How to sow carrots in open ground. Secrets of the correct planting of carrots in open ground and the basics of caring for it

Secrets to Growing a Great Carrot Harvest

Carrot (lat. Daucus) is a biennial umbrella plant. The root crop ripens in the first year, and in the second a seed bush is formed (to collect seeds for sowing). Growing carrots requires following simple crop care rules that will help you get a good and healthy harvest.

When to sow carrots outdoors

Early varieties of carrots (Kinby, Color F1, Parmeks, Tushon) can be sown and planted seedlings in open ground at the end of April, provided the weather is stable and there are no frosts. Such varieties are distinguished by juiciness and sweetness, they are grown for cooking and eating.
For longer storage of root crops, mid-season varieties are suitable (Viking, Nantes 4, Typhoon, Perfection), their sowing in open ground begins from the middle of the month, and planting seedlings in open ground can be started earlier, on May 8-10.
Late varieties (Selekta, Olympus, Java, Vita Longa, Valeria 5) are ideal for storage, transportation and harvesting for the winter. Sowing occurs at the end of May, planting seedlings in the second half.

In the northern regions, it is worth paying attention to climatic conditions, and if necessary, sowing is transferred for half a month.

auspicious days for sowing lunar calendar are May 3-4 and 30-31, when the moon will be in the growing phase (1st quarter). All sowing work is recommended to be done before lunch.

Choosing a place and preparing beds for carrots

Fertile and loose soils are best suited for growing carrots, namely: loamy-sandy, having a neutral acidity of 6-7 pH.

It is important that a crust does not form on the surface of the soil, preventing air from reaching the root crops. Therefore, surface loosening of beds is important at all stages of cultivation.

high humidity soil can lead to the development of fungal diseases and a decrease in the taste of fruits. It is better to equip high beds for carrots, or choose a place on a hill. Wetlands and places of stagnant water will not work.

Crop rotation rules for carrots

You should not plant a vegetable in the same place for 2 years in a row. This greatly increases the chance of injury. pathogenic bacteria and pests.

Good predecessors for sowing carrots are: cucumbers, cereals and legumes, any kind of cabbage, tomatoes;
After growing most types of greens (fennel, cumin, parsley, dill, parsnip), it is not advisable to use these beds for sowing carrots.

Soil preparation for sowing

Growing carrots in the country includes tillage in two stages. In autumn, the soil is loosened and, if necessary, mulched with sawdust. In the spring, before sowing, rotted manure is introduced into the soil in the amount of 1 bucket per two square meters of beds.

Fertilizers can be added:

If the soil is heavy, you can add 2-3 kg of sawdust - this will give it friability.
A small amount of wood ash (450-500 grams per square meter beds) will significantly improve the taste of vegetables and prolong the keeping quality of the crop.

Nitrogen fertilizers - they increase the level of nitrates in vegetables and contribute to the coarsening of their tissues;
You can not use fresh manure, because the root crops will begin to actively branch and shrink. In addition, it will attract the bear.

Planting carrots in open ground

Many gardeners prefer to sow carrots in the garden right from the package, but not all grains are of high quality and will germinate. Preliminary rejection and pre-sowing preparation of planting material will save time, get better germination and stronger seedlings.

Seed preparation

Carrot seeds are rich in vegetable oils, which blocks the access of moisture to the embryo. It is recommended to pre-wash and soak them. There are several ways of pre-sowing preparation of planting material.

Burying into the soil will help to significantly increase germination: the grains are placed in a cloth bag and placed in moist soil to a depth of 30 cm for 10 days, they are removed and dried before sowing. Seeds swell well in damp soil and give good shoots;
Dragee - a nutrient shell can greatly facilitate the procedure for sowing small seeds and increases their germination. For cooking you will need: 0.2 kg of liquid mullein and powdered peat. A tablespoon of seeds is placed in liter jar and add 1 spoon of powder and manure, cover with a lid and shake thoroughly for several minutes. The procedure is repeated several times until a shell is formed on the seeds, after which they are dried and stored until sowing in a dry place;
Soaking in a nutrient solution (1 tablespoon of ash per 1 liter of warm water). The grains in the bags are placed in a liquid for a day, then kept on a damp cloth in the refrigerator for 3-4 days for stratification. Before sowing, the planting material is dried.

Advice when buying seeds from China through Aliexpress

Carrot Planting Technology

Shallow furrows are made on pre-prepared beds (up to 2 cm deep), the distance between them should be at least 15 cm;
For convenience, small seeds are mixed with sand and sown, observing intervals between grains of 3-4 cm. You can also sow in a solid line - the "groove" method, and after germination, thin them out;
From above, planting is sprinkled with soil and compacted with a palm or a wide board.

