I usually make the furrow with a finger or lay the handle of my garden fork on the soil surface and press gently. This is your first opportunity to minimize the need to thin the carrot bed later on. By sowing just two to three seeds per inch and spacing them as best as you can. Cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil or horticultural vermiculite and irrigate the bed thoroughly with a gentle spray of water. For the longest season of high-quality carrots, succession plant every four to six weeks from mid-spring to mid-summer.
My final carrot sowing is in late July and these are the carrots we harvest all autumn and winter from our cold frames, mulched beds, and polytunnel. One of the easiest ways to space carrot seed correctly and reduce thinning is to plant pelleted seeds. Pelleted seeds are coated with an inert clay which makes all the seeds the same size and shape. Space pelleted seeds an inch apart.
Provide adequate moisture until seeds germinate and are growing well. For me, thinning carrots begins when the seedlings are about three to four inches tall. At this stage, I try to thin the plants to about an inch apart, which usually means removing every second seedling. Heavy rains can also cause seeds to wash and pool on the soil surface and come up in clumps. When thinning carrots, carefully pull the tiny seedlings from the soil or pinch off the foliage at soil level.
The smell of fresh carrots can attract carrot rust flies. You can also gently mound up some soil around the tops of your carrot plants at this time to help keep the roots covered.
If the roots are exposed to light as they grow, their shoulders will turn green and bitter. After the initial thinning, I follow up around a month later with a second thinning session.
Every second carrot is again removed, leaving the roots spaced about one and a half to two inches apart. You can use a clear plastic milk or water jug as a cloche. Just cut out the bottom and put the whole thing over the spot where you planted the seeds.
You can remove the cap of the plastic jug to create an air vent, which will cool things down inside the cloche. A cold frame or greenhouse is another option to keep carrot seeds and other plants warm as they germinate and grow. You can learn more about ways to keep seeds warm indoors or outdoors in my article here. Aside from maintaining the proper soil temperature, there are some other ways to help your carrot seeds to germinate faster.
One of the best ways is to keep the seeds and their soil moist. Even at the ideal soil temperature, carrot seeds will not germinate without enough water. In fact, they will die if they dry out after germination begins. After sowing carrot seeds in the garden, keep the soil moist by watering as often as necessary.
The goal is to keep the soil continuously moist, but not soggy it should never be wet enough to wash away seeds or soil. Humidity is another important factor to consider when germinating carrot seeds. If the air is too dry, then the soil will dry out faster, and the seeds will have trouble germinating. Humid air increases the chances that the soil will stay too wet after watering or rain. This can lead to damping off, which happens when affects seeds or seedlings.
Damping off is more likely when humidity is high, soil is wet, and temperatures are cool. For more information, check out my article on damping off of seedlings. If you find that you have trouble maintaining soil moisture and air humidity, you have some options. One idea is to use a cloche as a makeshift humidity dome. A humidity dome traps moisture in the air underneath it so that seeds have the humid environment they need to germinate properly.
A humidity dome will also help the soil to retain moisture. This will speed up seed germination, increase germination rates, and reduce the time needed to keep soil moist.
For more information, check out my article on humidity domes. In addition to soil and warmth, seeds need also air , just like seedlings and established plants. If the soil is too wet, it will lead to a lack of oxygen in the soil. Without enough air circulation, your seeds may succumb before they have a chance to germinate. Even with the proper soil temperature, moisture, and aeration, germination can still fail with old seeds.
For best results, use new carrot seeds, rather than old ones. Newer seeds have a higher germination rate older seeds will germinate at a lower rate, or not at all. Generally, carrot seeds last about 3 years. Beyond that time, the germination rate decreases rapidly. For more information on the lifespan of carrots and other seeds, check out my article on how long seeds will last. You can germinate carrot seeds in a paper towel without any soil!
However, remember that it is always best to direct sow carrot seeds into soil in the garden since they do not transplant well! The paper towel retains moisture while still letting the seeds breathe. The paper towel also replaces soil, serving as an alternative growing medium. The drawback of this approach is that you need to transplant the sprouted seeds into soil by hand. This is tricky with carrots, since the roots are easily damaged and they make up most of the plant.
If you get a few important things right, your carrots will grow better after sprouting. The key factors are:. As we learned earlier, soil temperature has a big impact on how long carrot seeds take to germinate. If you plant them too early, a hard frost may kill the seeds or cause young plants to bolt. Even when they are safe from frost, carrot seeds will germinate slowly if at all! According to Cornell University, carrots grow best when the soil temperature is 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit 16 to 21 degrees Celsius.
So, when is the right time to plant carrots? The soil should be at least 45 degrees Fahrenheit 7 degrees Celsius. If ridges are farther apart, plant two rows of carrots on each ridge Fig. Figure 2. If the ridges are more than 1 to 2 feet apart, plant two rows of carrots on each ridge.
Begin planting carrots as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. In South Texas, plant carrots any time from July through February. In many South Texas areas, carrots can be grown all winter. For a fall crop in other areas, plant them in August. Scatter 18 to 20 seeds per foot in the row. Because carrot seeds require 14 to 21 days to sprout, many gardeners mix a few radish seeds, which sprout quickly, with carrot seeds to mark the row. Cover the seeds lightly Fig.
Carrots grow best in cool temperatures of early spring and late fall. Night temperatures of 55 degrees F and day temperatures of 75 degrees F are ideal for carrots. High temperatures cause poorly colored, low-quality carrots.
Figure 3. Cover carrot seeds lightly with soil. Before planting carrots, scatter on the soil 1 cup of a complete fertilizer such as for each 10 feet of row to be planted. Use a rake to mix the fertilizer into the soil to a depth of 3 to 4 inches. Once the plants emerge, scatter 2 tablespoons of fertilizer per 10 feet of row beside the plants when the tops are about 4 inches high.
Fertilize again when tops are 6 to 8 inches high if the tops become pale. Water the plants as required to keep the soil moist to about 3 inches deep.
When the carrot tops are 4 inches high, thin the plants to 2 inches apart. Some carrots will be large enough to eat.
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