Planting Carrots? It’s easier than you may think!
Intimidated by growing carrots in our Missouri clay soils? Garden-grown carrots may seem finicky, but with correct management you too can grow sweet carrots at home. I was daunted by caring for carrots until I helped grow them at Columbia’s Agriculture Park. And now is a great time to seed them! Plant them now until June 1st to avoid Missouri summer heat!
A great spring and fall crop here in Missouri, carrots need:
Uncompacted soil
Few (preferably no) weeds
Space
Consistent moisture (especially when germinating)
Time
Uncompacted soil
If growing in a built raised bed, your soil will most likely be uncompacted and perfect for carrots. If you’d like to grow them in-ground, there are ways to loosen and build up your soil to make the perfect carrot home:
Cover Cropping: Areas that have been cover cropped for years, and thus have a larger amount of organic matter, will be your best friend.
Broadforking: If growing in-ground, use a broadfork or potato fork to open the ground up a bit before planting.
Lasagna Gardening: A well developed lasagna garden (started the previous fall or earlier) could work well if you have at least 6 inches of good soil on top.
Weeds
Before seeding, it is important to make sure your planting area is as weed-free as possible. Carrots don’t do well under the pressure of competition, so try to give them a break from the beginning. Here are some strategies for preventing weeds:
Leave your bed unplanted for a few weeks before seeding and weed anything that pops up.
Put down a deep layer of weed-free compost before planting (but watch out for heavy spring rains that can wash this away).
Flame-weed (Responsibly!): Flame before seeding. Seed the carrots and plant a few beet seeds at the head of the bed. When the beet seeds germinate (which is before carrots germinate), flame the bed again.
Stick to the tried-and-true hoeing and hand-weeding methods.
Space
Carrots should be directly seeded 1-2 inches apart in a row, with rows 6 inches apart. The seeds should be about ¼” deep, or ½” deep if you are planting into particularly loose compost that could be washed away. If you are planting lots of carrots, a rolling mechanical seeder can be adjusted for this. When hand-seeding in a garden, I like to draw a line with my hand, sprinkle in the seeds, and use small scissors to thin them out once they have germinated.
Water
Carrots start best when provided with consistent moisture. At CCUA, we cover our newly seeded carrot beds with shade cloth to retain moisture and keep them at a more consistent temperature. We also check soil moisture often and water with overhead sprinklers when needed. Since our shade cloth is elevated on hoops, we can keep it over our carrots until they are a few inches tall. Some growers cover with row cover or shade cloth only until germination, and some even cover the carrot seeds with wood planks to maintain moisture and soil contact until germination. Much of this is trial and error, but the best thing you can do is make sure they always have water. But not too much! Avoid planting carrots in an area that floods easily, the bottoms of the roots can rot. (Once lost 100 square feet of a carrot bed this way. No one likes soggy feet!)
Time
Carrots take their sweet time, but with a little patience, you’ll have some of the sweetest carrots popping up. How long they take to grow depends on the variety, but many take a little over 2 months. When ready to harvest, a potato fork or trowel can help prevent them breaking on their way out of the ground.