It is recommended to cover the bed with a film to maintain soil moisture and prevent the growth of weeds. In conditions of warm weather and preliminary preparation of planting material, the first shoots will appear as early as 10-12 days. After this, it is necessary to remove the covering material, since young greenery easily withstands short-term frosts.

Carrot cultivation and care in the open field

After sowing, the most crucial stage begins - caring for carrots. It is important to act systematically and observe the agricultural practices of growing crops.

Watering carrots requires special attention when growing in open field. Lack of moisture can lead to the death of young plants. An overabundance of watering also has its drawbacks: the fruits outgrow and lose their taste.

After thinning, the amount of water is increased to 10 liters per square meter.
When carrots form leaves, root crops begin active growth, then the water rate increases to 20 liters per unit area.
2 months before harvest, the frequency is reduced to 1 time in 2 weeks.

It is recommended to stop watering carrots 10-20 days before harvesting - this stimulates the stretching of root crops in length. For the procedure, it is necessary to use only warm, settled water (ideally, melted water). Watering is recommended in the late afternoon, then the sun will not leave burns on the greenery.

thinning carrots

The procedure is carried out on the 12th and 22nd day after germination. Small and weak plants are removed, if this is not done - the roots will be frail and thin.

Loosening and weeding

Procedures are carried out immediately after thinning.

Weeding from weeds frees access of sunlight to green bushes;
Loosening will help better nutrition fruits.

If the soil is not loosened, root crops grow small and crooked.

Top dressing of carrots in the open field

Growing carrots, top dressing is carried out 3-4 times during the entire growing season.

The first procedure is carried out when 3-4 leaves appear on the sprouts. To do this, use a solution of ammonium nitrate (30 g per 10 liters of water).
The next feeding of carrots is carried out in 3-4 weeks using superphosphate (30 g per 10 liters of water).
Top dressing of carrots in June is necessary, since during this period the root crop grows especially quickly and gains juice. For top dressing, you can use wood ash (a glass per square meter) or potassium sulfate.
The fourth procedure is performed at the time of root ripening (usually in September, but the time may vary depending on the variety). You can use any of the fertilizers that have been used previously, boric acid (a tablespoon per bucket of water) is especially good.

Top dressing carrots folk remedies very popular among experienced gardeners. There are many recipes, many of which include yeast, nettles and ash. One of the most interesting infusions is prepared using all three components.

Triple Fertilizer Recipe for Carrots

The container is almost completely filled with nettles and filled with water to ¾ of the volume. For more intense fermentation, yeast or sourdough is added to the barrel. Potassium-rich ash will only complement the nutrient mixture. The mixture is stirred periodically and kept in the sun. For top dressing, 1 liter of the resulting liquid is diluted with 10 liters of water. The average consumption of fertilizer is a bucket per garden bed.

Growing carrots in the open field video

Secrets of agricultural technology for growing carrots and a good harvest

Compliance with a few simple nuances will greatly facilitate the cultivation of carrots in the open field in the suburbs.

It is necessary to observe the rules of crop rotation;
It is recommended to disinfect the seeds that you harvested yourself before sowing in a 1% iodine solution;
Choose proven and disease-resistant varieties;
Buy seeds and seedlings from companies you trust;
When purchasing new varieties on foreign sites, first check them for germination, and when sowing in open ground, do not allocate more than 10% of the beds for them;
Carry out preventive spraying with the Baikal preparation or nettle infusion from pests and diseases.

Outcome

Good preparation soil and seed material will guarantee good germination. And the right agricultural technology and care for carrots in the open field will provide you with a good and high-quality harvest.

Carrots are one of the most familiar vegetables in the garden, they are grown in almost all areas. But every vegetable grower has a different yield. What is it connected with? With violations of the rules for growing this useful vegetable. Carrots grow best on lungs fertile soils, heavy soils cause improper development of the root crop, it bends, the lower end bifurcates. Such changes cause the loss of the presentation of the crop.

Acidity should be neutral, depth ground water average. The best predecessors are legumes, cereals, cabbage, onions. It is forbidden to sow carrots after parsley, dill, cumin, parsnips. This is not a monoculture, the plant can be returned to its original place no earlier than after three to four years. Otherwise, the probability of plant disease is high, pathogens accumulate in the soil.

There are no strict restrictions on landing dates. If carrots are grown as a vitamin supplement to the table, then they should be sown as early as possible. Seeds can be sown at ground temperature at a depth of 2–5 cm, approximately +4–5°C. With winter sowing, growing conditions are as close as possible to natural ones.

