How to Grow Carrots - A Complete Guide
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- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
- How to grow carrots without weeds is one of the biggest questions in gardening. So in this video I give as many answers as I can. I also try to tackle carrot spacing, carrot density, seeders for carrots, soil prep for carrots, harvesting, and a whole lot more. It's freaking 22 minute video (sorry).
This video was made possible in part through a grant from Southern SARE, and answers the following: How to grow great cover crops, how to establish cover crops, different cover crops, mistakes in cover cropping and more.
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This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2020-38640-31521 through the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under project number LS21-348. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider.” The goal with this grant is to provide context and technical detail for the four principles of soil health.
After seeding the carrots into a layer of compost, I place boards over the seeded area ( the board will later be put as the walkway). the board keeps the moisture in and denies the weeds any light, you just keep an eye out for when they germinate and remove the boards then. This method greatly increases germination and prevents weed pressure.
When I do that they get destroyed by slugs using the board for cover.
I saw someone (maybe you!) say this last year and had my first carrot success ever.
@@anissaferringer4965 Jess from Roots and Refuge did a video about doing it this way. I've got to try it this year!
I can attest to this advice. Worked wonders for me.
@@jasminecastillorivera412 could u place 2 rocks or wood cuts under the board as a buffer from wood being on soil surface? Or perhaps treat planting area with DE?
And God made a Farmer ❤ love your videos
I add rows of radishes between every few carrot rows, gets something up to stabilize the soil and put some shade down to slow weeds/evap rate, and blocks wind (I'm on a mountain top basically) from the soil to help hold down mulches and protect the carrots until they are up. Usually by the time the carrots are up just a little and ready for more light and able to handle more wind/hold the mulch themselves, the radishes are already done, and can be pulled, loosening the soil just a little between carrot rows, which seems to help them thicken up better, then ideally I have some compost to fill in the empty radish holes that are left. Keeps everything nice a loose and well fertilized for the carrots. I also think the radishes help the soil stay moist longer than if it was just carrot seed in there with no real root masses active.
If you do need to thin your carrots don't pull them. Just cut them off with a pair scissors at or just below ground level. The root will decompose and add fertility to the soil.
I pray the Rosary while I'm planting carrots...that seems to help.
😂
Since we’re small scale we usually only seed a bed or two at a time. Because of that I don’t want to drag around a big silage tarp. Instead, I’ll use a 50’ run of shade cloth, fold it in half (my cloth is 7’ wide) and sandbag it over the bed. That way I can overhead water it if needed. Plus, it’s able to breathe a bit and never gets the soil too hot. I live in the Mojave desert with really sandy soil that dries quickly. I’ve also used weed fabric but the shade cloth is more reliable to evenly water through.
Great recommendations thanks!
@@notillgrowers I stumbled across something similar, kinda by accident. Specific to summer: we usually plant beds of lettuce two at a time, and cover them with shade cloth elevated on 6'6" wide conduit hoops. That field, being a lot of summer lettuce (in a hot, dry climate), gets regular spurts with the overhead irrigation throughout the day. When I lost a few trays of lettuce transplants and ended up with an extra bed, I just went ahead and seeded it to carrots. To my surprise, that bed germinated beautifully and I've moved ahead applying this "technique."
This. This is solid effing gold content.
We need more people like this in our country. Willing to pay double the price for vegetables if from people like this.
If everyone was doing no till you'd pay WAY more than double
I use pelleted seed & never need to thin. I’ve had the best luck, here in Denver CO, planting Napoli & Yaya carrot varieties. 95% germination in compost rich soil & a harvest HUGE sweet carrots. I sow carrots every 2-3 weeks thruout the season.
When you are drilling holes with the soul auger brace the battery on the outside if your left leg. If you hit some compacted soil it will be less likely to twist your wrist. Great video love the channel
You are right. I just drilled 300 holes into clay for putting in fodder trees. It can break your wrist if your not carefully. I use a hammer drill with the extra handle.
Thanks for the detailed info. Please cover more veggies to this level of detail.
