How to grow Carrot

Daucus carota

A root vegetable sown straight into the bed; it needs deep, loose, stone-free soil for straight roots.

Carrot — Photo: Evan-Amos, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts

Type	Vegetable
Family	Apiaceae
Light	Full sun
Soil pH	6–6.8
Frost	tolerates light frost
Soil for sowing	from 7 °C
Germination	14 days
Sowing to harvest	70 days
Where it grows	Open ground, At home

When to plant

It tolerates light frost: sow straight into the bed about three weeks before your last spring frost.

The first harvest comes about 70 days after the shoots appear.

Frost dates · When to plant

Care

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 1 days	13…18 °C	—
Growth	every 3 days	13…24 °C	nitrogen, 42 days into the stage
Harvest	every 7 days	0…24 °C	—

At home

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 1 days	13…18 °C	—
Growth	every 3 days	13…24 °C	nitrogen, 42 days into the stage
Harvest	every 4 days	13…24 °C	—

Growing notes

Light

Needs full sun, at least 6 hours of direct light a day, ideally 8–10.

Soil

Deep, loose, well-drained soil without stones or clods, pH 6–6.8. Stones, heavy clay and fresh manure make roots forked or misshapen; in heavy soil grow short-rooted varieties.

Care

Sow 0.5–1 cm deep where the carrots will grow, as transplanting makes forked roots. Keep the surface moist until the seedlings appear, which takes 2–3 weeks. Thin to 5–7.5 cm apart. Give about 25 mm of water a week, evenly, since dry spells followed by heavy watering crack the roots. A single light nitrogen feed about six weeks after emergence is enough; too much nitrogen spoils the roots.

Pests and diseases of Carrot

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.