How to Water Carrots
Growing your own carrots makes sense; fresh carrots from your garden provide you with a pure source of Vitamin A and fiber, and growing them can be less expensive than buying them in the supermarket. However, carrots can be a bit fussy about their maintenance, and common mistakes can yield you shriveled, pale, cracked or soapy-tasting carrots. All of these flaws have a lot to do with watering levels and soil quality. Overwatering carrots will give you cracked or rotten vegetables or hairy roots. Luckily, once you know how to water carrots, you'll get near-perfect ones every time. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Dig 4 inches deep into the soil beside the carrots. Rub your fingers in the soil, once you've dug that far. If the soil feels moist, you don't need to water the carrots. If the soil feels dry, it's time to water the plants.
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Attach a sprayer to your garden hose. Water each plant slowly and deeply. You want the water to travel down to the roots so each carrot receives an even drink of water.
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Give each carrot ¼ inch of water from your garden hose sprayer every other day. You should be able to roughly eyeball this amount. Your goal is to give the carrots a total of about 1 inch of water per week.
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Tips & Warnings
Water the carrots one week after planting the seeds.
Water carrots in the early morning hours, so that the excess water gets absorbed by the soil, rather than evaporating.
Reduce the amount you water carrots proportionate to your rainfall. For example, if you get an inch or more of rainfall once week, you don't need to water your carrots.
References
- Photo Credit Goodshoot RF/Goodshoot/Getty Images
