How To Grow Carrots At Home From Seed – A Beginner’s Guide

Growing carrots are a must have vegetable for the backyard gardener! Learning how to grow carrots at home from seed is fairly easy once you learn a few basic tips. Below I will teach you how to plant and grow carrots seeds so that you can enjoy loads of flavorful carrots at home!

How To Grow Carrots At Home From Seed 

Carrot Varieties To Grow

There are a lot of different varieties of carrots to choose from. You will want to choose a variety that will grow well for your soil type and climate as well as one that has the flavor you will like.  Some carrots will be sweeter than other varieties and will have different colors.

The best thing to do is try a couple of different varieties to see what kinds you like the best. Be sure to put in markers when seeding to separate the different kinds of carrots you planted so you know which ones are which. You can also keep notes in your garden journal on how each carrot variety grew and tasted.

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Here are a few favorites to try:

• Scarlet Nates – These are my families favorites and I plant a row of these every year.
• Royal Chantenay – Big dark orange carrots, have superb flavor, great for juicing, canning or freezing.

How Long Does It Take To Grow Carrots From Seed

From the time that you plant your carrots seeds to the time you harvest will usually take anywhere from 60 to 80 days.  This of course will depend on the variety of carrot seeds that you bought.  Check the back of the carrot package for the recommended time needed for growing. If you have a shorter growing period in your area than you will opt for a quicker maturing carrot.

Planting Carrots Seeds

Now that you have your variety of carrot seeds picked out it is now time to prepare your soil to sow your seeds.

When To Plant Carrot Seeds

You can sow carrot seeds directly in the ground after your last frost if you live in a colder climate.  This would be around April or May.  You can continue to sow at 3 week intervals for a continuous harvest.

Where To Plant Carrots

Carrots are a full sun plant and will need a good 6-8 hours of sunlight to grow well.  They can be planted in the ground in a garden, in raised beds or even planted in large containers.

Best Soil For Growing Carrots

The ideal soil for growing carrots is a pH level of 6.0-6.8.  Loose worked up and organic rich soil is the best for growing carrots.

How To Plant Carrot Seeds

Gather your supplies:

• Garden hoe or hand trowel
• String or twine for marking rows
• Garden markers
• Carrot seeds
• Organic compost
• Watering can with water

Prepare the soil – Work up your soil so it is loose and not hard packed. Remove rocks and sticks that may interfere with growing a nice long straight carrots. You will want to work your soil to a depth of 10-12 inches deep.  You will want to work in some organic matter at this time.

Plan your rows and spacing – Once you have the area picked out that is best to grow your carrots in you will need to figure out how much carrots you would like to grow. Are you growing some to pick and have a few fresh meals to enjoy or are you growing enough to put away and preserve for the winter season. Carrots don’t need a lot of to grow so you can grow a lot of carrots in a small space.

Planting Carrot Seeds – Use a pointed hoe to make shallow rows in the soil, about 1/2 inch deep. If planting carrot seeds in a larger sized garden like I have, I use twine that is tied to sticks to measure out a straight row. I push one of the sticks into the ground and walk to the other end unraveling my twine till I get to the other end of my row.  Pull the twine/string tightly and push the other stick into the ground. Follow the twine line when making your row.

Next take your watering can and give the row a drink of water.  Sow your carrot seeds down your watered trench. Don’t sprinkle them to heavily as you will have a lot of thinning out to do when they come up. A tip for planting carrots is to add a few radish seeds in the rows. Because carrot seeds take a bit longer to come up than other garden vegetables and radish seeds come up fairly quickly, you will be able to see where exactly your carrot row is. This is helpful so that you can weed your row and know exactly where the carrots are planted. Keep the soil moist until the carrot seedlings come up.

Cover Up Carrot Seeds – When you are done planting all the varieties of your carrot seeds, push the dirt back over your rows and lightly pack the soil down. Take your watering can and go down the row again to give it a light drink to evenly moisten the surface. If you planted different varieties of carrots be sure to use markers with the name of the variety on it. This way you can see what variety you like best and which one grew the best for you.

How Long Is Carrot Germination Time

Carrots can take a long time to germinate, anywhere from 14-21 days depending on your variety and climate conditions. In the mean time you will want to keep your row moist. You can lay down a floating row cover to help keep the heat and moisture in until the carrots come up.

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