In Russia there is no such garden where carrots are not planted. Some root crops work out well, juicy, smooth, sweet. Others look painful, crooked squiggles, bitter, cracked. What is the secret of this orange beauty? Maybe in the choice of seeds? Hardly.
How to grow carrots in the open field so that it will thank you with a high yield? It turns out that she is still that capricious girl. And it needs a special approach. Just from the category of "dancing with a tambourine" and "what else do you need?".
soil for carrots
Carrot is a stubborn girl. Slightly that not on it or her, at once the nose turns back. In other words, it begins to grow at random. He releases a lot of tails, but there is no sense. That is, the soil should be as loose as possible. That's right, so that the foot drowns. Therefore, the bed is prepared in advance, in the fall.
They dig deep, one and a half bayonet. So that there was room for carrots to grow. Otherwise, it will start to dodge and spin.
She also loves to eat, hearty and dense. But during growth it is inconvenient to feed her. It is useless to pour from above, when will it still reach the root? It is also impossible to loosen the earth, there is a risk of damaging small roots. What to do? Apply fertilizer early.
In autumn, well-ripened humus is added, but more. Manure is not brought in. Only if he completely overdid it, and even then they abstain. The sand is poured, large, clean. Sawdust, shavings are not suitable. They strongly acidify the soil, and carrots do not like this passion. It is better to pour fluffy lime, dolomite flour, pour ash. Again, this is all - strictly before the winter digging.
Mineral fertilizers are added. Especially orange beauty respects potassium, phosphorus. But nitrogen does not like. At all. Root vegetables are huge, but not sweet. Only suitable for livestock feed.
And vice versa. If you plan to sow carrots in winter, then the garden bed is prepared in advance, in spring or in the middle of summer.
Is it possible to plant carrots before winter
So what? If the bed is well cultivated, then why not? Seeds begin to germinate already at a soil temperature of +5°C. Suddenly arrive at the site much later? In addition, an early carrot will not hurt anyone, especially on the table. Another plus: by the time the weeds begin to sprout, the beauty will grow a beautiful lush braid. Therefore, she is not in danger of being beaten.
Of course, such root crops are not suitable for long-term storage, you will have to lie for too long. But for early use - just right.
The principle of winter sowing is very simple. To do this, prepare a bed from the summer. Around October, furrows are cut according to the usual pattern. And prepare dry soil in buckets. They are put in the underground, cellar, barn. In a word, where the earth does not freeze into a lump and remains loose.
With the onset of persistent frosts, about -10 ° C, they come to the garden. Almost the entire layer of snow is removed from it, leaving about 1-1.5 cm. Carrot seeds are laid directly on the snow in the prepared grooves. Sprinkle with soil prepared in buckets. And the snow is thrown back on top.
All. Now in the spring, as soon as the bed warms up to about + 6 ° C, the carrot will start to grow. In the middle lane, this is approximately mid-April. And the usual method involves only in the third decade to start sowing.
Thus, winter planting allows you to get a crop at least a month earlier.
Advice. Seeds must be absolutely dry! Wet will just kill frost. Dry will calmly endure the most severe winter, it would be more snow.
But not everyone runs the risk of planting carrots using the method described above. Most are used to sowing it the old fashioned way, in the spring. Well, let's figure out how to do it right.
Seed preparation. Carrot has one feature. Its seeds are very high in essential oils. Some kind of protective shell. It protects the seeds from the outside from the effects of negative factors. But here's the catch. The same essential oil greatly complicates the germination of seeds. Have you noticed how long carrots take to sprout?
To destroy this ethereal shell, gardeners use a variety of methods. Here are the most common:
- Seeds are placed in a linen bag, pour it with hot clean water. Approximately at +50°C for three hours. At the same time, the water is changed to fresh water 4 times during this time.
- Before planting, the seeds are mixed with wet sand and, as it were, rubbed between the fingers. Strong enough.
- Seeds are soaked for 12 hours, then the water is completely drained. Place them in the refrigerator for 2 days. This makes the essential oil evaporate faster.
- A linen bag with dry seeds is added dropwise in any flower pot. Keep like this for about 10 days. During this time, the soil will draw out most of the ethereal shell.
All these methods speed up the germination of carrot seeds by about two times. That is, seedlings will have to wait only a week instead of the usual two.
We sow carrots
By the way, there are a lot of pelleted seeds on sale now. The piece is comfortable. Large balls are easy to sow. The shell contains the whole complex of minerals, so necessary for young sprouts. Some are even impregnated with a growth stimulant. The only disadvantage of such seeds is the presence of a large amount of moisture during germination. That is, the earth must be damp. You will have to shed it well. And in hot weather, you again need to water the furrows until the first loops appear.
But it is quite possible to get by with ordinary carrot seeds. In order to make it convenient to plant, gardeners have come up with many different ways. Let's check them each.
Paste. Cook the usual paste, medium density. Pour the approximate amount of the desired seeds into it and stir thoroughly. Then, a furrow is shed simply from a vessel with a thin spout. A teapot works well for this purpose.
The disadvantage of the method is that you still need to get the hang of pouring this mixture evenly over the entire length of the beds.
Sand. The seeds are mixed with clean, damp sand. The proportion is 1 to 1. And this mixture is already sown in the furrows, as usual. So the seeds fall less often.
