Growing and caring for carrots in the open field

Almost all summer residents plant carrots. This is understandable, because the root vegetable occupies one of the important places in any kitchen. And planting carrots is no big deal. I put seeds on the garden bed and wait for the harvest. However, it’s not that simple. This article will tell you about some of the secrets of growing and caring for carrots in the open field, what needs to be done before sowing, and also how to deal with uninvited guests.

Content:

What to consider when planting carrots in open ground with seeds.
Soil preparation.
Planting carrots by seeds in open ground.
Outdoor carrot care and proper watering of carrot beds.
Disease and pest control.

What to consider when planting carrots in open ground with seeds

To all of us from childhood, the familiar carrot is not such an easy vegetable to grow, it is quite capricious. To get a truly generous harvest, and the harvest is preserved without loss, some serious points must be taken into account:

the garden bed with carrots should be located in the sunniest place, in shaded places the carrots will grow weakly and will not give a full-fledged vegetable;
to get sweet carrots on the table, you need to plant them in soil that is not oversaturated with acids;
excessive watering leads to the fact that the carrot begins to grow vigorously, but coarsens and becomes, rather, fodder than dining;
this vegetable is especially fond of loose soil, otherwise, it will have a curved shape;
carrots do not like fresh manure, it bends from it, the root is deformed, which leads to an ugly shape of the fruit;
if you do not water the carrots for a long time, it loses its juiciness and sweetness;
when, after a long dry period, abundant and frequent watering begins, the roots crack;
frail fruits that are not capable of long-term storage grow without thinning;
rough thinning can lead to the fact that the adjacent (remaining) roots are deformed, several ugly fruits grow from one carrot.

If you take these factors into account, carrots will delight you with smooth and tasty fruits that can be stored until the next harvest. But before planting the seeds, you need to prepare the soil. Read:feeding carrots in the open field in the Moscow region!

Soil preparation

A good owner begins to prepare the carrot beds in the fall days. Carrot beds should be made where cereals, cucumbers, beets, cabbage or corn used to grow. Only a very well-loosened soil is suitable for a full harvest. If the soil is light, not compacted, then you can simply walk with a rake or, better, a flat cutter. In other cases, you should seriously tackle loosening, otherwise you will have to harvest crooked, small carrots.

To achieve a bed with light and lush soil, the soil is mixed with compost, peat or sand. You can add manure, but it must be well rotted. Carrots do not like fresh manure and will respond to its introduction with thick and dense tops, fruits with thick peels, unpleasant taste, small and ugly forms.

Since this vegetable does not tolerate acidic soils, it is worth adding ash, dolomite flour or lime. It would be wise to add various fertilizers right in the fall. In the spring, such a bed should be thoroughly loosened again and only after that sow the seeds.

Planting carrots by seeds in open ground

Some summer residents plant seeds simply in the ground, however, it is much better to put carrot seeds soaked for 3 to 4 days, and then dry them a little. This will allow you to identify non-viable seeds and significantly speed up the germination process. Experienced gardeners know how to plant carrots with seeds in the open field. But, since the seeds are very small and it is difficult to plant them, the gardeners have come up with some ways to ensure that the small seeds lie flat and do not all fall into one place.

Planting carrots in open ground with seeds is as follows:

most often, seeds are mixed with sand, they do not stick together and fall more evenly into rows;
on a roll of toilet paper, each seed is glued to the desired distance with paste; in the spring, such tapes are simply dripped into the garden;
jelly is prepared from potato starch, seeds are placed in it and poured through the spout of the teapot into prepared rows;
if the carrot seeds are pelleted, they are simply sown into the grooves.

In any case, the seeds are planted at a distance of 3 to 5 cm from each other in rows, and between the rows (grooves) themselves, a distance of 15 to 20 cm should be maintained.

So that the weeds do not crush tender seedlings, and moisture does not erode and a crust does not appear on the soil, the crops are covered with a film. Seedlings appear at a temperature of 18 degrees in two weeks. Moreover, young shoots are not afraid of short-term frosts, but after a long cold, the plant stops growing the root and gives out flowering.

Outdoor carrot care and proper watering of carrot beds

Growing carrots and care in the open field requires a certain systematicity. This is especially true for watering. It is very important to know how to water your carrots outdoors. Indeed, with a lack of watering, young roots may not reach the water, and seedlings will die, and overflow threatens to turn tasty and juicy carrots into livestock feed. Watering should be done abundantly, but not often. When the carrot already forms long roots, some gardeners stop watering it altogether. In this case, the roots rush straight down, forming straight and long roots.

Frequent, shallow watering helps the carrots grow hairy and the fruit grows crooked. But weaning the plant from watering is also risky. If the carrots are on water starvation for a long time, and then suddenly a rainy period comes, all the fruits will crack. Watering carrots in the open field should not be frequent, but systematic. Already from the moment of the first shoots, carrots can be fed, she will gratefully accept this.

In addition to watering, thinning is necessary. When planting, small seeds sometimes fall so close to each other that they do not allow the fruit to develop fully. If we neglect thinning, the carrots will grow thin, frail, which will quickly rot during storage, and they will not be suitable for the table.

It is recommended to thin out carrots 12 and 22 days from germination.

Taking care of carrots in the open field contains another very important stage - loosening. As described above, carrots without this procedure grow crooked, small and ugly. Very often loosening is combined with weeding or thinning. Weeding is also needed so that strong weeds do not shade the shoots.

Disease and pest control

One of the pests of the vegetable is the carrot fly. In order to get rid of it, it is better to arrange the beds in advance in a windy place, the fly does not like winds. It is very advisable to plant carrots next to onions. And so that she does not even look at the carrot bed, it is better to sprinkle the bed with hot pepper, gold or tobacco dust, perform mulching cut grass or straw.

Timely thinning and loosening helps from carrot rot. Another pest is the mole. To combat this bully, shops offer a variety of tools.It will take a lot of time and effort to properly care for carrots in the open field, however, a luxurious harvest is worth it.

Video "Carrot care from A to Z"

carrot vegetables