When and how to sow carrots?

Always a staple in our culinary preparations, the carrot remains one of today's most popular vegetables. In fact, it's easy to grow in the kitchen garden, even if it does require a few key gestures for maintenance. To grow them successfully and get a good harvest, here are a few tips just for you!

Carrot growing: what you need to know

If you want to sow carrots in your vegetable garden, you should know that this crop does not present huge requirements. However, you still need to guarantee them certain conditions that are essential for their proper development. Here are the main points:

• seed in light, crumbly soil at least 15 cm deep;
• water regularly, especially for 4 to 6 weeks after sowing, but also during dry periods;
• thin out the carrots 6 to 8 weeks after sowing, i.e. leave one every 5 to 8 cm;
• weed to encourage your carrots to grow well;

When to sow carrots

The best time to sow carrots remains the period from March to July. I refer you to our calendar for the exact period depending on your region. Note that some carrot varieties are earlier than others. For example, I tested the early Amsterdam carrot, which can be sown relatively early in the season, unlike the well-known Nantaise carrot, which needs a little more heat.

If you want to grow your carrots in early spring, I recommend covering them with a forcing sieve to speed up seed emergence. If you decide to sow them after the recommended period (August or even early September), you can also apply this veil around October or November to speed up the growth of your young shoots, since in winter your carrots won't grow at all and may go to seed once spring returns.

How to sow carrots

Carrots are generally sown directly in the vegetable garden in a sunny spot. A basic rule to encourage their good development is to properly prepare your soil, which should be crumbly to a depth of at least 15 to 20 cm. This can be enriched with well-decomposed organic matter. Some gardeners also add sand and peat moss to lighten the soil before sowing. I've tested and approved the use of sand. To prepare your soil properly, run a grafting knife over your plot, break up any clods with a claw and level the ground with your rake. This is what your soil should look like before sowing.

Sowing your carrots is still the best and only recommended technique. To do this, first refine the soil and dig furrows at least 1 cm deep. Then place the tiny seeds every 2 cm in a line in the furrows, and cover them thinly with sand or compost. Wait around 3 weeks for the young shoots to appear. Remember to water well during this period.

Key steps for caring for carrots

For carrots to develop well and have a fruitful harvest, regular, assiduous maintenance remains essential. First and foremost, you need to ensure they are well watered: water copiously but not all the time (once or twice a week if it's not raining) to encourage root growth. In addition to watering, you should also follow various rules for maintaining this crop:

1. After the young shoots emerge,thin out the rows to leave just one carrot every 5 to 8 cm otherwise they risk not growing properly, getting tangled up and therefore being difficult to peel and cook;
2. Take care to regularly removeweeds to give the carrots space. With a good mulch, this "chore" will be much more limited;
3. Apply mulch at the foot of the leaves when they reach a size of 4 to 5 cm to keep moisture at ground level and save you from having to weed too much (be careful, don't cover the leaves, let them protrude as much as possible from the mulch);

Beware the fly!

Carrots are fairly hardy, but still have an enemy that can be very formidable: the carrot fly (Psila rosae). After laying eggs, its larvae develop inside the carrot and will dig tunnels making your carrots inedible. If your carrots are black and hollow in places, there's a good chance that this is the culprit. To protect them, you can cover the rows with very thin netting (anti-insect netting, for example). This will prevent this insect from settling and proliferating.

Another possibility: combine with leeks. Yes, leeks repel carrot flies... and carrots repel leek flies. All you have to do is sow the two crops side by side, or alternate a row of carrots with a row of leeks. It's all about the smell, and that's just fine!

The stages involved in harvesting carrots

About 3 to 4 months after sowing, you'll be able to harvest your carrots, whatever their size. But the period can be longer depending on the region, and the variety of carrot. When they are ready, the collar (top part of the carrot) will stick out of the ground.

To get them out of the ground, you can use a spading fork or a grelinette. Then pull firmly on the stems and leaves. For easier harvesting, it's ideal if the soil is damp, to avoid breaking the roots.

A carrot problem?

• If you notice any deformation in the carrots or if they have too small a size, this is due to the quality of the soil. In fact, if the roots encounter stones or the like during their development, these disadvantages can appear. So take care to work the soil better for next season and perhaps thin them out better.
• If your carrots are split, it's probably because they ran out of water when they were growing. Carrots don't take well to prolonged periods of drought. So remember to water them well during these periods. Shading them slightly in midsummer as well as mulching them well will mitigate this phenomenon.
• If your carrots are spotted black in places, it may be due to the carrot fly. Carefully cut the carrot and if you find a larva, you've found the culprit!