In autumn, the seeds undergo vernalization, and on next year it is possible to harvest a few weeks earlier than with spring sowing. But this method has a drawback - such carrots cannot be stored, they are intended for use or processing.

Spring sowing is recommended to be done immediately after the snow melts, the soil should have a maximum of moisture. If root crops are planned to be stored all winter, then sowing begins in the second half of May. Of course, these calendar dates are very arbitrary, each climatic zone has its own requirements and restrictions.

Soil preparation

Carrot is a rather demanding plant in terms of soil nutrition. Fertilizers can be applied as the plant grows, or the soil can be prepared immediately before sowing. Both methods are equivalent and depend on what fertilizers you have. If available organic fertilizers, then they are applied immediately before sowing. Dose - about 2 kg of humus per 1 m2 of beds. If the soils are heavy clay, then simultaneously with the application of fertilizers, river sand should be added to improve the structure.

Very important. Never fertilize with concentrated chicken manure or fresh manure. Chicken manure will burn the earth, it must be diluted at the rate of 10 liters of water per 1 kg of manure, and then this water should be diluted again in a ratio of 1:10. Fresh manure serves as a source of various weeds.

Seed preparation

There are two problems with carrot seeds: they are very small (difficult to keep the seeding rate) and do not germinate well. Before sowing, they need to be prepared.

Soak the seeds for a day in warm water, it is advisable to change the water several times. After soaking, they can be kept in the refrigerator for one or two days for stratification.
Do a heat treatment in hot water. Such stress increases seed germination and destroys diseases. Seeds wrapped in cloth are dipped in hot water(+50°C), then washed in cold water.
Apply the bubbling method. To do this, they are soaked in various biostimulants.

There are also quite exotic methods of preparing seeds in nutrient gel solutions, followed by sowing using a culinary syringe or bag. We do not recommend using them, more trouble than result. Soak in water or stimulant and seed.

Technology of sowing seeds of carrots

It must be sown in moist soil. If there was no rain for a long time, and time is running out, then in the evening the beds should be watered abundantly, and in the morning before sowing, fluff up. Further, the process is performed according to the following algorithm.

Step 1. Make grooves in the beds. The depth is 2–3 cm, the distance between them is 25–30 cm. Grooves can be made with a simple ripper, stick, etc. In wet ground, they will hold up well and will not fall asleep ahead of time. If the bed is very wide, then make grooves in half on one side, and then on the other. It is easier and faster, and the earth will not be rammed once again.

Step 2. Carefully sow the prepared seeds in the cut grooves.

Practical advice. Try to choose calm weather. Carrot seeds are very light and can be carried by gusts of wind throughout the garden. In such cases, it is very difficult to find out where the grooves were.

Pre-gluing seeds to toilet paper rolls is monkey work. It is much easier to weed them later than to select and stick the seeds. Very economical growers can purchase pelleted seeds. The manufacturer packed each seed in a separate helium shell containing water and nutrients. Due to this, the seeds have become large, they can be sown strictly according to distances, subsequent weeding is not required.

Step 3 After sowing, the furrows should be covered with earth as soon as possible, this will prevent the soil and seeds from drying out. If the bed is wide, divide it into parts.

Very important. To accelerate the emergence of seedlings and improve germination, the grooves must be tamped. This can be done by hand or any simple device.

What does tamping give? The earth adheres more closely to the seeds, they do not dry out, and the conditions for the emergence of seedlings become favorable. But there is one condition - if the soil has sufficient moisture. The rammed earth gives off moisture much faster (which is why the top layer is fluffed up), if there is no rain for several days after sowing, be sure to water the bed abundantly.

Important. It should be watered only by sprinkling, pouring water directly from the hose is prohibited. A strong jet of water will wash the small carrot seeds to the surface. Most of them will not sprout, and the rest will grow over the entire area.

Weed control can be started only after the emergence of carrot shoots, otherwise there is a high risk of damaging them. Perennial weeds have a very developed root system and, when removed from the ground, the tender roots of carrots will certainly be damaged. Now it remains to wait for seedlings and continue agrotechnical methods of cultivation.

Important. Beds with carrots should be watered daily until resistant plants appear. How to find out the optimal amount of water per garden? Very simple. Pour the earth with the usual amount of water, make a hole and see how deep the water seeped through. We guarantee that you will be pleasantly surprised. After normal watering, moisture will seep to a depth of about 1–2 cm, which is very small. You need to water until the earth gets wet to a depth of at least five centimeters. This will take a lot of time, be prepared for difficulties or do automatic watering.

seedling thinning

Carrot shoots have one unpleasant feature - uneven germination. All seeds were prepared for sowing in exactly the same way, they were sown at the same time and at the same depth, and the difference in emergence of seedlings can reach a week. Even experienced gardeners cannot explain what this is connected with. But there is nothing to worry about if there are empty areas on the grooves. This is not a marriage during sowing, this is such a feature of the plant, over time, shoots will appear here.