About 2 inches of leaf mulch during the fall really helps my garden in the spring! It makes my virgina clay into black rich soil and grows carrots very well. Love the information in the video glad found this channel
Endlich mal jemand der das super erklärt, ich weiß das zwar alles schon, aber einigen ist das bestimmt eine große hilfe.
I love this video. I put burlap sacks over the top of a bed for a few days to keep in the moisture while the seeds are germinating.
This was a super helpful video! Please do more videos of this style :)
I love that you open every video by telling me I’m awesome 😎 great info!
Well it's the truth! 🙌
And essentially telling non subs they suck, which is a great way of getting new subs.
I had seen a video someone did where they soaked carrot seeds until they started to sprout. They then heated up some water and disolved corn starch into it. After the solution cooled it had the consistency of aloe. They would stir in the seeds to the solution and transfer everything to a gallon Ziploc bag. They finally would cut the tip off the bag to then "pipe" the seed solution into a shallow trench and then fill the trench when done.
I'm using this method. Otherwise I can't get them to come up, we have in Finland try springs, this method helps with moisture. I'm not soaking seeds, but use starch to sow them. I use kechup potle for seeding, it has suitable oppening that suits for this very good.
@@katamosse1449 I am so glad to know others are doing this. And the ketchup bottle is an amazing idea!
I tried this method maybe I didn't make the gel right but I could not find the right medium between the hole in the bag being too small to let the seed through versus being too large and squirting the whole lot out. I appreciate this video because after that I decided I'm not messing around no more and will be investing in a seeder
@@featherspy there is a product called "thick it" that I use and it is easier to use.
A company called Sow Easy makes many small seed varieties that are coated which ages the seeds about ten times larger. 50 carrot seeds for a little over 2.00 dollars so it's definitely the way to go if your not sowing huge amounts of carrots.
I cover the row in white felt row cover material usually used for frost protection. this aides in germenation here in texas where it can be extremely windy and hot.
Here in Colorado we are so dry we have to cover the row to keep the soil moist enough for germination.
It's really nice to see your illustration of garden activity like planting and seeding, tilling etc. You're good-looking but I'm needing the illustrations more than the portrait. Thank you
Several years back, I planted carrots across the street from my parents house in a low area that was used for gardening. I planted two rows probably about fifty feet long. The next day, I planted some of the same seed in my garden boxes at my house. My ground was heavy clay, the ground across from my parents was sandy. At harvest time, I managed to dig up one carrot from my garden box that was about the size of a pencil and about two and a half inches long. Across the street from my parents, we dug down about five to six inches to get hold of the carrots to pull them. I had never seen such big carrots in my life. There were a few that were so long, they stuck out of a bread sack, not including the tops.
My mom asked what kind of carrot seed I had planted. I told her it was just regular carrot seed. I've never seen such big carrots since, but I sure remember that year.
That low spot is now filled in and a parking lot for the new school.
🤯🤯🤯
Waste of fertile ground. Too bad. We as humans should be doing more in the agriculture sector. I can say as a backyard gardener that I am doing my part on my piece of land. Been gardening for decades. Agriculture should be top priority. Sad times…..
The living soil handbook is full of detailed how to....I'm getting lots of gems from it...I'm only 2 years in growing food on a small scale but just recently discovered more about soil...I'm totally hooked...love the detailed videos and so happy I bought your book....brilliant....thanks
Love your vids. One way I’ve had good success with carrots. Prepare bed, wait three or four days. Or whatever will suit you local weeds. Sow carrots, water, then cover with felt or similar cover. Must block out light. As soon as carrots break ground, remove cover. Weeds will be long and white, if it’s a warm sunny day the weeds will burn off and die. Carrots are free to go in a weed free bed. I like the beet seed idea, that would help to know when to remove cover. Cheers
24 as in that show with Keifer Sutherland...hahahah. Comedy and information? Yes, please.
Very cool, the first time I got a decent bed of carrots I got a huge confidence boost about my grow skill. Great video, I was glad to hear some in depth talk about spacing possibilities.
very good they say if you plant onion at the side of carrots the onion fly will eat the carrot fly .
If there are carrot fly the only thing that works is mesh barrier. The commercial guys do not plant anything beside their carrots to keep the fly away.