Minus the method: older people no longer have young finger sensitivity. Therefore, it is easy to confuse sand with seeds. The uniformity of landings will still be violated.
Bubble. Any bottle with a screw cap. A hole is made in it with an awl, a little larger than a carrot seed. Pour raw materials inside. A sharp movement of the hand is made above the furrow - the seed flies out through the hole.
Disadvantage: the first time the seed may simply not fall into the hole. From the second time, three pieces will fly out at once. So go ahead, shake the bubble like crazy.
Paper. In their free time, they take the cheapest toilet paper. Seeds are glued to it with the help of a paste and a toothpick. Then, after drying, you just need to cut everything into strips. When planting, they are laid in furrows and sprinkled with earth.
Minus: an occupation for the very patient, because it is tedious, long and breaking the eyes.
Use whichever suits you. Perhaps you can turn disadvantages into advantages. Just use the classic principle: they spill the furrow very heavily before laying the seeds. And sprinkle with loose, always dry soil.
This will prevent the formation of a thick earthen crust on the surface, and the seedlings will freely break through.
Caring for carrots
She is, of course, a girl. But she needs care a little different than a young girl.
Loosening. After each watering or rain, it is necessary to loosen the top layer of soil to a depth of no more than 2-2.5 cm. It is necessary to break the crust so that it does not compact the ground around the root crop. You don't have to go deeper. But between the furrows you can frolic with a chopper or flat cutter from the heart. Thus, the pressure of the soil on the root crop will decrease and small feeding roots will remain intact.
Watering. Carrot loves to drink. A lot, rarely, but very regularly. Make a rule for yourself: once a week on the same day, thoroughly shed the soil in the plantings. You need to moisten to a depth of at least 20-22 cm.
If watered often and little by little, then the root crop will be short and shaggy. And the first mighty summer downpour will cause the strongest cracking of fruits.
If you don’t water at all (let’s not let it grow itself), then there is a great risk of getting woody and bitter dried bread instead of a crop. They don't look like carrots at all.
Top dressing. During the entire growing season, fertilizers are not applied! All top dressings must be added to the soil in advance. If carrots receive nutrition from the outside during growth, they will grow big. But there will be no taste. This is especially true of mineral fertilizers with a high nitrogen content.
Pests. In addition to people, the carrot fly loves to eat carrots. She especially respects young landings immediately after pulling. Remember how far the aroma of the tops spreads at the end of the procedure.
To avoid such a nuisance, some sources recommend alternating grooves with onion plantings. There will definitely be an effect. But very weak.
It's better to act like this:
- a day before the proposed tearing, prepare an infusion of onion peel
- on X-day, liquid is poured into a spray bottle
- draw a groove and quickly spray the plantings with infusion
It's not really worth pouring. Onion infusion is very smelly, you need quite a bit of it. Just to kill the carrot flavor. By the way, you can periodically spray carrots throughout the growing season. This will 100% secure plantings from carrot flies. The rest of the pests are quite indifferent to the orange beauty.
Harvest
When to start digging carrots? In principle, all information in great detail is always indicated on the packaging of seeds. Focus on it and you definitely can't go wrong.
What to do if the seeds were donated or you grew them yourself? Of course, you can pull out one root crop at a time and look at it for a long time. Is it time or still let him sit in the ground? How to guess?
It turns out that everything is simple. Carrots begin to be massively harvested when 4-6 lower leaves turn yellow and begin to dry out. If they are still green and cheerful, then let them grow for now.
By the way, try not to dig out part of the garden. Cut the foliage with scissors or pruners to the very root. But don't touch the flesh. After about 2 days, when the top of the root crop dries up, sprinkle it with soil with your head. And forget until spring.
As soon as the snow melts, feel free to take a pitchfork and dig out your experiment. Carrots in the cellar at this point are already showing clear signs of wilting. And the one that you left in the garden will be fresh, juicy and tasty.
Advice. Just do not forget to thoroughly compact the soil around the left root crops. Straight with your feet and tighter. Mice are also very fond of such carrots. And the trampled earth will prevent them from tasting the sweet pulp.
- If planting too often, be sure to thin out the carrots immediately after watering. So the root crops will be pulled out of the soil without damaging the nearby girlfriends.
- Store carrots in a well ventilated area. Thus, you will avoid the manifestation of many putrefactive and fungal diseases. You are not sure about the complete sterility of your soil?
- When digging up root crops, do not pull them by the tops. A long piece may break off and remain in the soil. Use pitchforks. They easily enter the most dense soil and the risk of damaging the fruits is minimal.
- Plant varieties of different ripening periods. Use the early ripe ones for daily cooking. This carrot does not lie well in the cellar. Mid-season ripen just in time for the harvest time for the winter. Late-ripening varieties store best. They ripen just in time for laying in cellars and basements.
- Carrots are not planted with seedlings. Experiments conducted by some gardeners have shown that such root crops always grow crooked and do not gain their characteristic mass. At the same time, precious time is spent on transplantation. And it is not enough in the spring.
How to grow carrots outdoors? Actually, it's not that easy. Size is not the main advantage of the orange beauty. It is much more important to get juicy and sweet root crops at a minimum cost. Take good care of the carrot, and it will not rust behind it.