The first thinning and weeding should be done as soon as the height of the seedlings has reached 2-3 centimeters. During this period, it is already perfectly clear where and in what condition the cultivated plants are, and where the weeds begin to clog the bed. Pull out the sprouts one at a time, try to make an even sowing line. The distance between the remaining carrot sprouts is about a centimeter, no longer needed. All the same, you will definitely have to do a second thinning, during which the distance will be set according to the requirements of agricultural technology.

Practical advice. Thinning, like weeding, is best done immediately after rain. If there is no precipitation, and the plants outgrow, then you need to water them abundantly in the evening, and in the morning on a damp bed, carry out the planned work.

The second thinning should be done after a small root crop and real carrot tops appear. Thickened plants are the reason for the decrease in yield, some vegetable growers do not know this and try to leave as much as possible more plants. This approach can only increase the number, but not the total weight of root crops. In addition, the yield of food products from small root crops is very small, it is long and difficult to clean them.

plant care

Carrots have good natural properties of protection against pests and diseases, they cope with most of them on their own. Only a carrot fly can bring significant harm, plants need to be helped to fight it. At the present time in the implementation there is a large selection of fairly effective chemicals to control this pest. But you can use them no later than two weeks before eating root crops. And carrots from the beds of the hostess are used for cooking long before the final harvest. Some of them carry out thinning of plants in this way right up to the moment of mass harvesting.

There is an equally effective, but completely harmless way to deal with a carrot fly - ordinary ash obtained after burning firewood. Keep in mind, not black coals, but fluffy, almost weightless gray ash. Pour it into a gauze bag and gently rub it over the carrot bed. Do not overdo it with the dose, ash is a very aggressive chemical compound (alkali). In addition to pest control, it is used as an effective natural fertilizer. Ash, by the way, repels not only the carrot fly, but also many other pests, including aphids.

As for moles and mice, it is useless to fight them. The most modern ultrasonic devices are excellent at fighting money in your wallet, their effectiveness in the beds is zero, you can trust experienced growers. What to do with them? Nothing, in a year they themselves will leave your site, because carrots are not their main food product. As soon as the moles “clean up” any bugs on the site, the whole family will immediately move to another place.

Watering

As with all root crops, the amount of moisture has a direct effect on yield. root system carrots are quite branched, water can be taken from a depth of up to 40 centimeters. Such structural features of the plant put forward their own requirements for watering - this should be done rarely, but to a great depth. The top layer of the earth perfectly protects the tops from drying out, it gives a dense shadow, the sun can not reach the surface of the beds. Watering depth of at least ten centimeters. You need to check this with the help of ordinary pits. Make them in the garden with a stick and see how deeply the water has seeped after watering. Not enough - repeat watering with more intensity.

It is recommended to harvest carrots during the dry period, if you dig them up after the rains, then there will be problems with storage. To facilitate the pulling of plants from the ground, it is recommended to dig them along the row with a bayonet shovel. Don't use a pitchfork as some suggest. The forks do not lift the ground and do not facilitate the harvesting of root crops.

It is better not to cut the tops with a knife, but to “unscrew”. Such folk way completely eliminates damage to the upper part of the root crop with a knife, increases the storage time of the crop. The tops are unscrewed very easily, and in time the process is much faster than working with a knife.

Carrots should be stored at a temperature of + 5-7 ° C, air humidity of at least 90%. To prevent evaporation of moisture, root crops can be folded into plastic bags with small holes, boxes with sand or raw sawdust. By the way, the use of sawdust turned out to be the most effective method. Even next summer, the skin on the carrots is smooth, the fruit has not wrinkled or dried out. The difference from fresh is the presence of a small amount of small white roots. If the air in the cellar is too dry, then the sawdust is recommended to be moistened periodically with water.

Video - Growing carrots in the open field

Video - How to grow productive carrots in high beds

Since ancient times, mankind has been engaged in agriculture. Today, all kinds of vegetables and fruits can be easily bought in the store. But no store-bought product compares to home-grown. personal plot. It is much more pleasant to realize that the fruits are grown with my own hands So much time and effort has been invested in them. And if it also brings benefits, then it is doubly pleasant. One of these vegetable crops growing in the country is carrots.

Carrots - a common crop for growing in the country

No summer season is complete without planting carrots. Carrots are grown outdoors. Experienced gardeners are sure that the root crop will please the eye as a result. proper fit and proper care, and they know exactly how to grow large and long carrots, and even sweet ones. They always have a couple of secrets in store.

