How to sow carrots: video, tips, recommendations
Carrots are a storehouse of vitamins and useful microelements. Every gardener tries to plant it. Getting a good harvest is not that difficult. The main thing is to observe the sowing dates and know some of the nuances. We will talk about them now.
On this topic:how to sow carrots so as not to thin out later?
Planting dates for carrots
Depending on this, the period when you can sow carrots in open ground will change.
- Early varieties of carrots can be sown after relatively positive temperatures (about +3 degrees) are established outside. This period usually falls at the end of April and beginning of May. Planted carrots in this way ripen in the summer.
- Medium and late varieties of carrots are planted around the same period - from May 1 to May 20. Sometimes this period is extended until early June. Such carrots are suitable for long-term storage.
Some experienced gardeners practice planting carrots in late fall. This allows you to harvest much earlier - by about two weeks. The optimal planting time in this case is late October and early November. The main thing is that there are no return temperatures above zero. Otherwise, the seeds may germinate. Let's add that this method has one big drawback. If the winter turns out to be very harsh, there is a high probability that the seeds will freeze out and will not sprout in the spring.
The process of preparing for sowing carrots
Soil preparation
Before you start sowing carrots, you need to take care of soil preparation... This crop does not grow well on heavy loamy soil. Therefore, it is better to set aside a bed with light soil under the carrots (it is good if the earth is mixed with a small amount of sand).
You can not bring fresh manure under the bed with carrots. This will negatively affect the development of this crop - the root crop is likely to grow weak and will be very poorly stored.
Seed preparation
Novice gardeners usually do not attach much importance to this item, but in vain. Thanks to proper seed treatment, the plant develops much better and gives a bountiful harvest. There are a lot of ways to treat seed. Perhaps the most effective of these is the soaking of seeds in potassium permanganate (weak solution). This method allows you to protect future roots from pests and all kinds of diseases.
Some gardeners soak seeds in various growth stimulants to get an early harvest. In this case, the question of how to sow carrots so that they sprout quickly disappears by itself.
Preparing the garden
The optimal size of the beds: width 1 meter, and length 5. Of course, these are only approximate parameters. The final version depends on the preferences of the gardener. Before planting carrots in the spring, using, for example, a shovel handle, you need to make furrows. It is in them that the seeds are sown.
The width of such a groove is about 6 cm. The distance between them is 20 cm. Before you start planting carrots, the grooves are carefully spilled with a solution of potassium permanganate. This is done so that the root vegetables are less sick.
Planting carrots
Carrot seeds are sown in prepared furrows at a distance of 1-1.5 cm. Sowings are sprinkled on top with peat (you can add sand).It would seem, why do this? The answer is quite simple: if the soil is dense, then the seeds germinate very poorly, and if, on the contrary, then you can count on friendly shoots. After the seeds are planted, it remains only to shed well (use cold water) the bed.
Acceleration of the seed germination process
Of course, any gardener always wants seedlings to appear as early as possible. There are many ways to speed up this process. We will tell you about the method, which is based on the use of conventional polyethylene. Everything is very simple. You need to take a film and cover the garden with it so that an air gap of about 12 cm remains between the polyethylene cover and the ground. After that, you need to give time for the seeds to germinate. When using this method, one week is usually enough. When shoots appear, the polyethylene is removed. If this is not done, then seedlings that have not yet gained strength may die.
Choosing "neighbors" for carrots
As we said, in order to get a good harvest of carrots, you need to know about some nuances. One of them is the correct choice of "neighbors" (those plants with which a given agricultural crop grows well). In fact, carrots can get along quite well with many plants. The list of the most successful "neighbors" includes: bow, garlic, tomatoes, radishes, lettuce, and peas.
And one more little trick: to prevent plantings from being hit by a carrot fly, experienced gardeners recommend surrounding them with tobacco, rosemary or sage. Plants that negatively affect the development of carrots include dill and anise.
In this article, we have answered many questions. After reading it, it will become clear when to plant carrots in open ground, how to sow this crop, and also how to accelerate the rate of seed germination. Using the above recommendations, you can easily grow on your personal plot, to the envy of your neighbors and to your delight, a rich harvest of carrots. The main thing is to be patient and everything will definitely work out.