Anyone can grow long and even root crops on their own plot. The main thing in this matter is not to be lazy and do all the necessary agricultural work as needed. So, let's begin.

The first thing to do is find a suitable place for planting and prepare the soil. The quality of carrots directly depends on the type of land. Therefore, for this, on the one hand, unpretentious vegetable, it is necessary to choose light in mechanical composition, fertile places where there is good drainage. In addition, the place where the garden bed will be located must be level, as open as possible and well lit. Also at this stage it is worth considering that the best predecessors for carrots are onions, cabbage, and early potatoes, especially if organic fertilizers. But the beds where celery plants (celery, cumin, dill, fennel) had previously grown, and carrots themselves, are better not to be used in this case, since it is unlikely that it will be possible to grow good harvest. How to grow carrots if the plot is small and it is difficult to rotate the land? Everything is quite simple: since the situation is almost hopeless, the only thing left is severe ashing of the soil: scatter 0.2-0.3 kg of wood ash on one square meter soil and dig up. The operation is performed twice a year.

As for the soil preparation itself, this must be done in the fall so that the soil has time to settle before sowing. First, the place where the vegetable will grow is cleared of stones, after which it is carefully dug up, digging a bayonet or even two deep, and a high bed is formed. If necessary, fertilizing - humus - must be added to poor soils; in heavy soils - peat, sawdust and river sand; acidic soils are alkalized with chalk (lime). But in any case, it is not recommended to apply fresh manure, otherwise the root crops may grow ugly. Growing carrots in soils with high level groundwater without a significant increase in the height of the ridge will lead to an ugly harvest.

In the spring, when the bed warms up, 7-10 days before planting, it is necessary to loosen the soil well and disinfect it with a solution copper sulfate, which is prepared at the rate of 1 tbsp. spoon for 10 liters of water. Then water the bed with warm water, approximately 30 - 40⁰С, after which the planting site is covered with film, preferably dark. The last steps will allow the earth to warm up and retain moisture. Of course, the last steps are not necessary if the spring was hot and there were considerable snowdrifts in the winter. You can also ignore the film if the harvest is expected to be late. And finally, you can refuse warming up if you are confident in the quality of the seeds, and also that there will definitely not be cold temperatures or, even more so, frosts.

Sowing an orange root crop depends solely on how much moisture there is in the ground, as well as on the climatic conditions in which it will be grown: if we are talking about the central zone of Russia or a climate similar to it, then the sowing period will be 20-25 April. Carrots are planted a little earlier (7-14 days) if the snow has already melted more than 21 days ago and relatively warm weather has established itself without night frosts. Carrots should be planted a little later if the weather is not stable and at night they are observed negative values thermometer column. But you should not delay the planting period - it would be optimal to plant before the fifth of May, provided there is a complete absence of snow and frequent absence of frosts. In the southern regions, carrots are planted in two stages - March 10-20 (for summer consumption) and June 10-15 (seed planting and for winter consumption).

Seeds should be processed warm water(rinse two or three times) and then cover with a damp cloth for swelling and passage of moisture to the seed through the crust containing a large amount of hydrophobic essential oils. If you do not do this, then there is a high probability of seedlings being delayed for a period of 2-3 weeks, which impairs the ripening of the root crop. You can also carry out the following procedures to speed up germination:

• Bubbling. Carrot seeds are placed in a vessel with water, the temperature of which is higher than room temperature (optimally - 25 degrees C). The water is aerated with an air pump for 24 hours, after which planting material is removed and placed in the refrigerator on the middle shelf, where it is stored for about 3-5 days. 12 hours before sowing, they are removed from the refrigerator and dried until they flow, after which they are planted in the beds. Germination in this case will take 5-7 days.
• Burying into the soil. Dry planting material is placed in a linen bag and buried in a bed at the depth of a spade bayonet. No watering or fertilization is carried out. After about 1.5-2 weeks, the bag is removed, its contents are dried on dry cloth or parchment and planted in a garden bed. Germination will take approximately 4-5 days.
  
  
• Nutrient solution. The seed is laid out on a fabric base, covered with a cloth on top, and poured nutrient solution for 24 hours. The nutrient medium can be a mixture boric acid, nitrophoska and water (ratio of 1/3 teaspoon, 1/2 teaspoon and 1 liter of water, respectively); or potassium permanganate, dissolved in a liter of water until red, 1/2 teaspoon of fertilizer. After soaking, the seed is washed in warm water and put in the refrigerator for half a week. After removal from the refrigerator, they are dried until they flow and planted in the ground.
  