Summer residents have to work hard: choose the right place, prepare the land, plant and take care of it in a timely manner in order to get a good harvest by autumn. But any spring suffering begins with the choice of seeds.

Selection of seed material

Modern counters of any stores, including country ones, are full of a variety of goods, in which it is not surprising to get confused. Therefore, before you go shopping for seeds, decide what you will plant the root crop for:

for its use in the summer-autumn period;
for winter storage.

In the first case, the vegetable must be used immediately, since it is not stored for a long time at home. For such an application, the Vitamin-6 variety is perfect. Varieties that can be stored before the onset of cold weather should have a long growing season. This type can be used for blanks. To keep the harvest winter time, you should choose varieties such as:

Queen of Autumn (sweet and sour taste of carrots);
Golden autumn;
Moscow winter.

The queen of autumn - an attractive variety of carrots

Preparing beds for planting

Every experienced summer resident has secrets in reserve, thanks to which they know how to grow a good crop of carrots. The preparation of the beds can be done either in the fall or directly in the spring a couple of weeks before sowing.

The first thing to do is decide on a location. Remember that the vegetable loves well-lit areas. Before planting, remember what you grew in this garden bed last year. This is an important factor affecting the yield. Well, if you used to grow here: cucumbers, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, garlic or cabbage. After dill, parsley, parsnip, you should not plant carrots - the root crop will not be born.

The soil before sowing is cleared of various kinds of weeds. Professionals believe that it will not be superfluous to re-dig the beds in the spring, this provides better air permeability of the soil.

Be sure to enrich the soil with carrot fertilizer. It is recommended to use the following composition for this: 2 tbsp. potassium sulfate, 4 tbsp. granulated superphosphate, a little ash and dolomite flour. The mixture of ingredients is applied per square meter of land. The soil is ready for sowing.

Carrots do not tolerate weeds

Cooking seeds

Carrot seeds, like any other, need preparation before sowing in open ground. Thanks to this approach, seed germination will be much better. Each experienced gardener has his own way in the bins, which is easy to use at home. Consider the most interesting:

Use for the treatment of growth stimulants. All actions are carried out according to the instructions strictly attached to the chemicals. The process itself takes no more than 20 hours, and germination exceeds all expectations.
Sowing seeds in the soil. A bag of fabric is taken, grains are placed there and all this is buried 15 cm into the ground. The contents must be kept like this for at least 10 days, after which they are taken out of the ground.
Soaking seeds for a day. A rag, cotton wool or toilet paper and well moistened, it is necessary to keep them in this state only for a day, after which you can start planting.
Thermal treatment with boiling water. Boil water, put the seeds in a rag bag and dip in boiling water for 20 minutes. With help cold water cool the contents of the tissue bag.

Carrot seeds can be treated with purchased growth stimulants

Planting carrots in the ground

It would seem that the technology of growing carrots in the country is extremely simple, there is no secret here. But is it really so? Schemes used for sowing vegetable crop, a great many. Everyone chooses the one that is more convenient. Among the methods of sowing, the following should be distinguished:

in bulk;
rows;
grooves.

Now more about how to grow carrot seeds.

Growing carrots in bulk is troublesome, but most gardeners are confident that the method is the most efficient and effective.

In addition, it is the fastest of all presented. Vegetable grains are scattered over the entire surface of the beds, slightly pressing on them. After watering, the plants can be covered with a film. Despite all the attractiveness of the process, it has a number of negative points:

some of the seeds remain on the surface of the soil and there will be no shoots from them;
seedlings are either scarce or too dense in places;
after germination, the culture is difficult to weed.

This method of planting a vegetable can leave you completely without a crop, as the young shoots can be clogged with fast-growing weeds.

The second method - sowing in rows - is more effective and common among summer residents. The harvest is richer. The root crop is planted in the ground, observing a distance that varies from 7 to 10 cm. But there is also a minus here. The seeds are washed out when it rains, and where they were planted, they may not be found.

Sowing in rows is the most popular way for vegetable growers.

Furrow sowing is a more economical process. If country cottage area is small in size, then the method is just for you. First of all, plan a garden bed at your dacha. It should be narrow, but rather high. Furrows are made on the surface of the soil, stepping back from the edges by 15 cm, fertilizer for carrots is selected and placed and watered. In them, the seeds of a vegetable crop are sown.

The first weeding is done after the appearance of sprouts, that is, approximately in the month of June, about two weeks after the root crop was planted. The next weed control is carried out in 20-30 days.