Video: how to plant carrots
Each gardener has his own secret of growing carrots. To get a good harvest of orange root crops, certain rules must be followed. High-quality planting material, timely and properly prepared ridge, competent sowing of seeds at the right time give a good result when planting carrots in spring in open ground in the country and in Belarus, Ukraine, Siberia and the Moscow region.
Today, different varieties of carrots are available to grow, which can be harvested in the garden if properly cared for and fertilized. What method of planting and growing can be chosen for a fruitful garden will be described below.
Second term - end of May, beginning of June. In early summer, late varieties are planted. Carrots with a growing season of 120-130 days by the end of September will be filled with juice, ripen and will be ready for laying in the cellar.
Late varieties planted during these periods are well stored in winter.
If late varieties are planted at the end of May, they are well stored in spring.
What soil to choose for a good yield
Soil preparation so that carrots can quickly sprout and germinate is no less important than the correct planting time. A good harvest is achieved by gardeners who know the structure and acidity of the soil in their summer cottage. High yields are obtained if seeds are sown on the soil well dug up and without stones, respectively, it is necessary to process it well.
To improve the structure make:
- Peat for loosening in clay soil.
- Organics are applied in spring to sandy loamy soil, and in autumn to heavy loam.
- Once every 5 years acidic soil deoxidize, this can be done by adding at least 30 g / m2 of lime.
- In the spring, they bring on a carrot ridge before digging mineral fertilizers.
The norm of the number of mineral fertilizers per 1 m²: superphosphate - 20 g, potassium sulfate - 20 g.
Table of optimal acidity for different types of soil, where you need to clearly follow the scheme.
During the summer season, harmful microorganisms, eggs and insect larvae accumulate in the soil. It is impossible to sow a vegetable in one place every year. 100% crop will suffer from onion fly.
Way out - crop rotation. Good precursors are:
- beet
- salad;
- tomatoes;
- potato.
How and when to plant carrot seeds outdoors
Preparation for sowing begins in advance. You can check the germination before planting if you decide to use regular seeds instead of pelleted seeds. The procedure is not difficult. A few seeds (20 pcs.) Planted in a flower pot.
If free time allows at the end of winter prepare landing strips, toilet paper and a paste made from potato starch and flour are used.
Strips to cut no wider than 1 cm. Their length should be equal to the width of the future ridge. Seeds stick with an interval of 3 cm. It is convenient to do this with a wooden toothpick or skewer.
Calculate the required number of tapes according to the formula: divide the length of the ridge by 30 and add 1. Here 30 is the distance between the rows.
A ridge 1 m wide should be prepared after the soil has matured. Signs of an arable layer ready for planting - clods of earth crumbling from a light blow. Mark the furrows across the ridge with a bar with an interval of 30 cm. Spill them with water and let stand. When the ground settles, start sowing.
It is better to sprinkle seeds not with earth, but with humus or a mixture of peat and sand. Friendly seedlings are obtained if the seeding depth is observed 1-1.5cm. Spring winds are not uncommon. You can avoid blowing seeds with the help of a film shelter. You can remove it after the appearance of the first panicles.
Advice for gardeners with a small plot. When sowing use radish as a compacting plant. It has 3 times less growing season and when the panicles are 5-7 cm, radishes can be harvested for food. With combined plantings, carrots are friends with radishes, garlic and lettuce.
Another recommendation that will facilitate the sowing of small carrot seeds. Those who sow carrots with dry seeds can use it. Crush the chalk, mix with the seeds. The seeds will turn white, they will be clearly visible against the background of black earth, then they can be planted according to the technology.
When it rises
Light green panicles emerge into the light two weeks later or later. If there is a desire to speed up germination, then you can take the advice of an experienced gardener.
You will need a small amount of vodka. Seeds should be soaked in it for no more than 15 minutes. The seeds are then washed with running water and dried. Sow less often.
Most gardeners prefer to soak the seeds in cold water for a day, dry them and sow.
As soon as shoots appear, the usual care of the ridge begins:
- weeding;
- watering;
- thinning;
- hilling;
- cleaning.
Proper watering of carrots is one of the components of care Need weeding throughout the summer. Weeds have no break, they grow on the ridges from spring to autumn, they need to be thinned out.
Watering is a simple task, but it must be done according to the rules. The plant does not like surface watering, it is better to water less often, but more abundantly. Moderately moist soil at the depth of root growth is what the root crop needs.
Causes of cracking carrots: excessive watering, a sharp change in the level of soil moisture.
Hilling is carried out at the end of summer, raking root crops sticking out of the ground. If this is not done, the upper part of the carrot turns green, its taste deteriorates.
Many gardeners like to loosen the ground between carrot rows. This gets rid of the crust that appears after the next watering. The best option to keep moisture in the ground and prevent the formation of a crust - mulch.
Use humus as mulch. You need a layer no thicker than 3 cm. A thicker layer provokes carrots to grow "horns".
Harvesting root crops for storage is a responsible matter. It also has its own rules. So short root crops are pulled out of the ground by the tops. long carrot dig in with a pitchfork. The tops are cut off, stepping back from the root by 1 cm.
