dry (fomoz), black (alternaria), gray (botrytiosis) and white (sclerotinia) rot.

Fomoz

The causative agent is a fungus that infects various organs of the plant, causing different forms of disease manifestation on them: on seedlings - root rot, on leaves - zonal spotting, on root crops - dry core rot.

On the leaves, mainly the lower, older ones, rather large yellowish-brown rounded spots with concentric zones form. Dark dots are clearly visible on the spots - pycnidia of the pathogen.

On root crops, the disease is detected mainly when they are cut. The affected tissue becomes black and hard. Blackening begins from the head of the root crop and spreads like a cone to its base. When planting such root crops, the testes either do not grow at all or quickly fall out. It has been noted that Phoma mainly affects root crops growing with a lack of boron in the soil.

On seed bushes, Phomosis forms the same zonal spots on the leaves as on first-year beets, as well as white merging spots with numerous pycnidia on the stems.

When the seminal glomeruli are damaged, pycnidia are also formed on them, immersed in the dead tissue of the pericarp. When sowing infected seeds, rootworm appears on the seedlings.

The spread of the fungus occurs mainly during rain or dew, when the pycnidia swell and emit a mass of small spores. The fungus is preserved on plant debris or seeds.

Control measures: destruction of plant residues, deep digging of the site, compliance with crop rotation. Application of complete mineral fertilizer to root crops, and on soils poor in boron, magnesium borate. Foliar fertilizing with boron microfertilizers is also used.

Black rot, or Alternaria

Black rot of carrots is caused by the fungus Alternaria radicina. The disease manifests itself during storage of root crops. Dry rot develops on the affected root crops, which is very similar in appearance to Phoma. Dark or grayish, slightly depressed dry spots form on the surface of the root crop in different places. Only at very high humidity does a gray, and then dark green or almost black coating, consisting of sporulation of the fungus, form on the spots. The main feature of the difference between black rot and fomosis on root crops is the color of the diseased tissue. On a section it is coal-black (in case of Phomasis it is brown), sharply demarcated from healthy tissue.

When planting root crops affected by black rot, the seed bushes dry out in the first half of summer, before flowering. The summer sporulation of the fungus formed on them re-infects the plants. Newly diseased testes usually do not die, but produce a low yield. Possible seed contamination.

Plants of the first year are slightly affected by Alternaria and usually in the second half of the growing season. The affected individual leaves turn yellow and die, and the infection from them spreads along the petiole to the top of the root crop and subsequently causes it to rot.

Warm, humid weather favors the development of the disease in the field. The development of rot in storage largely depends on storage conditions: the warmer it is in storage, the faster rot develops. Agricultural technology is also important. Root crops grown with increased doses of nitrogen are more affected by black rot than when using a complex of mineral fertilizers with a predominance of phosphorus and potassium.

Sources of black rot infection are seed roots, seeds, and plant debris. In addition to carrots, the same fungus affects other umbelliferous plants - parsley, celery, parsnips.

Control measures: the same as with fomoz.

Sclerotinia, or white rot

The causative agent is the sclerotinia fungus, which can infect many types of plants, including cucumber, beans, parsley, lettuce, etc. On carrots, the disease develops during winter storage.

The tissue of a root crop affected by sclerotinia becomes soft and wet, without changing its color. The surface of the root crop is covered with white cotton wool-like mycelium. Over time, the mycelium becomes denser and quite large (up to 1-3 cm) black sclerotia are formed, intended to preserve the infection. Sclerotia can be preserved both in the field and in storage. After a period of dormancy, the sclerotia germinate and the plants are re-infected.

In summer, during the period of active growth, root crops are rarely affected by sclerotinia. If infection occurs, rot develops slowly. After harvesting, when carrots are dormant, the fungus can spread very quickly through direct contact to neighboring root crops. Dried, overcooled, untimely harvested (immature or overripe), root crops grown on one-sided or excessively nitrogen fertilizer are especially affected by white rot. The development of rot is also enhanced by high temperature in storage. The fungus is undemanding to temperature (it can develop even at temperatures close to 0°C, but at higher temperatures - +15-20 0C - it develops especially quickly).

