Orange root is widely used in cooking both in raw form, and for making juices and different dishes. It is rich in vitamins, carotene and very useful for the body. Cultivation of carrots is a simple process, but there are some principles and rules that allow you to collect a consistently good harvest.
Growing carrots in the open ground
This herb is a two-year-old plant, the root is formed in the first year of life. When planting carrots, you should know that competent cultivation and care in the open ground means the following:
- to sow root crops begin in late April;
- the bed should be located on the sunny platform, in the shade the root crop will develop weakly and will not yield a large harvest;
- to get sweet carrots, it is sown in the ground, not very sour;
- excessive watering is fraught with the fact that the root crop will become coarse and become fodder;
- the vegetable likes a loose substrate, otherwise it warps;
- when growing carrots do not use fresh manure, or it will acquire an ugly form;
- if the vegetable is not watered for a long time, it will lose its sweetness and juiciness;
- if the soil is moistened after a long dry period, the fruit can crack;
- without thinning grow weak small fruits.
How to plant carrots correctly in the ground?
Cultivation of carrots is performed on beds where onions, cucumbers, potatoes or beets grew earlier. For a rich harvest you need a lush soil - for this purpose the earth is dug and rakes are ravaged. To reduce acidity, ash is added to the soil. Cultivation of carrots in the country is made from seeds, before planting they are soaked for 3-4 days, then dried. After the beds are made 2 cm deep, into which you need to place the seeds. The seeds are very small, so that they lie down evenly and do not fall into one place, gardeners come up with original ways:
- they are mixed with sand - so the grains do not stick together and uniformly fit;
- Each seed is fixed to the toilet paper, then the tape is simply placed in the bed;
- prepare the composition from potato starch, into which seeds are added and poured evenly into the ground;
- seeds are planted 3-5 cm apart, between the beds are observed a gap of 15-20 cm.
Care of carrots in the open ground
Culturing the crop in the ground after planting requires systematic work. How to grow a large carrot in the garden:
- To water a vegetable it is necessary often and moderately in the evening. With a lack of moisture young roots can die, and the excess of it will lead to loss of juiciness and sweetness of the vegetable. Sprouts should be planted three times a week. The square meter of the plot should be a half-bucket of water. Since the middle of the growing season, irrigation is carried out once a week. Then the formed roots tear down, forming long and even fruits. Two weeks before the harvest, the carrots are stopped;
- After 10 and 20 days, the plantation is thinned - too many seedlings are grown too often. If this is neglected, closely sprouted sprouts will not allow the development of a large fruit-the vegetable will grow small;
- Weeding is necessary so that the weeds do not obscure the shoots;
- Loosening is an important stage in the cultivation of carrots. The crust on the surface of the earth will make it difficult to sprout sprouts;
- Seeds germinate for about three weeks.
Carrot feeding in the open ground
For the cultivation of carrots are irreplaceable top dressing (2 times per season), for this mineral compounds are used. The first application is made 3-4 weeks after the appearance of sprouts, the second - in a couple of months. It is advisable to use liquid fertilizers. To do this, put a bucket of water:
- a tablespoon of nitrofosque ;
- two glasses of wood ash;
- a mix of 20 g of potassium nitrate, 15 g of double superphosphate and urea.
How to grow carrots in a greenhouse?
Cultivation of carrots is actual and in hothouse conditions. The advantages of this method is that the vegetables will appear earlier than in the garden. For this, early varieties are selected - Mokush, Eli Nantes, Amsterdam Forsing 3, Mokum. Where to grow carrots in such cases:
- in structures made of polycarbonate;
- in the hothouses covered with foil.
The main thing is to make sure that there is a lot of light in the greenhouse and ventilation is provided. If the winter garden is heated, then the planting of the plant can be made all year round. Carrots grow poorly in a solid substrate, the soil for cultivation should be loose. Seeds are made, the scheme of planting seeds: 2 cm - depth; 20-25 cm is the width. The rules for caring for early carrots coincide with growing vegetables in the open ground and include watering, weeding, thinning and feeding. Due to the greenhouse, the harvest can be obtained without waiting for autumn. If you plant a bed in early April, then the vegetables are harvested in May.
How to grow carrots at home?
Vegetables grown on a windowsill can be accessed throughout the year. For domestic breeding, small varieties of carrots are suitable, for example, early Amsterdam. It gives small and sweet fruits. How to grow carrots in an apartment:
- get drained soil;
- pick up high (up to 20 cm) containers for disembarkation (convenient in this regard plastic bottles with cut off top), they must have holes at the bottom;
- growing carrots at home is advisable at any time of the year - seeds are put in one container of three pieces (then remains to be weeded out, leave the strongest sprout);
- pots should not stand under direct sunlight;
- watered with standing water;
- after 2 weeks sprouts thin out - between adjacent should be 2 cm;
- To feed home carrots it is possible nitrogen fertilizers, but it is a little - differently it will lead to fast growth of leaves;
- harvesting can be done in 70 days and immediately plant the next batch;
- in one land it is recommended to sow the vegetable no more than three times.