How to thin out for good yields
Inexperienced gardeners do not know that carrots need to be thinned out. The result of this illiteracy is small carrots. Thinning is uprooting densely growing carrot sprouts.
Start thinning when the tops are pulled up up to 5 cm. Remove frail sprouts. A gap of 3-5 cm is left if varieties with short root crops grow on the ridge. For long root crops of large diameter, a 10 cm interval must be maintained.
The second time, excess sprouts are removed when they reach the tops 10 cm. It is better to work in the evening, watering the ridge beforehand. Leave gaps between sprouts of 6 cm. Thinning is carried out until mid-June.
In autumn, the carrot crop will delight the eye with orange splendor and is easy to grow if simple rules are followed when planting and the necessary care is provided for the carrot bed during the summer.
Our article will help you to harvest a rich harvest of large crispy carrots. Following the tips below, you will learn how to choose the right varieties for outdoor cultivation.
We have collected all the information necessary for summer residents and gardeners. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the tips for preparing seeds and beds, as well as find out the features of sowing carrots and caring for them.
Growing carrots outdoors
When planting seeds, the correct sowing time is important, because the yield of root crops depends on this. It should also be borne in mind that the ripening of varieties occurs in different ways and the timing of harvest depends on this.
To obtain early products, the so-called "beam", winter or spring crops are carried out. It is better to give preference to early spring crops, since the seeds can freeze in the harsh winter.
This vegetable is grown in a seedless way. But it is better to sow seeds after stable warm weather is established. In spring, sowing is carried out in late April or early May, but it can also be sown in the first decade of June. For the winter, it is sown in late October or early November. So that the crops are not too thick, a teaspoon of seeds should be mixed with a glass of sand.
Carrot varieties
There are many varieties and hybrids of carrots. Some varieties are sown for the winter, others in the spring, they differ in yield and storage time.
Figure 1. Early varieties: 1 - Amsterdam, 2 - Parisian Carotel, 3 - Parmex, 4 - Dragon, 5 - Finhor Early varieties are characterized by rapid germination, but the root crops do not have a pronounced sweet taste and are not intended for long-term storage. Popular early varieties include (Figure 1):
- Amsterdam: high yielding variety. The roots are bright orange, blunt-tipped and do not crack when grown.
- Carotel Parisian: orange short and rounded.
- Parmex - root crops of bright orange color, spherical and medium in size.
- Dragon - an unusual early variety with bright orange flesh and purple skin.
- Finhor - the first crop is harvested within 2.5 months after planting. Root crops are large, contain a lot of carotene and are highly resistant to diseases.
Mid-season varietiesripen by the beginning of autumn and can be stored for several months(picture 2):
- Nantes- cylindrical fruits that can be stored until the middle of winter.
- Vitamin - characterized by fairly large fruits with a high content of carotene.
- Moscow winter - roots are elongated, with a blunt tip, resistant to disease and can be stored for a long time.
- Red giant- high-yielding variety with fruits of bright color, which can be stored for a long time.
Figure 2. Mid-season varieties: 1 - Nantes, 2 - Vitamin, 3 - Moscow winter, 4 - Red giant Late-ripening varieties are intended for long-term storage and consumption in winter fresh or cooked. The most popular varieties are (Figure 3):
- Vita Longa- fruits of an elongated shape with a high content of sugar and cartoin. They do not crack during cultivation and can be stored until a new harvest.
- yellowstone- an unusual yellow spindle-shaped carrot with a sharp tip.
- autumn queen- high-yielding and disease-resistant variety. Can be sown both in spring and in winter.
- Shantane- root crops are short and thick, bright orange in color, quite large. They can be stored all winter, until a new crop is obtained.
Figure 3. Late varieties: 1 - Vita Longa, 2 - Yellowstone, 3 - Queen of Autumn, 4 - Shantane Experienced gardeners advise sowing several varieties at once with different harvest times.
Fresh seeds are chosen for sowing to ensure high plant germination. The first shoots appear about 3-4 weeks after sowing. Seeds of culture need preliminary preparation, which is carried out immediately before sowing, in order to speed up the germination process.
Ways seedbed preparation(picture 4):
- Soak: fabric bags with seeds are dipped in warm water (+30ᵒС) for a day, changing it every 4 hours. For soaking, a solution of wood ash with water is also used. After that, the seeds are rinsed with clean water.
- hardening: For a good result, soaking is combined with hardening. To do this, wet bags with seeds are kept in the refrigerator for 2-5 days.
- Heat treatment: bags with seeds are dipped in hot water (+50ᵒС) for 20 minutes, then in cold water for 2 minutes.
Figure 4. Preparing seeds for sowing Also, the seeds can be folded into cloth bags and buried in the soil for 10-12 days to harden them and speed up germination. In addition, they can be mixed with peat and transferred to a warm place for germination.
When to plant carrots
In the spring, furrows are made on the prepared bed at a distance of 20 cm from each other, watered, sprinkled with ash and seeds are sown. Depending on the time of planting, seeds are also prepared: in spring they should be swollen, and the sowing depth should not exceed 4 cm. From above, the bed is covered with earth, mulch and covered with a film (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Selecting a plot for planting carrots For winter sowing, dry seeds are used, which are immersed in the ground by only 2 cm. In addition, the bed can be sprinkled with snow to increase productivity.