@@arthurholroyd8550
For the small garden just take your seeds and sandwich them between two wet paper towels put them on a paper plate inside a Ziploc baggie after three days they’re ready to plant and will come up very quickly.
Jesse - I saw somewhere that you can place a plank on top of your carrots during germination to help retain moisture and speed up germination, but I think they would also stop weeds from establishing themselves during carrot germination. Then once carrots poke their heads above the soil, you remove the planks and are set to go!
I tried the plank method but I only harvested slugs. I think they must have eaten any carrots that germinated.
@@tanarehbein7768 hahahah 😂
The way I seen it done was place a brick at each end of the row and place the board on the bricks. That way its not directly on the soil but still stops the sun from drying out the soil so quickly.
@@nshue23 okay great advice!
@@tanarehbein7768sounds like diatomaceous earth is for you
Bee house ranch in Crockett TX, Thanks you very much....
It took me forever to figure out how to germinate these little buggers! I think I have it now, I've got take off in three of my beds now. my problem was not keeping them moist enough, and I put weed cover over them until I saw them poking out! success finally!
About the sowing depth: I sow into compost mulch with the Earthway seeder. I sow carrots at 1 inch depth or a bit more, to make sure the seeds are close to some mineral soil with higher moisture than the mulch above. The Eartway always leaves a small trench so the actual depth of the seed may be a bit less. This gives good and consistent germination and way better than seeding at 0,5 inch where the compost may dry out in my region (Belgium, moderate climate).
I have stumbled upon your videos and am subscribed even though I am just a backyard gardener - but I am in Midway KY so excited to follow a KY RUclipsr!!
I got yuor book in the mail today and carrots are going to be my first one to tackle! Then after that its mastering head lettuce thanks for all your hard work
I have a small garden and an old sheet ripped to bed width works ol to keep the seed bed damp during germination. I wet the sheet once or twice a day.
I'm just a small backyard home gardener in NW Oregon, these videos are very helpful. I wish I could justify a seeder, thinning for me. Thank you for the great content.
Rick Grimes knows his carrots. J/p. This video is great and extremely helpful to a new grower. I was able to get the answers to almost every question I had. Thank you and keep up the great work!
Such a detailed and helpful video, thanks Jesse! I am also in 6b, just seeded a 30in bed with 4 rows of carrots (two starburst, two rows of Napoli) with my earthway carrot light plate this AM. That was before I saw this video I'm feeling very validated hahaha.
Haha, great to hear! I used the Earthway for years--still do in some cases. Really solid seeder.
We use jang the earthway seeds way too heavy! We cover with landscape fabric, similar concept to silage tarp, but much easier to cover a 30 inch bed with a 3 ft wide piece of fabric than to cut or fold a silage tarp. We installed the foot peddle washing system like you did, but haven’t been able to get enough pressure with the nozzle we are using, so still tinkering with it to get it right. I enjoy the videos you make, I’m not a book reader so videos are my jam!
Oh interesting--sorry to hear you're not getting the pressure you need! I should try and figure out what the minimum pressure requirement is then. Thanks for the comment 🙌
@@notillgrowers I went back and watched the video and I’ve got the pressure, but not the velocity. Getting a different nozzle today and will see how that works and reply back.
For a home gardener I found the cornstarch/piping bag method to be foolproof. Seeds stay moist in the cornstarch water mixture which breaks down as the seed germinates.
Could you elaborate on this a bit please.
@@garybrohard3144 ruclips.net/video/qZo4GpjswhU/видео.html just saw this. Gonna try it out this weekend.
I can vouch for this method as well. I am dependent on rain water on both my properties since the ground water is loaded with calcium, lime and iron, so everything is hand watered. I was never able to keep the soil moist enough to sustain the environment needed for germination, and I tried cardboard and wood planks. Keeping the seeds encapsulated in the goo provided the right moisture level for them to germinate. The Danvers half long turned into foot longs! So sweet and delicious.
I lucked out with planting carrots this year, as far as weeds go. I have some round above ground beds that needed more soil so I added bagged soil. Usually I mix it in, I was in a hurry so, I sowed them right away and covered with feed bags. They are uncovered and about 4" high and still no weeds 👍 I'm in zone 3
Awesome video Jesse! We are in south Florida and we get excellent germination between 5-7days by just watering the seeded rows with fulvic acid and two deep waterings a day!
Fulvic acid, huh? Interesting!
I just bought your book and I so appreciate all of your info!
Thank you 🙌
I am just addicted to your content. Most practical and simply comprehensive. #ILoveItAll
I don't mind long but informative videos.
Knowledge bomb drop. Thanks for all the tips, I have always struggled with carrots in my home garden.
never had much luck with the board method until this spring I had a irrigation drip line going so I thought I'd try sowing carrots. I put a board over it until germination. The result looks good. high gemination rate. the crabgrass however is relentless I have to hand pick it out as we go. I've even tried the cornstarch method with inconsistent results. got to keep the seeds moist.
Quality information for free. Your a legend man!
When you're stuck with extra carrots, it may be a good idea to donate the crops too. Here in Québec we can get an income tax credit when donating produce equivalent to 30% of that crop's value. (+ lower income families have access to delicious organic crops :D)
Great tip! 100% We have an org here called Glean KY and they take a lot of the extras at the end of market and we can write that off.
Tons of great information. Thank you!
Carrots; 70 years ago my Mom would put down 1"X 6" rough mill cut boards on the carrot seed beds to contain moisture till they spouted, and she kept a very close eye on the progress of all the vegetables. (Dairy farm)
Man I've always had a bad time with carrots... ima try some of these techniques... thanks!
I use a plastic 150mm syringe, filled with water and 1 package of seed. Spacing my planting holes 4 inches apart and covering with straw. Water so the soil stays wet.
I wish you would cover carrot topic in depth... I love listening to gardening tips all day so a long video with good information is never too long IMHO. With that said, I was discouraged in growing carrots because here in Nevada we have only 1 maybe 2 growing season. Not only the temperature swing is horrible, I was also having issues with nematodes. Pest control would be a great topic as well... thanks!
This year I was in a rush to get my carrots in the ground, so I just sprinkled a whole bunch of seeds across my row over a thin layer of straw mulch the night before a rainstorm, and they’ve started popping after about 2-3 weeks at about one carrot per half inch and spacier in some areas. Last year I trenched the soil and dusted straw over them, had more carrots than I knew what to do with.
growing your own vegies is so beneficial
I’ve always worried about doing carrots and having to thin. Reason why I never ran them. With this video I’m considering doing a plot of them this year 😊
Hi Jesse and all. I’ve been planting snap peas, carrots, Hakurei Turnips, and French breakfast radishes all in one bed. Then I am harvesting radish, turnip, peas, then carrots in that order throughout the season, out of the same bed in succession has been helpful.
I add a little ash and phosphoric rock as well as a layer od worm castings and cover everything with rice hulls.
Carrots germinate easily, in my experience, if the soil conditions are right. I have a heavy clay soil, so watering after sowing does not work as the clay particles wash into the pores and the seeds don't get enough air and light, or a crust forms that they can't break through. The solution that I have found is to water the soill thoroughly BEFORE sowing, waiting for the ideal soil moisture content (mostly the next day) then sowing and covering with plastic for 5 days. Having enough organic matter in the soil is a great help.
Thank you for the helpful carrot growing tips. God bless
Great info about a tough crop to start. They sell well, so learning the technique of putting the band on (with arthritic hands) would be much appreciated!
The best way to grow carrots is to use pelleted seed and grow in containers. You can grow 30 carrots in a 10 inch pot. Just carefully space them. It works amazingly well. Just use blood fish and bone meal with some aged cow manure amended into the potting mix. Keep pots moist while germinating and watch those bad boys grow. Oh and make sure to sift your soil with a one quarter inch screen and they'll be perfectly straight and grow like a big carrot bush with a bunch of good carrots underneath.
Home Grown Veg shows a very cool way to space them when growing in buckets using a 3/4" mesh pattern, sowing through every other one. I am going to try it in my next planting.
i;m not a market gardener, but do grow in 20 foot wide beds, and presprout carrot seeds (check carefully every day or even 12 hours) until the tiniest speck of white emerges from the seed coat. Then mix with cooled cornstarch gel and sow into prepared bed with a gallon ziplock bag, snip a corner, this could work with a 50 foot row wide bed. HTH and we are in zone 3b Northern US. Love Kuroda and Chantenay carrots.
whoa. my head exploded with all the numbers. thanks
On our farm we use a small piece of glass to lay on top of the carrot row. This will make that spot germinate a day quicker than the rest and we then know when to use the flame wheeder.
Man I just found your videos and Jesse you are awesome!! I first watched your sweet potato video and subscribed but this video (although lengthly) is super fantastic! We grow certified organic in Ontario, Canada and I SUCK at growing carrots - I am buying your book - I am so thankful to have found you. Thank you!!!! Keep up the great work. "Stack em high and watch em fly" is our saying - also love the spider cameos 😁👍♥🥕
Very helpful video, could be longer, watched it twice
Greetings from Italy
We have a massive issue with carrot root fly here - they will decimate a crop. We eventually solved it by using garlic water at seeding, and again a few weeks later. We also do t sow carrots outside until may, this means the carrot root fly miss out on a food source at an important time in Their cycle earlier in the year, so they aren't around as much later in the year.
I keep mine under row covers from sowing til harvest for the same reason, Pacific Northwest. I only remove covers for a few minutes at a time while weeding. I’ve never done well with trying to time the sowing around fly life cycles, but I’ve probably just done it wrong
Dude, you are great. Thanks for all the great information and sharing.
Love these videos. Been watching a lot of them.
Excellent video! Thanks so much for all the shared knowledge!
Very informative video! Thank you so much jessy!
Great idea to sow a handful of varieties with different DTMs at the same time!
Awesome video thank you!! From Kentucky 🙌🏻🦋🙌🏻
One place I worked they found the Earthway made a too heavy stand so they took old carrot seed and microwaved it. Then mixed with good viable fresh seed to achieve preferred spacing.
Thank you!
Another great episode 👏🏼 TY ✌🏼💚
As long as there's no Queen Anne's Lace within 15 feet (i.e. carrots are at least 15 feet from the edge of the garden, or the perimeter is kept weed free), there's effectively no pollination. Not good enough to sell seeds, but good enough to grow. Germinate a test batch to check purity/see if the number that have to be rogued out (if any) is acceptable.
The only downside to saving seeds from these plants is that you're selecting genetics that are prone to bolting with fluctuating temperatures... though really only a probably for the earliest plantings before things warm up.
About carrots bolting. This year was the first time in all the years I grew them (20+) that they started flowering. In my 8' raised bed I had 2 rows of carrots and have now about 10 bolted carrots. I'm in zone 8b. -We had no Spring- It was mild for a couple of weeks and then 80F and hotter.
Awesome!! Thank you for doing crop specific video!!
Excellent information Thank your,
I'm just a home gardener, I've never had a good carrot crop so often haven't tried. My first try years ago the carrots were sparse and bitter. I've tried a few times since then, even in raised beds and they just don't germinate well and if they do they stay puny. I'd love to grow all the fun colors but my green thumb seems to be brown with carrots.
17:30 "super leggy" How was that not the perfect spot for a spider shot?
Carrots gain flavor and sweetness as they grow. Reallly tiny carrots are pretty flavorless. So I'd say wide spacing will get you a better-tasting carrot.
After you plant the carrots cover the ground with silage tarps, wait for the weeds to come up and flame off the weeds. You might be flaming off tops of some carrots but they don't care and will still grow.
Biggest pain here in the UK is damn' carrot fly rather than weeds, especially as I'm no till, with an annual 3cm of compost every year, so very few weeds in the first place.
You can actually transplant carrots by filling paper towel tubes with dirt and drill holes to space. I cut slits along the bottom of the tube from near the end, to near the middle drill hole. I germinate in trays with a humidity dome (two tubes connected together fit the length of a tray x5). Ready to go out within a week/as soon as they've mostly popped.