Is it possible to plant carrot seedlings

Quite a lot is known about how to grow carrots in open ground. Is it possible to plant a vegetable through seedlings? Yes. Some varieties are sown in a protected place - in a greenhouse or greenhouse. Most people tend to assume that the culture does not tolerate transplanting well. This leads to damage to the tails, as a result, it grows ugly. Actually it is not. Seedlings take root well and the harvest grows excellent. The main thing is not to forget to use fertilizer for carrots.

Carrot seedlings take root well and give a high yield

Vegetable care

Often summer residents ask themselves: how to grow good carrot? She, like other plants, requires attention and timely care, which includes: weeding and top dressing, watering and loosening. She needs moderate watering, but it should be regular throughout the growth. Humidification occurs on an increasing scale. By July, the watering rate gradually increases. Per square meter of soil with a root crop will go within 20 liters. The closer autumn is, the more the irrigation rate will decline. The region and weather conditions must be taken into account, according to which the corresponding adjustments are carried out.

The second important point in growing a vegetable is feeding carrots. It must be done regularly. What to feed carrots? Each summer resident uses his own fertilizer for carrots. It can be organic or one of the types of mineral fertilizer, or both can be used together. Fertilizers for carrots are very different. It won't hurt the culture.

The first time carrots are fed 10 days after the first shoots appear on the surface. To prepare fertilizer for carrots, you will need: potassium sulfate (1 tbsp), double superphosphate (1.5 tbsp). The norm is diluted for 10 liters of water.

Potassium sulfate activates the growth of carrots

Subsequent top dressing occurs two weeks after the first. Fertilizer for carrots is done as follows: in 10 liters of water, it is necessary to dilute potassium sulfate and azophoska (1 tbsp each).

You should not dwell on any one type of fertilizer, caring for carrots requires complex measures, therefore, in addition to mineral supplements for feeding, be sure to use organic matter. As a fertilizer for carrots, you can use bird droppings, which are diluted in water and watered with the composition of the distance between the rows.

Watering with salt also has a beneficial effect on seedlings, it is necessary to dilute 1 tbsp. in 10 liters of water and water the plants.

Yeast feed recipe

Often one hears such a saying that it grows by leaps and bounds. Everything is correct and as applicable as fertilizer for carrots. Yeast is a kind of fertilizer for vegetables. For this purpose, both dry and "live" yeast are used.

First recipe. 1 kg of “live” yeast is diluted in 5 liters of water. The resulting concentrate is diluted again with water (1:10) before watering.

Second recipe. For 10 liters of water, 10 g of dry yeast is taken, 2 tbsp. granulated sugar. Let it brew for 2 hours, after which the composition is again diluted with water (1: 5).

Despite the intensity of growth after such feeding, you should not get carried away with yeast. No more than 3 irrigations are carried out per season.

Yeast nutrition for carrots can be made from both live and dry yeast.

Pests and diseases of the root crop

Carrot care includes not only top dressing with chemicals and yeast, but also the fight against various pests. The main pests for the crop are aphids and carrot flies. They appear when the soil is excessively moist or when there is no proper care. To combat it, seedlings are sprayed every two weeks with Bitoxibacillin or Lepidocide. Chemicals effectively fight insects.

In high humidity, fungus can develop. Here, drugs such as Phytocid, Liposam and Mikosan-V will come to the rescue.

Thus, in order to get a good harvest of sweet and juicy root crops in your backyard, you will have to work hard, that is, not only plant, but also choose the right fertilizer for carrots.

secrets bountiful harvest carrots

Carrots are a traditional garden crop that is consistently popular with gardeners. In order to harvest a good harvest of high-quality carrots and stock up for the winter, you need to in early spring follow the rules of its planting and cultivation.

Choosing a place for beds

Proper organization of beds is very important:

choose well-lit, sunny places. Carrots in the shade will grow poorly and their taste will suffer;
it is important to observe crop rotation. The most suitable for sowing carrots will be those areas of the garden where potatoes, onions, tomatoes, garlic, and cabbage grew last year. Do not plant - on the same beds, or in close proximity, as well as after crops such as parsley, celery, dill, parsnips.

When to sow carrots outdoors

The optimum soil temperature for sowing early carrots is 8°C. If the earth warms up, then the moisture from it will evaporate faster. Even a slight increase in soil temperature is undesirable for the germination of carrot seeds.

Early crops of carrots in Russia can be done in March. Approximate times are as follows:

in the southern lane - from 5 to 15 March.
in the central part of Russia - March 25 - April 10;
in the Urals and Siberia - from the second half of April.

This should be done in greenhouses and hotbeds, or under covering material in open ground. For the northern climatic zones, the timing of the first sowing is postponed to May and depends on weather conditions. For sowing in the ground, it is better to choose resistant and early ripening varieties of carrots: Alenka, Laguna, Kolorit and Fairy.