Landing: site selection, soil preparation and fertilization
For growing carrots, you need to choose well-lit areas where the sun shines throughout the day. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the order in which crops are grown in a particular area. It is impossible to plant a crop on the same bed every year, since a violation of crop rotation will lead to a decrease in yield. Also, it is not planted after parsley, dill, parsnip and celery. But cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, cabbage and potatoes are considered good predecessors (Figure 6).
This crop has a number of specific growing features. She loves light very much and cannot stand shading. Drought tolerant and frost tolerant at the same time.
Figure 6. The order of sowing carrots For cultivation, choose fertile soils with good drainage. However, it is not recommended to grow a crop for more than 3 years in one place.
Note: It is better to sow radishes along the edges of the beds. After germination, the rows will be more clearly marked, and it will be easier to loosen the plants.
It is useful to plant onions near the beds, as its smell drives away pests. Watering should be plentiful until the first shoots, then reduce watering to twice a week. After the formation of the first leaf, the seedlings must be thinned out.
To obtain a good harvest, it is necessary to loosen the row-spacings, especially after watering and rains, regularly destroy weeds, carry out top dressing and fight diseases and pests.
Extra and weak plants are pulled out, and strong ones are lightly sprinkled with earth. During cultivation, thinning is carried out several times (Figure 7):
- The first with the appearance of several leaves, when the height of the plants reaches 7 cm;
- The second time, when the diameter of the fruit reaches one and a half centimeters. At the same time, the distance between plants should be 3-6 cm, depending on the variety (for early and late, respectively).
Figure 7. Watering, fertilizing and loosening carrots Water the bed regularly, about once a week. Before watering, the soil must be loosened. Excess moisture leads to a delay in the growth of the root crop and increased growth of the tops. With a sharp transition from dryness to high humidity, the roots crack. If there is a delay in watering, then resume it gradually. The last watering is carried out no later than three weeks before harvesting.
Note: For irrigation use water heated throughout the day in barrels or other containers. Watering is better in the evening.
After a large amount of precipitation falls on heavy soils, a crust forms, which prevents the germination of weak plants, and also impairs gas exchange and increases the evaporation of moisture. To destroy it, the soil is treated with a flat cutter or a homemade ripper. It is impossible to be late with loosening, since the first shoots develop slowly and the weeds overtake them in growth. Loosening is carried out carefully between rows, best of all in sunny weather.
Plants are fed in the phase of 3-4 leaves. Fertilizers are applied at a distance of 10 cm from the rows in moist soil. During the first feeding, nitrogen fertilizers are applied, the second time - potash and phosphorus. Weak plants are fed with solutions of slurry, bird droppings or mineral fertilizers. Top dressings from infusion of wood ash and vegetable compost are also considered effective.
The author of the video will tell you how to properly care for carrots at all stages of cultivation.
Pest and disease control
The most common diseases of carrots are fungi. They infect leaves, cause rotting of root crops and change their taste. Major illnesses include (Figure 8):
- Phomosis (dry rot)
Ripe root crops are affected, but the first signs can be seen even on the stems. Oblong gray-brown spots appear on petioles and leaves. Dark cavities form on the root crops.
The fungus quickly spreads to other root crops during winter storage, so the crop should be regularly sorted out and stored at a temperature not exceeding +10 degrees. To combat the fungus, the tops are destroyed after harvesting and potassium phosphate fertilizers are applied.
- white rot
The fungus enters the soil along with manure. The development of the fungus is facilitated by the presence of weeds, dense planting and improper storage.
The fungus begins to appear during storage, the roots gradually become soft. A fluffy white mycelium with drops of moisture appears on the damaged areas. You can prevent the disease by spraying the stems with products containing copper and potash top dressing. The cellar must be disinfected before storing vegetables.
- brown spot
A fungus that affects all parts of the plant. On young shoots, dark stripes appear at the base of the stem. This can lead to the death of the plant at the beginning of the growing season. With the defeat of adult cultures, yellow areas appear on the leaves, which gradually darken. The affected areas of the lower part of the stem dry out, the plant dies. You can prevent the disease by spraying with a decoction of horsetail, nettle or celandine.
- powdery mildew
White coating, from a distance resembling a fly. Plants of the first year and seed plants are most often affected, as well as specimens with water deficiency and growing on infertile soils. The affected areas become rough and brittle. For the fight using various complex fungicides.
Figure 8. Diseases of carrots: 1 - phomosis, 2 - white rot, 3 - brown spot, 4 - powdery mildew In addition, pests can destroy the crop, such as (Figure 9):
- carrot fly - at the end of May, they lay eggs in the ground next to the plant, and the larvae begin to eat the root crop and leaves, which leads to the death of the plant. Flies are especially attracted to exposed semi-ripe root crops. A spoiled root crop should not be consumed. To protect the crop from flies, you need to thin out seedlings and remove weeds in time, as well as treat plants with insecticides several times a season. You can also mix ash, tobacco powder and slaked lime and sprinkle rows for prevention.
- Ploshka - multiplies on the leaves and feeds on the juices of the stems, which is why the ground part dies. To protect plants from insects, young shoots are recommended to be covered with a non-woven fabric. You can not sow seeds near coniferous trees. To scare away psyllids, infusions of tobacco dust and orange peels are used.
