When to plant carrots?

Carrots are a popular root vegetable with a typically conical or cylindrical root that ranges in color from orange to yellow to red. Carrots prefer deep, loose, well-drained soil with a pH close to neutral. So when should carrots be planted?

When to plant carrots?

Carrots are an adaptable vegetable that can be grown in spring, summer and fall. However, for carrots planted in autumn, the choice of sowing time is particularly critical, because climatic conditions in different regions can lead to differences in planting time. For example, in some areas of Northeast China, farmers usually start sowing carrots in late June, while in northern regions such as Shandong, Hebei, and Henan, the sowing time is mostly concentrated in late July to August. Provinces further south, such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang, start sowing around August.

Carrot Planting Tips

1. Soil preparation

Since the fleshy roots of carrots grow completely in the soil and extend downward, up to more than 20 centimeters long, the soil must be loose and breathable. In order to promote the deep growth of fleshy roots, the soil needs to be deeply plowed and finely raked before planting, to a depth of at least 20 cm. Doing so will provide good conditions for the development of fleshy roots. If the soil is too compacted, the fleshy roots will have difficulty growing downward, which may cause the roots to become stubby or forked.

2. Reasonable fertilization

Carrot cultivation requires the proper use of fertilizers . Unfermented organic fertilizers should not be used as they may attract pests and damage the root system. When applying fertilizer, it should be applied deeply or mixed with the soil, and avoid shallow application or applying it too close to the seeds and roots to prevent the fleshy roots from growing short or forked. When applying base fertilizer, adding an appropriate amount of wood ash can help promote root growth, prevent pests, and improve the quality of carrots.

3. Ridge planting

Ridge cultivation is an ideal way to grow carrots because it not only increases the thickness of the soil layer, but also makes the soil more loose and breathable, which is conducive to the deep development of the root system. Ridge cultivation also helps drainage during periods of continuous rain. When cultivating in ridges, the row spacing should be controlled at 50-60 cm, with two rows planted per ridge. Practice has shown that carrots grown on ridges are not only straighter and longer in shape, but also have a yield that is more than 20% higher than that grown on flat land. For sandy soil and loose and fertile soil, ridge planting can also be used.

4. Management during the seedling stage

Carrots may be sown during a season of high temperature and strong light, so the soil needs to be kept moist from sowing to germination. Depending on the actual situation, you can use straw mats, weeds and other materials to cover the soil to maintain moisture. When you find the soil dry, water it in time to promote rapid germination and emergence of seeds. After the seedlings emerge, thinning should be carried out in time to ensure that there is appropriate growth space between the seedlings to avoid overcrowding that affects growth. Thinning can be done in stages.

In summary, when planting carrots, it is important to take into account local climatic conditions and the specific growth cycle of the carrot variety. Generally speaking, it takes about 100 to 110 days for carrots to grow from sowing to harvesting. Therefore, proper sowing time is essential to ensure that carrots can grow and mature under suitable climatic conditions.