  

Carrots are planted along grooves made in the bed. It is optimal to do this as follows: the width of the furrow is the size of a matchbox, the depth is half of it, the interval is 200-240mm. The outer furrows are located 120mm from the edges of the bed. The width of the furrow should not exceed 900mm (accordingly, the ridge should be 1.1m). Before planting, the bed is spilled with a strong solution of potassium permanganate. The seeds are scattered like a snake in the furrow in increments of 10-15mm, after which they are mulched with soil, peat or a peat-sand mixture. The planted ridge is covered with a film with a ventilation gap of 120-150 mm. The shelter will not only improve the retention of heat and moisture, but will also prevent the appearance of carrot flies, a pest that can destroy the crop.

Planting care

Growing a good harvest requires mandatory care, but caring for the planted root crop is quite simple: just thin out the bed in time, loosen the soil as necessary, weed, feed and, of course, water.

Step 1 Thinning is carried out as the tops grow.

To thin out carrots, it is necessary to pull out the smallest (and therefore least viable) shoots at the first shoots, maintaining an interval of 20-25mm between root crops. The second thinning is carried out in June-July, maintaining an interval of 75-100mm. The second thinning allows the extracted root crops to be used for food or livestock feed. You may have to unload the carrots a third time if the fruits obviously interfere with each other.

Step 2 It is important not to forget to feed the carrots

In the period from the appearance of the fifth-sixth sheets + 2-3 days, mineral fertilizers. After feeding, you can carry out the first hilling, which is repeated after the first thinning, after the second thinning and then once every 2-4 weeks. Hilling helps to cover the fruit in the ground, avoiding sunburn and greening of the shoulders. Also, when growing, you can follow the three-phase method: 5,7,10 leaves. But it is worth keeping in mind that in any case the fruits should be underground at a depth of about 50mm.

Step 3 Watering carrots

Watering carrots should be intense enough to prevent the soil from drying out, but not excessively to prevent it from overcooling. The best thing is uniform watering, since with a lack of water, the root crops become coarse and “woody”; with too much water, they become small and tasteless. It is best to adhere to the following watering tactics:

Harvest and storage

The harvest takes place in late September - early October. The root crop is pulled out of the ground by the tops, after which it is placed on the ground nearby for quick removal excess moisture from its surface. If loosening and weeding were not done regularly during the growing period and the soil has hardened, digging can be done with a garden staple. But this must be done in such a way as not to damage the fruit.

If the harvest is carried out in rainy weather, then the collected carrots are laid out in a dry room. The total drying time is about 1-1.5 hours (i.e. until the surface visibly dries).

After drying, it is necessary to trim the tops. It is most convenient to do this with a knife or garden pruning shears if the tops are powerful and thick. Greens are cut at the root, without damaging the root crop. At the same time, the crop is sorted: all damaged, rotten, crooked fruits are discarded. Smooth, undamaged carrots are placed in a ventilated box and stored in a cool, dark place.

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 on 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 right place for beds - it should be located 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.

At 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's no secret that carrots are an unpretentious root vegetable, but to get 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 they were previously grown spices(dill, parsley, fennel, etc.);
• 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 don’t drive the shovel too deep into the ground and destroy 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 most in a fast 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 implies sticking 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 clean water and dry.

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 this folk remedy How 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 begins proper watering beds:

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 the harvest is rich and high-quality. 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.

- 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 extended, which happens with reduced or, conversely, elevated temperature, 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 root vegetables. irregular shape. 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. Heavy clay and acidic soils containing organic matter carrots are poorly tolerated.

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 become 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 cabbage, onions, potatoes, cucumbers under which manure was applied are considered. 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 areas there are strong outbreaks powdery mildew on the leaves (mainly in the south or in hot, dry summers) or rhizoctonia (felt disease) on the roots. IN last 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 them different shapes manifestations of the disease: 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. Important also has agricultural technology. 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. Withered, overcooled, untimely harvested (immature or overripe), grown on one side or in excess nitrogen fertilizer Root crops are particularly affected by white rot. Enhances the development of rot and heat 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 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 gives joint landing carrots, onions and garlic.