- Winter Owl - a gray-brown butterfly that infects stems and root crops. To combat caterpillars, spraying with infusions of chamomile, yarrow, burdock is carried out.
- naked slugs gnaw holes in ripe root crops, leaving a shiny mark. Reproduction is facilitated by wet weather.
Figure 9. Pests of carrots: 1 - carrot fly, 2 - psyllid, 3 - winter scoop, 4 - naked slugs Collection and storage
It is important to determine when to dig up carrots, because they must be in the soil for at least 80 days. If you dig it out earlier, it will not have time to absorb all the useful substances. If overexposed, the root crops will gain excess moisture, begin to crack and deteriorate.
Figure 10. Collection and storage of root crops Early varieties can be dug up in the second half of summer. The time of collection of mid-ripening varieties can be determined by yellowed tops. Late varieties are dug in late September - early October.
After harvesting the root crops, they need to be dried. Smaller ones can be kept in the garden. They dig a hole, pour clean sand to the bottom and lay carrots without tops, pouring sand. They fall asleep with earth and throw leaves on top.
In storage, carrots are kept in open plastic bags, boxes or boxes, sprinkled with moistened sand (Figure 10).
Carrots are a vegetable popular in cooking. It adds sweetness to the dish. It goes well with other vegetables, meat, fish or fruits. This root crop is not a capricious plant, but mistakes in caring for it can lead to diseases, significantly reduce the quality and volume of the crop.
Over a long period of time, people have bred a large number of varieties of carrots. Initially, the plant was domesticated in our area as an exotic spice. Seeds and tops of which were used as seasoning. Carrots are rich in vitamins and minerals. It is necessary for a person to maintain life. The root crop has a positive effect on vision, contributes to the overall strengthening of the body due to the content of vitamins, acids and other useful components. Varieties of carrots for open groundCarrot cultivarsVarieties of carrots are conditionally combined into three categories according to the criterion of the shape of the root crop. These are a cone, a cylinder and a sphere. Carrots are divided into varieties (Nantes, Shantane, Flakke), which are divided into early, medium and late ripening varieties. Nantes:
Parisian Carotel:
Amsterdam:
Emperor:
Berlicum-Nantes:
If you need carrots that will retain their taste and useful components for a long time, opt for the Queen of Autumn, Red Giant, Autumn Red, Long Red, Perfectia, etc. It is advisable to eat early carrots in the summer, or use them in conservation (in salads, marinades, etc.). It cannot be stored for a long time. The varieties best suited for wintering in the cellar are harvested in the fall, and the ripening time ranges from 3 to 4.5 months. Among the varieties of carrots, there is also a purple carrot F1 Purple Elixir, which contains special beneficial substances that help cleanse the body of fats and cholesterol, improve the functioning of the central nervous system and circulatory organs. Features of planting carrots in open groundIn order for carrots planted in open ground to bring a good harvest, it is necessary to carefully approach the choice of soil. The land should be loose, fertile, with neutral acidity and medium humidity. This is important for the quality of root crops: their shape, taste, health. Carrot seeds do not have to be processed in any particular way. But some gardeners try to speed up the process of germination by resorting to such tricks:
Seeds prepared for planting can be thrown into the ground. When sowing, try to keep the distance between the grains - this will facilitate the stage of thinning carrots. Growing carrots in the open field - the tricks of gardenersA proven method will help to observe the coveted distance of 3 cm between the grains when sowing. Outdoor carrot careAn important component of plant care is loosening the earth. This can be weeding or piercing the ground with a pitchfork. The procedure must be performed regularly, combining it with weed removal. Be sure to keep the soil loose. Thanks to this, the shape of the carrot will be perfect. And if you miss this, be prepared for a crooked and branched carrot that will be inconvenient to dig up and clean. If carrots were sown without a ruler, they need to be thinned out. The distance between adjacent sprouts should be 3 cm - this is the golden mean during the first thinning, which is performed when two true leaves appear in the seedlings. It is not necessary to perform such a procedure only when a complex prepared seeding using paper has been used. The procedure is repeated a second time after some time, when 4 sheets are formed, leaving an interval of 5-6 cm. Watering carrots in the open fieldWatering is one of the most important stages of care, the quality of which determines the appearance and taste of the root crop. You do not want to get sluggish carrots with a hint of bitterness? Then be sure to take your time organizing irrigation on the site. How often to water carrots in the open field?
