Growing Carrots from Seed

Growing carrots from seeds, quite like growing asparagus from seed or growing broccoli from seed, is a great way to ensure that you get to see and control the whole process of growth, right from seedling to the time the plant is on your dinner table. We here at Grower Central always recommend growing your fruits, vegetables and plants from seed wherever possible, rather than growing seedlings as the process is so much more rewarding and a great learning experience. Today, we’ll talk about how you can start growing carrots from seed.

Growing carrots from seed is fairly easy and just requires a few things to be kept in mind. The first is the time of the year that you start growing carrots from seed. Carrots prefer to grow, and will actually grow the best in, temperate climates, so August to March is when we recommend you sow your carrot seeds.

The next important step to remember when growing carrots from seed is making sure that your soil is in perfect condition for the carrots to grow. Carrots require deep soil that is well drained and is also free of rocks or stones. Rocks, stones or other obstacles in the soil can get in the way of the carrots roots. Make sure that you turn your soil over and leave it rather loose. Generally, we recommend that you turn the top 6 to 7 inches of soil. This is a very important step. Your soil must be loose and free of any obstructions while growing carrots from seed. The reason being is that your carrots will actually deform themselves, growing in odd shapes or even dying off to try and avoid hitting any rocks or stones in the soil as they grow. Also ensure that you do not use large amounts of fertilizer while growing carrots from seed as this will result in poor root development.

Unlike other fruits and vegetable seeds, growing carrots from seed actually requires you to sprinkle the seed ON TOP of the soil and not dug in a small hole in the ground. Try to sprinkle thin lines of seeds, about a quarter of an inch to half an inch thick of carrot seeds. Once you’ve sprinkled your seeds on the soil, cover them up with a thin layer of about an inch of soil. This should leave lines of mounds where you’ve covered your carrot seeds.

Growing carrots from seed doesn’t require too much nurture or care during their growing process. A small watering about once a week is all your carrots will need to grow.

One of the great thing about growing carrots from seed is that when it comes time to harvest your carrots, you don’t have to harvest them all at once! Only take out what you need and the rest will stay perfectly fine in the ground!

When growing carrots from seed, always remember that:

• Carrots prefer warmer climates
• Carrots only need watering about once a week.
• Growing carrots from seed takes about 4 months until you can harvest them

While growing carrots from seed, be wary of:

• Ensure that your soils is completely free of rocks, stones or any other hard obstacles.
• Make sure you don’t dig a hole to bury your seeds. Instead, sprinkle on top of the soil and then cover over.
• Be wary of using too much fertilizer as it can create carrots with large and thick leaves but no root system.

That’s everything you’ll need to know when growing carrots from seed, good luck and happy planting!

The Author:

A keen green thumb and writer for growercentra_com