Good afternoon, dear lovers of growing vegetables!

Get big juicy fruits Every summer resident can eat carrots. Compliance with the rules of agricultural technology allows you to obtain impressive yields in the middle zone, even with deficiencies in suitable soil. In this article I will introduce you to some secrets of growing carrots in open ground.

Tips for planting, caring for beds and harvesting carrots from experienced vegetable growers

1. The best soil for carrots is light loamy or sandy loam soil. Heavy soil on the site can be loosened by adding river sand and ash, and light soil can be made heavier using high doses of organic matter (ripened compost, peat-manure mixture, humus).

2. Green manures structure the soil well - alfalfa, clover, rye, oats, phacelia, mustard. Their powerful root system loosens the soil to a great depth, and the green mass embedded in the soil, decomposing, enriches the beds with all the nutritional compounds necessary for carrots.

3. Plant carrots about 1 meter wide. Leave 20 cm between the rows. Caring for such a plantation is as simple as possible, the carrot tops are well ventilated, weeding and watering are easy.

4. Do not add fresh organic matter under the carrots - only rotted mullein or compost. Manure contains seeds weeds, interfering with the growth of the main crop, and high doses of ammonia are present, which lead to the growth of tops to the detriment of the development of root crops in the soil. It has been noticed that after enriching the soil with fresh manure, carrots grown in it become bitter.

5. Sow carrots to a depth of 2 cm. Small seeds most often do not germinate when planted deeply.

6. It is most convenient to work with seeds coated with a nutrient coating. Granular planting material is much larger in size than usual and is easier to plant individually. The distance between such seeds should be about 1 cm.

7. When planting regular carrot seeds, mix them with sand. For half a glass of dry river sand, take 1 teaspoon of non-granulated seeds. Pour the mixture into the grooves as if you were salting soup, moving your hand quickly.

8. Plant the seeds in moist soil, pouring clean water into each furrow.

9. To minimize the work of caring for plantings after the emergence of friendly shoots, mulch the soil with plant residues, for example, mown grass (15 cm layer) or compost (10 cm layer). Vegetable beds do not require loosening or weeding.

10. Plant around the perimeter of the carrot bed. The phytoncides released into the air and soil by these flowers also repel other crop pests.

11. After emergence, feed the carrots with nitrogen by drenching the plantation with a solution of ammonium nitrate or urea (10 grams of mineral fertilizer per standard bucket of water).

12. Be sure to thin out the seedlings after the leaves reach a height of 5 cm. Leave the most powerful shoots. To provide the crop with adequate nutrition, the distance between plants should not be less than 5 cm.

13. The second thinning (the distance in the row between the bushes increases to 10 cm) is carried out in mid-July, so that by the end of summer - beginning of autumn the root crops have grown to their maximum. Use plucked young carrots for culinary purposes or use them for summer harvesting.

14. In the first month and a half, frequent watering should be organized. Moisten the soil every other day in dry weather or 1-2 times a week in cloudy weather.

15. The number of waterings is reduced when the tops grow and shade the soil surface with their leaves.

16. Harvest carrots in dry, sunny weather. Early-ripening varieties ripen by the end of August, mid-ripening ones in early September, and late ones can be in the ground until the 20th of September.

17. After digging up the root crops, the tops are cut to the ground. Next, the carrots are dried under the sun, laid out directly on the garden bed. In the evening of the same day, the fruits are sorted, packing the largest and most intact ones into nets. The rest of the carrots are used for cooking first.

18. Experienced housewives If the harvest is abundant, carrots grated on a coarse grater are frozen, placing them in small portions in separate plastic bags. Single servings are used for culinary purposes throughout the winter.

Believe that these secrets of growing carrots, when applied in practice, will help you increase the yield of root crops on your site several times. Easy work for you at the dacha every season! See you!

Even experienced gardeners have incidents with carrots - sometimes they don’t sprout, sometimes they produce poorly, or even the root vegetables turn out ugly and tasteless. Growing carrots is a delicate matter and, despite its apparent simplicity, it is replete with many nuances. With this vegetable, a negative result can be evidence of both lack of care and excessive zeal. We propose to consider what mistakes are most often made when cultivating crops and how to avoid them.

Carrots are a delicate matter!