Top dressing of carrots in the open fieldTwice during the season, regular watering should be replaced by watering with fertilizers: during the formation of seedlings and at 2-3 months of growth. A super mixture is diluted in 1 bucket of water: nitrophoska (1 tbsp), wood ash (1 tbsp), potassium nitrate (20 g), urea (15 g), double superphosphate (15 g). Diseases of carrots
Carrot pestsCarrots prevent pests from fully developing. Earth inhabitants can be gathered in one place and destroyed. Carrots are considered the most disease and pest resistant crop. Prevention and treatment of her ailments will cost you cheap or free. carrot harvestEarly ripe carrots look fully formed already in July. It is collected this month, but it is not subject to storage. The same applies to the August mid-season. Varieties for winter storage are harvested in September before the start of the rainy season. The ground should be dry and the weather clear and sunny. You can pull carrots out of the sandy ground with your hands. If the soil is dense, you will need a garden tool. On the surface, the carrots are sorted out, sorting into suitable for storage and damaged (broken). Married carrots should be eaten as early as possible before they wither or begin to grow rotten. It should not be stored with healthy carrots, as this is fraught with rotting and infection. As a result, the harvest will be spoiled. The tops are cut right at the head of the root crop, and the carrots themselves are laid out under a canopy to dry for 3-4 days. After that, it is necessary to withstand 10 days at an air temperature not higher than 14 ° C. for hardening. Spoiled root crops are isolated from the crop. Carrot storageEffectively sprinkle carrots with sand, dry moss, onion peel or chalk in boxes. The loose cushion protects the carrots from contact and disinfects the storage environment, thereby preventing the development of rot.
Methods for storing carrots may vary, depending on the variety used. In order not to be mistaken, consult with experienced gardeners or seed sellers which method of storing carrots is best for your chosen varieties.
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Carrots do not require special care, but the rules of cultivation must be followed. It is a drought-resistant crop, tolerates frosts and prolonged cold snaps. How to grow carrots? The secrets, like those of other vegetables, lie in the correct agricultural technology.
It requires more care than other crops. Let's take a closer look at how to grow carrots in a country house or garden plot with your own hands.
Soil preparation
It is required to choose a bright place before growing carrots. The secrets lie in the fact that with a lack of sunlight due to a falling shadow or uneven surface of the beds, root crops lose their sugar content and mass.
Before you grow a good crop of carrots, you need to choose a light and even soil. It should be sandy, light loamy, with good drainage. In dense loam, the fruits grow small; during storage, they are quickly affected by rot. Carrots should not be planted on acidic soils. It requires a neutral or slightly acidic environment.
Before you grow good carrots, you need to
The bed is prepared in the fall so that it settles down. It is made loose. To do this, add sawdust, humus, peat or sand. Chalk, lime, dolomite, ash are used for liming. Manure for growing carrots should not be used, because it turns out not very beautiful and poorly stored root crops. Humus should be applied to poor soil - a bucket per square meter. If groundwater is close, the bed is made high.
The arable layer is well formed with the help of green manure roots - plants that create a good soil structure. They are sown in the garden in the fall, in order to plant carrots in this place in the spring. Worms and microorganisms also create good soil structure.
Carrot beds should be constantly changed. Predecessors should be garlic, onions, cabbage, potatoes. How to grow large carrots if you have to grow the same crop in one place? The introduction of wood ash twice a year in the amount of 0.2 kg / m 2 will help here, followed by digging.
In the spring, a week before planting, the bed is leveled, loosened, treated with a 0.3% solution of vitriol, watered with warm water, and then covered with a polyethylene film. During this time, it will retain moisture and warm up well in the sun.
How to prepare seeds for sowing
Germination of carrot seeds is small - 55-75%. In this regard, the seeds should be taken fresh. In addition, carrots do not differ in uniform germination. After 2-3 weeks, the first shoots should appear. Seeds germinate for a long time due to the presence of essential oils on their surface, which slow down the penetration of moisture.
Before growing, it is necessary to prepare for sowing. Consider several ways to pre-germinate them.
Soak
Seeds are poured into cloth bags and kept overnight in warm water. Water must be changed every four hours. It can be made into a nutrient solution by adding wood ash (30 g/l). After the seeds must be washed.
The method will be more effective if additional hardening is performed. Seeds in wet bags are placed in the refrigerator for 2-5 days.
Soaking with nutrient solution
Use a weak solution of potassium permanganate with the addition of ½ teaspoon of fertilizer per liter of water or a mixture of nitrophoska and boric acid (1/3 teaspoon and 1/2 teaspoon per liter of water, respectively). Seeds are scattered on gauze folded several times, and also covered with it from above and poured with a solution for a day. The liquid level should be just above the tissue. Then they are washed with water and put in the refrigerator for three to four days.
If the weather does not allow planting seeds, they are left on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, keeping them moist all the time. In this case, you need to ensure that they do not germinate more than 0.5 cm.
Heat treatment
Heat treatment of seeds consists in their successive immersion in hot and cold water. They are poured into a bag and rinsed at a temperature of 50 degrees, and then dipped in a solution of humate and kept warm for two days. As a result, the germination of not only carrots, but also parsley and dill is accelerated.
bubbling
Bubbling speeds up the seed preparation process. An air or oxygen supply hose with an emery stone filter at the end is brought to the bottom of a non-metallic container with water. A mesh with seeds is placed on top.
During the bubbling process, the water is saturated with air. At home, a small aquarium compressor is enough for this. Bubbling time for carrot seeds is 17-24 hours. After the material is removed to the middle shelf of the refrigerator, where it is stored for 3-5 days. Before sowing, the seeds are dried for 12 hours so that they become free-flowing, and sown.
Burying seeds in the soil
Dry seeds are placed in cloth bags and buried in the ground with a shovel to a depth of one bayonet, where they should be at least 10-12 days. Then they are taken out and sown in the garden. After such treatment, seedlings should appear in five days.
