Nantes: Nantes carrots, longer than berlicums, are straight with pointed ends. Varieties include Manchester Table, Touchon and Kuroda. Varieties include Paris Market and Baby.īerlicum, chantenay or stump-rooted: Straight with blunt ends, they are of medium length, usually growing about 20cm long. If you get tired of the traditional orange carrots, seed is available of white (White Belgian), yellow (Solar Yellow) and purple (Purple Dragon, Purple Haze) varieties.Īs with all vegetables, crop rotation is important to prevent disease, so do not grow carrots in the same spot more frequently than once in three years.īall or block: These are useful for stony or rough soil, as they grow only about 5cm long. Smaller varieties take up to 80 days to mature, larger varieties 90 to 100 days. Slim varieties, such as Ladies Finger and Mini Sweet, should be spaced about 1.5-2cm apart, while large-rooted main-crop varieties need 5cm between plants. Keep the soil moist.Īs carrots grow, they will need to be thinned. Whichever system you choose, cover seed with about 5mm of soil and press down gently, then water lightly. The carrot/radish combo is rather hit and miss because it is difficult to get an even mix and pulling the radishes, which mature first, can rip out the little carrots, too. Because the seed is fine, some gardeners mix it with sand, and others combine it with radish seed to make sowing easier. Make a groove about 1.5cm deep and trickle in the seed. Sow carrots where they are to grow, as - like their relatives, parsnips - they don't do the transplanting thing. Rows can be spaced about 30cm apart so hoeing to keep down weeds is easier, or closer so the foliage blocks light and keeps weeds out. Keep sowing every two or three weeks throughout the spring and early summer.

Below 5degC they struggle, so it pays to wait until the weather warms up a bit.Īlternatively, start small quantities under a cloche and sow more in open ground when it is warmer. One reason they fail to germinate is that they have been sown when the soil is too cold. It takes about 10 days for carrots to come through. If this is not feasible, try growing ball varieties. Lumpy, stony soil will also distort the roots, so break up clods and remove as many stones as possible. However, well-rotted compost can be worked in and Nitrophoska Extra (which recently replaced Nitrophoska Blue) can be added at the rate of about 50g to every metre of row where the carrots are to be sown. The ideal soil for carrots is light, moist and fertile but without a trace of fresh manure, as this will result in forked roots. Carrots are easy to grow provided you follow three simple rules: make sure your ground is not too rich, the soil is fine and the minimum ground temperature is above 5degC when seed is sown.Carrots are often lauded as being easy to grow, but their exponents tend to omit three qualifying 'ifs': carrots will do well if your ground is not too rich, if the soil is fine and if the minimum temperature is above 5degC when seed is sown.

Overwinter carrot seedlings