Selecting a location and preparing the bed

Climatic conditions Middle zone Russia is ideal for growing carrots in open ground - they turn out dense, juicy, and sweet. For sowing, choose an open area of ​​the garden so that it gets a lot of sun - in the shade the plants stretch out, grow with large tops and small root crops. The soil needs to be loose, preferably sandy loam, with a neutral reaction of the soil solution. Considering that in nature ideal conditions are rare, harvest bed you can do it yourself. Clay soils loosen and enrich - add humus, compost, peat, leaf soil, river sand.

When deciding where to grow carrots, advanced gardeners create special organic beds, with air structure, very light. The soil is dug up before winter, the acidity is reduced by liming, mineral fertilizers are applied: nitrogen (20–30 g/m²), superphosphate (40–50 g/m²), potassium salt (40–50 g/m²). You need to be careful with organic matter, because root vegetables cannot be tolerated fresh manure. They are suitable for areas fertilized a year earlier - after cucumber, zucchini, potatoes, cabbage. Typical mistakes:

• Digging is carried out in the spring. This disrupts the structure and reduces the natural moisture of the soil. Seeds, being at a depth of 2–3 cm, do not receive capillary moisture and significantly lose germination.
• They add a lot of nitrogen. Carrots overfed with nitrogen contain a lot of nitrates, taste worse, and are poorly stored.

It is important! No matter how hard you try, but acidic soil(pH below 6–6.5) you will not be able to grow sweet carrots. Acidic environment interferes with the absorption of valuable microelements, including phosphorus and potassium. Taking into account the characteristics of the crop, liming of the soil can be carried out only in winter - before autumn digging.

Seed requirements

Effective carrot cultivation technologies are unthinkable without high-quality seed material. When choosing a variety or hybrid, pay attention to the ripening time, soil requirements, humidity, and relate this to the conditions of your region. Pelleted seeds do not require additional preparation, but they have the peculiarity of watering the soil before and after sowing. The multilayer shell needs to be able to get wet; without this, the seed will not receive the necessary nutrition and water, and therefore will not germinate. Encrusted and primed seeds are sown dry. But ordinary ones need to be prepared for sowing - pre-soaked, disinfected, stimulated with growth regulators. There are many procedures, their main function is to speed up the emergence of seedlings.

Typical mistakes:

• Sowing with dry untreated seeds. They take a long time to germinate, and if they are still sown in cold soil, they can sap.
• Dried seeds do not germinate. There is not enough moisture to dissolve the granule.

Subtleties of sowing

The secrets of growing carrots at this stage are in the correct determination of the timing and technology of sowing. To obtain early harvest for summer consumption, carrots are sown as soon as the soil is shaken and warms up to 6–8⁰ C. With winter sowing, the moment of ripening can be accelerated by 1–2 weeks. In order to obtain high-quality and shelf-stable root crops for planting for the winter, the sowing dates are shifted by approximately 1–1.5 months - to the first ten days of June.

Sow carrots shallowly (1.5–2 cm), placing them in rows, 12–15 cm ribbons or wide ridges. The bottom of the seed furrow must be compacted, moistened, and only after that the seeds are laid out. They are covered with dry substrate on top - soil from the garden, humus, mulch from rotted organic matter. Sowing methods for growing carrots are recommended to be sparse or precise. They demand additional costs and patience, but they will pay off handsomely during harvest and save your time on thinning.

Typical mistakes:

• The furrows were cut, but not compacted or watered. The seeds lay unevenly, rolled under clods of earth, did not receive the necessary moisture - the shoots were uneven and unfriendly. The tip of the root has died due to drying out - a forked root crop will grow.

From sowing to germination

The main thing in growing carrots from sowing to germination is to conserve moisture. Beginning gardeners, seeing that seedlings do not appear, resort to watering. A crust forms on top of the soil, then it becomes covered with cracks through which water intensively evaporates. How to deal with this? Firstly, if you follow the “dry on wet” principle when sowing, then upper layer will reliably retain moisture. Secondly, when a crust appears, surface loosening is carried out with a rake. To make rows of carrots appear earlier, add radishes, lettuce, and spinach to the seeds - they will act as beacons.

Typical mistakes:

• Watering until germination. The achene does not have enough strength to break through the formed crust - the shoots are weak, uneven, and delayed.

Plant care

The technology for growing carrots at the care stage includes such mandatory measures as weeding, loosening, thinning, watering and fertilizing. The thinning procedure is excluded if sparse or precision sowing was used. In this case, if there is a need, the density is adjusted while weeding.