Under these conditions, root crops, using up the supply of substances for increased respiration, become more susceptible to rot. If diseased root crops are planted in the field, they quickly rot, and the seed bushes developing from them quickly fall out, sometimes at the very beginning of regrowth.

Control measures: for several years, the predecessors of carrots should not be peas, beans, pumpkin and other plants affected by sclerotinia. Application of complete mineral fertilizer with a predominance of phosphorus and potassium for carrots, optimal timing of sowing and harvesting root crops and other agrotechnical measures that increase the keeping quality of carrots. Creating an optimal storage mode (temperature +1-2°C, relative air humidity 85-90%). Sorting out root crops, removing rot and filling selected areas with a mixture (1:1) of sand with fluff lime or chalk.

Botrytiosis, or gray mold

Gray mold is caused by a fungus that, in addition to carrots, affects strawberries, grapes, sunflowers, cabbage and many other cultivated and wild plants.

On carrots, the fungus causes typical wet rot. The affected root tissue becomes soft and wet, as with white rot, but, unlike 1 rot, acquires a brownish color. On the surface of the root crop, an abundant gray coating develops, consisting of mycelium and sporulation of the fungus. Later, among the gray plaque, many small (1-2 mm), round or irregularly shaped sclerotia are formed, which represent a compaction of the mycelium. In the form of sclerotia, the fungus survives in unfavorable conditions. When they germinate, they form fungal mycelium and spores, which cause infection.

Primary infection of root crops by the fungus can occur both in the field and in storage. Further spread of infection in the storage facility occurs through spores carried by air currents.

Measures to combat gray rot are the same as for white rot: compliance with crop rotation, optimal agricultural technology, careful preparation of storage (cleaning, disinfection, whitewashing), careful handling of root crops during harvesting, optimal storage conditions, etc.

Pests

Carrots are damaged by various polyphagous and specialized pests. Of the polyphagous species, mole crickets, caterpillars of gnawing cutworms, larvae of click beetles (wireworms), which damage the roots and basal parts of plants, are most often harmful. Carrot seedlings are most often eaten by the gray beet weevil beetles, while the leaves are damaged by cabbage and cutworm caterpillars. Bean and some other types of aphids are also often harmful. Of the specialized pests, the most dangerous are the carrot fly, which damages root crops, and the carrot psyllid, which sucks the juice from the leaves of young plants.

carrot fly

Distributed throughout the European part of Russia, it is especially harmful in areas with excessive moisture. The pupae overwinter in the surface layer of soil; flies emerge in the spring when the soil warms up to +15-17°C. The flight of flies usually coincides with the flowering of rowan and apple trees. In central Russia this usually occurs at the end of May, and in more northern regions - at the beginning of June. Flies live in shady, damp places, on the leaves of trees near ponds, vegetable gardens, and clover fields. They additionally feed on the nectar of wild flowering umbrella plants and various fruit crops. Eggs are laid in the evenings on the soil at the base of stems in carrot crops. The egg laying period lasts 30-50 days. After 5-17 days (depending on the temperature), the larvae hatch, which bore into the root crop and make winding passages in it.

Young carrot plants die when colonized by larvae. Carrots damaged by them become bitter, unfit for consumption, and quickly deteriorate during storage. The leaves of damaged plants acquire a violet-red hue, and if there is a significant infestation of larvae, they quickly turn yellow and dry out.

Control measures: the fly prefers thickened crops, so timely weeding and thinning of carrots reduces the possibility of colonization by the pest. After these operations, it is necessary to water the crops so that the smell of carrots does not attract insects. Good results are obtained by planting carrots, onions and garlic together.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Choosing a place for a garden bed

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

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

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

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

How to plant seeds to get good seedlings

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

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

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

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

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

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

Secrets of caring for carrots after planting

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

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

Fertilizers, fertilizing and folk remedies

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

The plant needs feeding throughout the growing season.

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

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

How to water during the growing period

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

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

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

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

Proper weeding

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

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

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

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

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

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

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