If I get this right, you use the paper towel roll as the seeder in the try by rolling it across? After germination, do you transplant one carrot seedling from this germination tray at a time? This seems to be time intensive. Are you growing a private garden or a commercial one?
I understood them to "plant" the sprouted carrot filled tube
Hey Jesse, any chance you could do the same info-tube session for beets?
It's on the list!
Just a few thoughts to share for organic gardeners growing in a raised bed using any type of garden mix (not direct seeded into row in the natural dirt. Carrots can be tricky to get germinated and obtain a solid stand. But in a properly prepared raised bed, if carrots are attended properly once you get a good stand up and growing, one 4 x 4 raised bed can grow a large amount of carrots...anywhere from 100 to 250 carrots per raised bed. So here's how I do it.
First, as stated in this video, I remix the soil in my raised bed prior to planting to insure all amendments, compost, etc. are well mixed and that the soil has good tilth. Once the bed is filled and leveled, I run my flame weeder over the bed. This is designed to kill any bugs or weed seeds brought up to the surface during the first step. Be sure you flame weed it well. Don't skimp. You can't hurt the actual growing mix but you will kill some bacteria, insects, and weed seed. I have found this gives the carrots enough time to germinate and get growing without much weed or insect pressure. Let the bed sit overnight after flame weeding and plant the next morning.
Next, I like to plant carrots as early as possible in the spring, but carrots can be planted and grown later in the season if you are not in a zone that gets too hot. My 8(b zone does get HOT and DRY in the summer so EARLY planted carrots do much better. As said in the video, keep the soil moist until germinated. That likely will require water at least twice per week unless you get a lot of rainfall. I store rainwater in barrels and use it for watering. Carrots....and everything else....does much better without chemically treated water from a public system being applied.
Keep critters out of your carrots. For me, that mostly means my cat who finds my raised beds make great litter boxes. Occasionally, I get a bold deer or two get in my garden. The cat however keeps most of the mice from eating my seeds. I lay wire rack shelving cut to fit my raised bed over the newly planted beds until the carrots are up and growing a few inches high. See my Cat Excluder video on my channel if you want to use this very effective method to keep critters from eating or digging up your tiny carrot plants.
For a 4 x 4 raised bed, which is 16 SF, I typically plant 300 seeds. Not all will germinate, but probably 250 will. You may lose a few carrots along the way or simply thin some of the seedlings out. That will likely give you about 200 carrots for a yield. With a raised bed I simply broadcast and scatter the seeds as evenly as possible. I don't dig any holes nor try to space them or make rows. It takes a little practice to learn how to broadcast seeds in an even manner, so don't be discouraged if you don't get a perfectly even distribution. Thinning where too many germinate will take care of that. I shoot for growing baby carrots, which means I can plant thick as they will be pulled at about 3 inches or so of length. But if you want larger, fully mature carrots, simply plant 200 seeds per bed instead of 300. You should still get at least 100 or more carrots that way.
Once the seeds are broadcast over the entire bed, I simply cover them with a very light layer of potting soil or more growing mix sprinkled over the entire bed. Carrots seed should just be barely covered by the soil. Carrots cannot fight heat very well and they MUST have water. Do not let the soil get dry. Keep your carrots watered regularly and they will do just fine without any pesticides, herbicides, or other chemicals being applied. Not very many insects or diseases attack carrots. Small critters, like mice, rabbits, etc. will hit them if they can get to them, so it pays to fence the critters out. Putting hardware cloth underneath your raised beds will keep out most of the mice.
Harvest when ready and enjoy!
Thanks!
Thank YOU! 🙌
Awesome contents! Thank you so much for your work.
I like growing carrots with tomatoes. Carrots also seem to germinate better for me in containers than in the ground. And chitting carrot seed is a pain but does lead to better germination. But even then, germination of carrot seed is a trouble spot for me, so I may not have the best technique.
New sub, really like your videos man ! Cheers for the infos
Awesome Video as Always!!!
Thank you for this information.
Excellent info.
Love your work ❤️❤️
I ordered the book!
Talk about that drill and how it is used in the garden please.. Thanks..
Awesome. I call those short carrots the radish carrot.
Danke!
Thank YOU!
that advice helped a lot