Thinning

The first thinning is carried out with the formation of 2–3 leaves. Weaker shoots are removed, leaving an interval of 2 cm between the remaining ones. The carrots are broken through for the second time when the root crop has grown in diameter to 1.2–1.5 cm, leaving plants after 4–6 cm. How to grow large and even carrots depends , including from the secrets of thinning.

• You need to pull out the excess carefully, without damaging the growing seedling nearby. A damaged root crop sprouts a new root at the site of injury, that is, it bifurcates.
• If you like large carrots, leave the plants less often. To get leveled roots, they should sit shoulder to shoulder in the ground.
• Carry out any weeding on soft soil - after rain or watering.

Note! During thinning, a spicy aroma hangs over the bed, attracting carrot flies. To protect plants from pests, remove weeding waste in a timely manner and work early in the morning or in the evening.

Typical mistakes:

• Thickened seeding. Instead of high-quality root vegetables, you will get “mouse tails”.
• Sparse crops. Non-standard products, large specimens may produce side shoots and growths.

Watering

How to water carrots is the most controversial issue in crop cultivation technology. Supporters of traditional farming recommend doing this infrequently - 4-5 times per season, but plentifully. Water should wet the soil by 40 centimeters, which is 50–60 l/m². The first watering is carried out immediately after the seedlings, then approximately every 15–20 days. In natural farming, watering is not recommended. Seedlings need abundant moisture before the appearance of 5–6 true leaves. After the first thinning, the beds are mulched with a layer of 5–7 cm and not watered at all or extremely rarely - in the case of a dry summer. There is an explanation for this - the roots of carrots (not to be confused with root vegetables!) reach 2–2.5 m and can provide themselves with the necessary moisture.

In any case, watering must be stopped completely at least a month before harvesting.

Note! How to grow large carrots if you can’t do without watering and there is no water? Plant late-ripening varieties. In the autumn it will rain, dew and fog will fall and the root crop will have time to catch up.

Typical mistakes:

• Frequent, but surface watering. The root crop, in order to receive moisture and nutrition from the upper layers of the soil, begins to grow lateral roots. As a result, “hairy” carrots grow.
• Uneven hydration. If, after a long period of drought, you give abundant watering, there is a high probability of longitudinal cracking of the root crops.

Feeding

Root feeding of carrots is necessary if the full rate of fertilizers was not applied before sowing. They are effective in combination with watering. They are timed to coincide with the end of the breakthroughs, that is, 2-3 times per season. We need balanced fertilizers for root crops, such as Agricola, Bona Forte, Fertika (universal).

Typical mistakes:

• Lack of fertilizers. In depleted soil, the root vegetables will be small; from a lack of potassium, the pulp becomes dense and hard; without phosphorus, it will not gain any sweetness.

Cleaning

The answer to the question of how to grow sweet carrots often depends on the nuances of harvesting. You can’t dig it up early, because in the last month of the growing season the vegetable intensively gains sugar. But it’s even more dangerous to leave carrots in the garden too long. A root crop that has been sitting in the ground begins to grow overgrown with young roots, becomes tough, and begins to taste bitter. To avoid such mistakes, when sowing, pay attention to the growing season of the variety and adhere to them.

Typical mistakes:

• Early planting of varieties with a short growing season. If the ripening period arrived at the end of August, and the root crops were removed a month later, you will end up with woody, hairy roots and tasteless carrots.

Confined soil technologies

Being a long-day plant, carrots are not the most popular indoor crop. Nevertheless, growing carrots in a greenhouse allows you to get additional yields of a vitamin-rich vegetable out of season.

What nuances should you keep in mind?

1. Early ripening varieties with a short growing season are suitable for sowing in greenhouse conditions, for example, Minikor (88–90 days), Saturno F1 (50–55), Amsterdam (80–85).
2. If you sow carrots in February-March, the root crops will ripen by May. The second time is planted no earlier than August and the vitamin harvest is harvested during December-January.
3. Until mid-February, while daylight lasts less than 10 hours, it is necessary to use additional lighting with fluorescent lamps.

Otherwise, care is not much different from open ground technologies. Although you shouldn’t count on high yields in a greenhouse, young vegetables with tender, crispy flesh will diversify your table and eliminate the need for long-term storage.

Carrots in high beds: