When to plant carrot seeds
A little knowledge to share with you about when to plant carrot seeds and some green plant maintenance tips on carrot planting time and methods, let's learn about it together.
Carrots are annual or biennial herbaceous plants of the Apiaceae family, Daucus genus. Also known as red carrot, clove carrot, foreign carrot, and golden bamboo shoots. Carrots are adaptable, have few diseases and pests, are easy to cultivate, have high yields, and are resistant to storage and transportation, making them one of the main winter vegetables.
Carrots are semi-hardy vegetables. With a well-developed root system and deep distribution, they can utilize deep soil moisture and require 60-70% soil moisture content, making them the most drought-resistant vegetable among root vegetables. It is best to plant carrots in loose, well-ventilated loamy or sandy loam soil, choosing deep, fertile, and well-watered and drained soil. Carrots are divided into red-skinned and yellow-skinned types based on the color of the flesh.
I. Carrot Planting Time
Planting carrots too early can lead to bolting, resulting in lush carrot leaves and flowers but no required thick, tender, crisp, and sweet carrots underground. If planted too late, it will affect yield, with small and poor-quality radishes, which is a serious issue to consider.
The general sowing time for spring carrots is from mid-March to the end of April. The sowing time for summer and autumn carrots is usually from July to August. In southern regions, it is generally sown from early July to late August and harvested in late December. In northern regions, spring sowing is adopted.
II. Carrot Cultivation Techniques
1. Land preparation and fertilization
Choose sandy loam soil with deep soil layers, good drainage, few weeds, and loose soil texture, deeply turn the soil, apply 1000-1500 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer, 100-200 kg of wood ash, and 8-10 kg of calcium superphosphate per mu, mixing the fertilizer into the soil, leveling the surface, and usually adopting raised beds cultivation, with bed width of 100-130 cm and height of 15-20 cm.
2. Sowing
Seed treatment
Due to the special structure of carrot seeds and the high temperature and heavy rainfall during the sowing season, it is difficult for seeds to germinate and emerge. Therefore, the spiny hairs on the seeds need to be rubbed off before sowing to separate the two halves into single seeds for even sowing. Carrot seeds absorb water slowly and germinate late. Germination播种 can accelerate seedling emergence. The method is to soak the seeds without spiny hairs in 40℃ warm water for 2 hours, then take them out and place them in a room at 20-25℃ to germinate, maintaining appropriate humidity and regularly turning them to keep the temperature and humidity even. When most of the seeds have shown radicles, sowing can proceed.
Sowing method
During the hot season, you can add 2-5% of Pak Choi to the sowing, allowing the Pak Choi that grows first to shade the carrot seedlings. First, sprinkle dilute urine of humans or livestock on the prepared sowing bed to increase soil moisture. After the dilute urine has渗透ed the soil, you can proceed with broadcasting or sowing at a row spacing of 15-20 cm. After sowing, cover with 1.5-2 cm of fine soil or drag the surface with bamboo branches several times, then cover with straw to reduce temperature and retain moisture. Pak Choi will germinate first, providing shade for the carrot seedlings, and Pak Choi can be removed during thinning. Broadcast sowing requires 1-1.5 kg of seeds per mu, while row sowing requires about 0.7 kg.
3. Field management
Thinning and weeding: Carrot seeds generally germinate in 7-10 days. After germination, promptly remove the covering straw. During the hot and rainy season, weeds grow fast, so it's important to remove them during thinning. Thinning is usually done 2-3 times, the first time at 1-2 true leaves, thinning out poor and weak seedlings, leaving a spacing of about 3 cm. The second time is at 3-4 leaves, with a spacing of 12-15 cm if it's the final thinning. If the final thinning is done in the third thinning, the spacing in the second thinning is about 6 cm. The third thinning and final thinning are done when the carrot seedlings have 4-5 leaves.
Water and fertilizer management: As carrot seeds germinate during the hot summer season, it is necessary to keep the soil moist to ensure even seedlings. The soil moisture content should be 60-80%. When the leaves are growing vigorously, water should be controlled to prevent lodging. During the enlargement period of the carrot roots, it is important to water to promote rapid enlargement. The fertilization of carrots mainly focuses on base fertilizer, with top dressing applied 2-3 times, using decomposed urine of humans or livestock or chemical fertilizers. The first application is at 3-4 leaves, and the second after thinning. Carrots are very sensitive to fertilizers, so be careful not to apply high concentrations.
Preventing early bolting of carrots: When the flesh root of carrots has not yet reached maturity and encounters temperatures of 1-5℃ and more than 12 hours of long-daylight, it can satisfy the vernalization requirements of carrots, causing early bolting and making the carrots lose their edible value. This is often caused by improper variety selection, mixed varieties, unsuitable sowing time, and poor field management. The key to preventing early bolting is to avoid the conditions for vernalization during the vegetative growth period of carrots. Choose pure and suitable varieties, choose the right sowing time, and strengthen field management to promote leaf growth.
Preventing carrot flesh root cracking and forking: The main reason for carrot cracking is uneven soil moisture supply during the growth period. The prevention method is to water early in the growth stage, especially during dry spells, and to water evenly during the middle and later stages of flesh enlargement. Carrot forking is caused by shallow soil tillage, hard soil, or obstacles in the soil such as stones or tree roots hindering the growth of the flesh root. The prevention method is to deeply till the land and remove hard debris during land preparation. Avoid using fresh manure and plant densely.
4. Disease and pest control
Carrots have fewer diseases than other vegetables, but may occasionally suffer from black leaf blight and rot. Black leaf blight is often caused by dry weather, so it is important to strengthen water and fertilizer management in the field and ensure plant health to reduce the incidence of disease. If diseased plants are found, they should be removed and Bordeaux mixture should be sprayed to prevent the spread. Rot occurs mostly in hot and rainy seasons, manifested as root rot and yellow wilt. It is necessary to practice crop rotation, fully expose the soil to the sun, remove diseased plants, and消毒 with lime to prevent the spread.
Pest damage to carrots occurs in the seedling stage with cutworm larvae. When found, spray with 90% diazinon 1000 times solution, 50% dichlorvos 800-1000 times solution, or 50% phoxim 2000-2500 times solution.
5. Harvesting
The harvesting period of carrots varies by variety. Harvesting can take place when the heart leaves of the carrot plants turn yellow-green, the outer leaves show slight yellowing, the roots are fat, cracks appear on the surface of the ground, or the top of the root is slightly exposed above the soil surface.
6. Seed saving
The method of saving carrot seeds is to select carrots with the characteristics of the original variety, few leaves, small root heads, neat shape, no forking, and smooth skin at harvest time. Cut off more than one-third of the carrot root and select those with a small pith to save as seeds, cutting off the above-ground leaves and leaving only the petioles for planting, with a row spacing and plant spacing of 50 cm. To prevent hybridization with other varieties and wild carrots, they should be isolated by 2000 meters. Before planting, apply 1000 kg of decomposed manure per mu as a base fertilizer. Carrots have a strong branching ability and must be pruned, leaving one main stem and 4-5 lateral branches, removing the rest to ensure uniform seed maturity. Generally, mature seeds are harvested from late June. Note that if the carrot roots are not cut off by more than one-third and replanted, the seeds produced will not easily grow flesh roots, quickly flowering, and without flesh roots, we call it a full garden of flowers.
The introduction above about when to plant carrot seeds and detailed explanation of carrot planting time and methods, hoping this article can bring you some help in green plant management!