Secrets of growing carrots
Get a harvest of beautiful and smooth roots will be possible for those who know the secret of how to grow large carrots:
- Buy better colored seeds - they have already been treated with a fungicide;
- the most popular varieties: Nantes, Losinoostrovskaya 13, Samson, Vitamin 6;
- for planting suitable loamy soil, in the fall it needs to be dug up, and in the spring to make humus and compost ;
- especially the carrot grows well after the onion;
- seeds must be soaked before planting, then dried;
- In spring the planting is carried out by heat, after flowering bird cherry;
- planting of grains in the winter allows you to harvest in July;
- the main rules of care - to weed out shoots, remove weeds, monitor the moisture of the earth and prevent the appearance of a crust on the surface.
Cultivation of carrots by the method of Kizima
Gardener-lover Galina Kizima offers her method of sowing, which protects the vegetable from pests and diseases. Features of cultivation of carrots by its way:
- the bed is moistened and watered with "Phytosporin" the night before;
- in the morning make grooves at a distance of 5 cm;
- Seeds of marigolds are planted around the perimeter (they repel pests), then from each edge - three furrows of carrots, and in the center - a one-year onion;
- seeds are not soaked and later seedlings are not thinned;
- so as not to thin out and not to feed carrots, take 1 teaspoon of seeds, AVA powder fraction (or any mineral fertilizer, except potassium chloride) and fine sand;
- everything is mixed and sown, as if soup is salted;
- The soil is leveled and pressed with the palms of the hands;
- After the appearance of four leaves in sprouts, watering stops.
Chinese method of growing carrots
Everyone is used to the fact that the garden before the planting is ideally smoothed by rakes, and it is possible to plant vegetables in high ridges. In this case, the root crops receive good lighting, which promotes good growth and the acquisition of immunity to diseases, after rooting is easier to clean. The rules of cultivation of carrots in Chinese:
- parallel ridges are made by a hoe, height - up to 20 cm, distance between rows - 60 cm;
- in the lower part of the crest is applied fertilizer: 1 square meter of soil requires a half-bucket of humus, 15 g of nitrophosphoric acid, 30 g of superphosphate ;
- seeds are planted in two rows on opposite sides of one crest, deepen by 2 cm;
- the first month watering generous;
- the plant is thinned, pests are removed;
- top dressing is carried out according to the usual scheme;
Dutch method of growing carrots
The technology is similar to the Chinese, the difference is in the height and width of the crests. Dutch way of growing carrots:
- to obtain a good harvest, varieties Nantes, Berlikum, Flakke are used;
- the ridges are cut at a distance of 75 cm from each other, the width of the bed is 20 cm, the height can reach half a meter;
- soil preparation includes autumn plowing and spring loosening;
- on the ridges, one-row seeding of seeds with a strip of 6 cm, two- or even three-row, depth - 2 cm;
- further - watering, fertilizing, one thinning.
How to water the carrots?
Improper irrigation of beds with vegetables leads to the fact that the root crop grows crooked, hairy or cracked. This vegetable does not tolerate dryness or excessive moisture. Lack of water is the reason that the harvest becomes rough and loses its sweetness, and the over-saturation provokes excessive growth of the tops. It is important to know how to properly water the carrots, so that the roots grow smooth and juicy. The regime of moistening differs at different stages of growth of seedlings.
How to water the carrot after planting?
Immediately after sowing and before the initial shoots, the soil moisture is required to be high. To water a bed it is necessary from a watering can through a strainer that not to wash up seeds. When asked how often to water carrots, experienced gardeners give such recommendations:
- moisten the vegetable at the beginning of growth twice a week so that the soil is well soaked;
- in June-July, after the registration of root crops, watering is reduced to once a week, the volume of water is increased. Then the roots grow evenly down in search of moisture;
- in the second half of August, after the root crops are poured, watering is stopped (moistened during a drought). If the vegetable is overdried, and then it rains, it can crack - this should be watched.
How to grow carrots without watering?
Often, the hydration of plants is difficult and is accompanied by a multitude of difficulties - financial, physical, organizational. Cultivation of carrots without watering:
- the soil is dug in the autumn, in the spring - it is cultivated;
- To increase the ability of the land to retain moisture, it is enriched with peat, manure, mineral top dressing;
- planting of seeds is best done by sticking them on a roll of toilet paper, which is moistened put in the ground, sprinkled with earth hands;
- then the bed is covered with black polyethylene;
- on days 15-17 the cellophane is removed;
- further, soil moisture is provided by maintaining its upper layer stably in a loose (no crust) condition;
- the soil is covered with mulch - sawdust, dry grass, straw, needles;
- it will improve its air-water regime, root crops will grow down in search of moisture and grow strong and even.
Diseases of carrots during cultivation
It is important to know how to grow carrots and prevent her diseases:
- one of the main pests of a vegetable is a fly. To combat it, it is advisable to plant the plant next to the onion, sprinkle the ground with spicy pepper, straw, mown grass. In the presence of twisted leaves, it is necessary to process the tops of the Aktellikom;
- the risk of the appearance of fungi (various types of rot) reduces the spraying of beds once a month with a solution of the Bordeaux mixture ;
- from many parasites and diseases carrots will be saved by loosening and thinning, carried out on time.