How to Grow & Trim Carrots

Growing carrots can provide you with fresh vegetables any time of year.

Carrots are rich in fiber and vitamin A. Not only are carrots good for you, but this cool-season biennial produces vegetables in the first season. Like many other vegetables, carrots are cooked, eaten raw -- with or without dip -- and frozen or canned for use during the winter. In the southernmost areas of the United States where it stays warm, even in the winter, carrots may be grown year-round.

Things You'll Need

• Soil testing kit
• Rototiller
• Shovel
• Fertilizer (10-10-10 and 5-10-10)
• Rake
• Lime (optional)
• Vermiculite
• Peat moss
• Potting soil
• Fine compost
• Sawdust
• Garden hose
• Hoe
• Knife blade
• Cultivator
• Mulch (compost or soil)
• Kitchen knife

Instructions

1. Pick a site that gets at least sun half of the day with deep, loamy or sandy, well-drained, loose soil. Provide a soil pH between 5.8 and 6.8, depending on what your county extension service recommends for your area. Carrots need a soil temperature of 55 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit to germinate.

2. Test the soil for nutrient levels, pH and organic matter. Use a soil testing kit available at garden centers and nurseries, or pick up a kit and instructions from the extension office.

3. Break up clumps and loosen the soil to a depth of 8 to 9 inches using a rototiller or shovel. Add fertilizer and lime as recommended by soil test results. Without a soil test, use 1 cup of 10-10-10 fertilizer per 10 feet of row. Mix it into the top 3 to 4 inches of soil with a rake.

4. Plant two to three seeds per inch, 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep, in the spring as soon as the soil is workable. Plant carrot seeds 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep if sown later in the spring when the soil is warmer and drier.

5. Cover seeds with 1/8 inch of vermiculite, peat moss, potting soil, fine compost or sawdust. Space rows one to two feet apart. Water until soil is evenly moist.

6. Thin carrot seedlings when they are 1 to 2 inches tall, leaving two inches between each seedling. Large carrot varieties should have no more than one seedling for every one to two inches of soil, finger carrots can have up to three seedlings per inch and for carrots harvested young, thin to one to two seedlings per inch of soil. Thin all varieties to two to three inches apart when the carrots grow thicker tops.

7. Water carrots so they receive 1 inch of water per week if it's not provided by rain. Evenly moisten the top 6 inches of soil during each watering.

8. Apply 2 tbsp. of 5-10-10 fertilizer per 10 feet of row alongside the plants when the tops reach 3 to 4 inches high. Once the carrot tops reach 6 to 8 inches tall, fertilize again with 5-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of 2 tbsp. per 10 feet of row.

9. Remove weeds using a hoe, knife blade or cultivator. Cultivate shallowly, in the top couple inches of soil, to avoid damaging the carrots. Apply a layer of mulch such as compost or soil when the orange tops break the surface of the soil to cover them.

10. Trim 1/2 inch off the top of the carrots and discard the green tops before storing.

Tips & Warnings

• Cover rows with clear polyethylene film to help seeds germinate quicker and remove as soon as the carrot seedlings appear.

• Shade carrot seedlings in the summer to keep them from burning the tops.

References

• University of Illinois Extension: Carrot
• Ohio State University Extension; Growing Carrots in the Home Garden; Pamela J. Bennett
• Iowa State University; Growing Carrots in the Home Garden; Richard Jauron; February 2005
• Clemson Cooperative Extension; Carrot, Beet & Radish; Marjan Kleupfel; June 1999
• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension; Easy Gardening Carrots; Joseph Masabni
• Colorado State University Extension: How Much Sun Do Vegetable Crops Need?

Resources

• Clemson Cooperative Extension; Using & Storing Carrots; September 2005
• University of California Integrated Pest Management: Carrot Integrated Weed Management