Preparing carrot seeds for sowing

Before sowing, whether in open ground or seedlings, carrot seeds should be soaked in warm water for 10 hours for germination. Floated grains should be removed as unsuitable.

In order to speed up the germination of seeds, stratification is carried out at a temperature of 20-24 ° C, for 2-4 days. Before planting in the soil, they are soaked in a solution of wood ash to saturate with microelements.

Planting and seedling care

To achieve good yields and large root crops, you should carefully monitor the appearance of weeds in the beds with carrots. They must be removed regularly, otherwise the carrots will not develop.
This vegetable does not like thickening, so immediately after the appearance of the first leaves, it is worth thinning the seedlings. This must be done so that the distance between the sprouts is at least 6 cm.

Rules for sowing carrots in open ground

Grooves for planting carrot seeds are made about 2-3 cm deep.
The distance between rows should be 15 cm.
Before sowing, the beds are well moistened, and then sprinkled with wood ash. Manure should not be applied as a fertilizer, carrots do not tolerate acidity.
To speed up germination, it is worth stretching a plastic film over the beds to create a greenhouse effect, and remove it as soon as the first shoots appear.

Watering

The taste of carrots is greatly affected by the amount of moisture and the frequency of watering:

plan to irrigate 2-4 times a week;
make sure that a crust does not form on the surface of the soil;
loosen after watering.

Compatible plants should be planted along the edges of the carrot beds. They will help to get rid of many pests and diseases. In order to scare away the main pest - the carrot fly, additional processing is necessary.

Outcome

Before sowing carrots in open ground, it is necessary to prepare: plan the beds on the site to comply with the crop rotation, select frost-resistant and early-ripening varieties and pre-treat the seeds. In order to grow a great crop of carrots with good taste characteristics and large root vegetables, do not forget about weeding and thinning, and water well.

Carrots, planting and caring in the open field, which require the implementation of certain agrotechnical measures, is a small-seeded crop from the Umbelliferae family. A native of Afghanistan, where the largest number of root crop species still grows today, he came to Europe in the 10th-13th centuries.

The diversity of the genus is divided into 2 varieties - wild and sowing carrots, used in the agricultural sector. Cultivated carrots, in turn, include 2 types of varieties - fodder and table.

Among the most popular varieties, on the development of which breeders are constantly working, the following stand out:

"Alenka" - an early variety with a ripening period of 50 days after germination. Orange root crops up to 15 cm long have an average weight of 145 g.
"Tushon" is an early ripe variety used for food 60-65 days after germination. The mass of the root crop is 150 g with a length of 20 cm.
"Nantes" - mid-season variety, represented by cylindrical blunt root crops weighing up to 165 g, which are suitable for both food and storage.
"Vitamin" feature root crops of this mid-season variety is a high concentration of carotene, good taste, does not crack.
"Queen of Autumn" is a mid-season variety whose root crops are great for long-term storage.
"Flakke" is a mid-season variety that shows excellent yields even on heavy soil.
"Mo" is a late-ripening variety, characterized by good harvests, which are stored throughout the winter. Excellent taste and juiciness.

Carrots: growing features

Carrots are not afraid of the cold, but they cannot stand the shade.

When cultivating an umbrella representative, the following features should be taken into account:

evenness of the relief on the site;
soil composition;
depth of digging beds;
bright lighting;
abundant watering;
compliance with crop rotation;
timely implementation of protective measures.

Sowing seeds in open ground

To get a good harvest, before you start sowing seeds in garden beds, you need to study the agricultural technology of cultivating a crop, starting from the initial stage - sowing.

Choosing a place and preparing beds

Carrots show the best yield in flat, well-lit areas, where last year nightshade (tomatoes, potatoes), pumpkin (cucumbers, zucchini) crops were cultivated, as well as garlic, onions and cabbage. If small-seeded crops (dill, fennel, carrots) grew on the site, then you should not opt for it because of the poverty of the soil and the risk of infection with specialized harmful organisms that have accumulated in the soil. The root crop reaches its maximum size on light, loose soils with a good fertile layer.

Soil is being prepared for spring sowing in the autumn season:

The selected area is dug up to a depth of 30 cm.
For digging, fertilizers are applied in the form of 15 g of superphosphate, 15 g of potassium sulfate, 20 g of ammonium nitrate and 2-3 kg of humus per 1 m².
With the advent of spring, the site is harrowed with a rake.

Attention! If you dig only the surface layer of soil (up to 20 cm), then the roots will grow crooked, ugly.

How and when to sow?

Planting carrots in the spring is carried out in mid-April, when the earth warms up to 4-6 ° C.

