Carrots

[Gary350]

I finally found several videos that tell how to plant FALL carrots. Seeds germinate best when it is 80° to 85°F. Carrots grow best in cooler weather. Carrots are a 120 day crop this includes 2 weeks for seed germination. Plant carrots 4 months before your first frost. Keep soil wet during seed germination. Too much nitrogen grows big tops and no carrots or forked carrots & hairy carrots. Lots of P & K with small amount of N once a week is best 5-20-20. Cover seeds with 1/2" of very soft potting soil or sand & keep them wet. Plant lots of seeds and do not thin the plants. When carrots start to get over crowded pull up and eat the larger carrots first this allows smaller carrots to grow larger. When carrots are about 1" diameter pull them up they won't grow much bigger. Hot weather makes carrots get hard as wood and loose their flavor. Several YouTube videos show carrots grow best in 12" deep pots of potting soil.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xrXRBcKF3Q&t=65s

I grew a very good crop of carrots about 25 years ago but I didn't make notes and I don't remember details of what I did. I bought 2000 lbs of construction sand for a 3'x8' carrot bed. I planted about mid Aug or Sept 1st. I watered every morning before work, water again at 3:45 pm after work, water again 10 pm before bed. 4 months later we had a wheel barrel full of carrots.

Watch the video.

[imafan26]

That's great. I have some Kuroda carrots I planted with the cucumbers. They germinated quick at 82 degrees.

[Gary350]

Has anyone grown other varieties of carrots? I wonder what the flavor is like? I found carrots that R orange N center, purple outside surface, flavor is, carrot-y, what ever that means? It also says, slightly spicy flavor. I am interested in trying new things. I need to plant carrot seeds very soon, about Aug 20.

[applestar]

I’m currently trying different Japanese red carrot varieties. There are heirlooms (Kintoki) varieties as well as hybrids.

They are supposed to be sweet and somewhat fruity. I haven’t had the chance to eat any since the few that have been had vested so far were saved for daughters and all they said was “tasted good”

I have more growing that should be ready soon~by fall, and gave started some that hopefully can be harvested before the ground freezes (end of November).

I already like super early “baby” carrots — usually hybrids and ready in about 55 days — like Yaya, Mokum, and Minicor.


…I’ve heard those purple skinned ones are spicy. I think they are said to be closer to wild? Recently came across purples that are described as sweet — I might try those.

I’m also looking for sweet/juicy and early yellow ones.

[imafan26]

I got some purple carrots from the carrot field day. I was surprised because I thought they would be purple inside, but they are orange inside. I had Kyoto Red. They were skinny and long. The extension agent said that they should get wider, but they actually needed more time. Except for the size they tasted like a regular carrot. Some of the orange carrots I got had a stronger bite, but these carrots were harvested at 85 days and some of the carrots were overmature. I think those were the ones that were more bitter.

When I grow carrots at home, they grow a lot of tops but it takes over 100 days to form carrots. I did not thin them out so they were overmature baby carrots. I gave them to the worms.

[Gary350]

I got some purple carrots from the carrot field day. I was surprised because I thought they would be purple inside, but they are orange inside. I had Kyoto Red. They were skinny and long. The extension agent said that they should get wider, but they actually needed more time. Except for the size they tasted like a regular carrot. Some of the orange carrots I got had a stronger bite, but these carrots were harvested at 85 days and some of the carrots were overmature. I think those were the ones that were more bitter.

When I grow carrots at home, they grow a lot of tops but it takes over 100 days to form carrots. I did not thin them out so they were overmature baby carrots. I gave them to the worms.

I never thin carrots. I plant 350 to 400 seeds in a 10 gallon pot or 200 seeds in a 5 gallon bucket. Cover seeds with 1/2" of soil. Seeds germinate over a period of about 4 to 6 weeks. When some carrots are 1" diameter we start eating them that makes room for smaller carrots to grow larger and fill in the empty places. We can eat carrots for 6 weeks or longer. In cold weather carrots are good in the garden Nov to April.