Another way is to mix the seeds with moist peat and keep them in a warm place for at least one week. During this period, they have time to germinate, after which they are sown. Before planting in the ground, the seeds are dried for 20-25 minutes on parchment or cloth at room temperature.
How to grow carrots. Secrets of sowing and care
Before planting, seeds are selected and purchased that are most suitable for a particular region. You can also get them yourself. Before growing carrot seeds, you should find a good and large root crop, and then plant it in the spring. By autumn it will be ripe.
Carrots grow for about three months. To get a harvest in September, planting should be done no later than May. Sowing dates cover the period from the end of April to the first decade of June. Landing before May 5 is considered optimal.
Before winter, carrots are planted when the soil becomes cold enough. It can be from the end of October to the beginning of November. Sowing and harvesting times vary by variety and region. Northern varieties should not be planted in the south, as they will grow slowly. If you grow southern varieties in the middle lane, they give abundant tops, while root crops do not develop. Some varieties bred abroad are poorly stored.
It should be produced on time, otherwise the useful properties and keeping quality of root crops may deteriorate.
Small carrot seeds should be evenly spread in the groove. Therefore, they are mixed with sand or peat and sown in a garden bed.
So that neighboring rows do not interfere with her growth? To ensure sufficient illumination, it is better to make the beds narrow - no more than four rows of carrots.
Along the edge, bumpers are made to prevent water from running off. The distance between the rows should be 15 cm, and for late varieties - 20 cm. The bed is watered with water and sprinkled with ash. Seeds are placed in grooves at a distance of about 2.5 cm.
During spring-summer plantings, swollen seeds are planted shallowly - by 3-4 cm. They should be sprinkled with very light soil, which is used as black soil mixed with peat, sand or humus. Then, a ventilation gap is made from the film above the bed at a distance of about 12-15 cm.
The first shoots in warm weather appear in a week. If the temperature is below 12 degrees, the time is doubled. If there are empty places, additional sowing is done.
For many gardeners, the question of how to grow early carrots is problematic. Actually, it's easy. In autumn, carrots of early varieties are sown to a depth of 2 cm, and then sprinkled with mulch to a height of 3-4 cm. At the same time, the soil temperature should be below +5 degrees. When there is little snow in winter, the beds are additionally covered with them to a height of up to 50 cm. With this method of planting, the crop is harvested earlier than usual by 2-3 weeks.
Plant thinning
How to grow a good crop of carrots if it has risen well? To do this, you need to do a thorough thinning of seedlings after the appearance of the third leaf.
All this is not as simple as it seems at first glance. In order for the plants to be well removed, the bed should be watered and the soil carefully loosened. In addition, the operation should be performed during the day so as not to attract a pest - a carrot fly flying in the evening.
Sprouts should be removed with tweezers, leaving a distance of at least 2 cm. The smallest shoots are removed. The tops are thrown away from the beds. In no case should you leave it nearby, so as not to attract pests. A good deterrent is onion arrows, which are crushed and scattered in the garden. You can cover the crops with special material. The earth around the plants is slightly crushed. After 20 days, thinning is repeated. At the same time, a distance of 6 cm is left between the carrots.
The aisles need to be loosened and weeded (at least once a week) so that a sufficient amount of oxygen enters the roots. After thinning the aisle, mulch with compost or sawdust soaked for several weeks in a 2-3% urea solution.
How to grow large carrots? Here you need the right dosage of fertilizers. They cannot be applied in large quantities at once. Carrot beds begin to fertilize with mineral water when 5-6 sheets appear. The frequency of feeding is 2-4 weeks. This culture especially does not like excess nitrogen.
In the process of growth, the upper part of the root crop comes out of the ground and turns green. It does no harm, but the taste gets worse. How to grow sweet carrots so that they do not lose their taste? When root crops appear from the ground, they are spudded, raking the ground on them with a height of about 50 mm.
Watering carrot beds
Poor germination of carrots is associated primarily with the drying of the soil. Until she has risen, the top layer of the bed should be constantly wet. Sometimes the earth should be watered even several times a day. Granular seeds germinate especially hard. Immediately after sowing, the bed is protected with a film so that the top layer does not dry out.
Until the roots appear, watering is done after 3-4 days, 3-4 buckets per 1 m 2. At the same time, they independently grow in depth and find moisture. Therefore, watering is done once a week, 1-2 buckets per m 2, and from the end of August - 1 time in 1.5-2 weeks, 8-10 liters per square. Two weeks the beds are kept without watering until harvest.
Rough root crops are an indicator that they lacked moisture. With its excess, the fruits grow small. Sharp changes from drying out to excess moisture are also harmful, leading to cracking of the carrot and subsequent poor preservation.
Carrots are not afraid of cold weather, but at temperatures below 8 degrees, starch in root crops turns into sugar, and the keeping quality of root crops deteriorates. In the middle lane, the crop is harvested at the end of September in dry weather.
Collected within 1.5-2 hours, and then cut off the tops. The crop is sorted, flat carrots are placed in a ventilated box in a dark and cool place. It could be a cellar or basement.
Conclusion
You will never be able to reap a good harvest if you do not know how to grow carrots. The secrets of agricultural technology lie in the proper preparation of the soil, proper planting and care. As a result, in the fall you will get large and even root crops.