However, depending on the characteristics of the site and the selected variety, the terms may vary:

Mid-season and late varieties are sown from the end of April to May 10th.
On light soils, sowing is permissible until the end of the spring season.
In the southern regions, where the earth warms up earlier, seeding in open ground can be carried out in the second half of March.

It is known that good seeds- the guarantee of a high yield.

To get healthy seedlings, you must adhere to the following sowing algorithm:

Seeds are wrapped in a cloth and placed in water heated to 50 ° C for 20 minutes, after which they are cooled for several minutes in cold water.
Grooves are prepared with a depth of 2 cm with a distance of 30 cm.
The distance between the seeds is kept within 2-3 cm.
After planting the seed, the beds are mulched to prevent crusting.

You can simplify the procedure for preparing seeds: they are buried in a dense tissue in a damp cold earth 10 days before sowing.

On a note! Carrot is a cold-resistant crop and easily tolerates frosts down to -4°C.

Planting carrots in autumn, before winter

Winter sowing, which makes it possible to harvest 14 days earlier than usual, is only valid for early varieties, and is carried out in light soil at the end of October according to the following scheme:

The soil is prepared 20 days before sowing.
After sowing, the beds are mulched with a layer of peat 3 cm thick.
With the advent of spring, a film is stretched over the site, which is removed when shoots appear.

Carrots: outdoor care and proper watering

Successful cultivation of a vitamin-rich root crop involves the implementation of certain care measures.

Thinning and loosening

At dense sowing after the formation of one pair of true leaves in the seedlings, thinning is carried out, as a result of which an interval of 2-3 cm should be obtained between the specimens. The second time, the crops are thinned out after the formation of two pairs of leaves. The result of the procedure is a distance between seedlings of 4-6 cm. Together with thinning, the soil is loosened and cleared of weeds.

Advice! For convenience, it is better to pull the beds after wetting.

Watering

Timely moistening, which is carried out weekly, is the key to the full development of the plant and the formation of large, juicy root crops.

When watering, in order not to overdo it, but also not to dry out the soil, you should follow the recommendations:

In the first weeks after sowing, the beds are moistened at the rate of 3 liters per 1 m2.
When the distance between specimens increases to 5 cm, the water consumption increases to 10 liters per 1 m2.
After the development of thick tops, which indicates the beginning of root growth, the volume of irrigation fluid reaches 20 liters per 1 m2.
1.5 months before harvesting, the volume and frequency of wetting are gradually reduced.

top dressing

During the growing season, carrots are fed twice (after the second thinning and during the beginning of root growth) with a solution prepared from 400 g of wood ash, 10 g of nitroammophoska, 20 g of potassium nitrate and 15 g of superphosphate per 10 l of water.

Disease and pest control

Carrots are susceptible to damage by harmful organisms. Among the diseases, phomosis, bacteriosis, septoria, gray, white, red rot are dangerous.

To avoid their development, you must:

carry out pre-sowing seed treatment, in which pathogens are destroyed;
limit the application of nitrogen fertilizers that stimulate the development of gray and white rot during storage;
do not feed carrots with manure, which provokes the development of red rot.

Of the pests on the representative of the umbrella, a carrot fly, winter scoop, wireworm and slugs are noted, which must be dealt with:

mechanically - in the case of gastropods;
chemical method.

The carrot fly is moisture-loving, so it is better to sow in open beds, away from water bodies. Chamomile infusions scare her away.

Harvest and storage

Harvesting is carried out in several stages:

During the second half of summer, root crops are pulled out for food, and early and mid-ripening varieties are also harvested.
Cleaning at the end of September late varieties intended for long-term storage.

Root crops are harvested on a dry, warm day according to the following scheme:

Carrots are pulled out by the leaves from light soil or dug up with pitchforks in case of heavy soils.
The extracted vegetables are sorted.
In healthy root crops, the tops are cut off, after which they are placed under a canopy.
After a few days, the crop is sent to storage.

For storage, boxes are used that are lowered into the basement or cellar, where the root crops in containers are sprinkled with sand or sawdust.

The nuances of growing in the suburbs, in Siberia

Two main parameters depend on the climatic zone of crop cultivation:

timing of sowing seeds in open ground;
variety selection.

Varieties are grown in the Moscow region different terms ripening, and the sowing of seeds is carried out from the second half of April until the end of spring, while for Siberia with a colder climate, the range of varieties is rather limited and comes down to a few mid-season ones - for example, Nantesskaya, Vitaminnaya. Otherwise, the agricultural technique for cultivating carrots is no different.

So, knowing the nuances of growing carrots, even a novice gardener will be able to achieve high rates when harvesting a vitamin vegetable.