The agricultural technology of carrots in open soil is distinguished by its specificity, observing which you can wait for a rich harvest of fruits. Cultivating a garden plant in such conditions, you must adhere to all the requirements and understand how to prepare seed material and plant it, what composition should be the soil for sowing and what kind of care the sprouts need. In this article, we give tips from experienced gardeners about the most successful methods of planting a vegetable.

Optimum conditions for good growth of carrots in the open field

The garden plant under consideration is unpretentious in agricultural technology, but nevertheless, for its good growth, a number of optimal conditions are required.

Site location and lighting

The described root vegetables like good illumination, so the beds with carrots should not be located in a dense shade. If planting is located in shaded places, then the root crop yield will decrease and its taste will deteriorate significantly.

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Temperature and humidity

The optimal temperature and humidity indicators for sowing the described root crops are:

• daytime - +15 ... + 18 ° С;
• nightly - +7 ... + 9 ° С;
• humidity - 45–65%.

Soil quality

Root crops are demanding on soils, since this factor directly affects their quality. The best soil for them is a light, loose, moisture-free substrate with an acidity of 6-7 pH. It will be good if at least a couple of years before sowing the crop, manure was introduced to the garden.

Good predecessors

It is important to observe crop rotation during the agricultural technology of the root crop in question.

• It is permissible to arrange plantings of vegetables on the areas occupied before this by the following garden plants:
• Tomatoes
• potatoes;
• legumes;
• cucumbers;
• cabbage;
• onions;
• zucchini;
• garlic
• salad.

• It is not recommended to plant fruits on former plantings with spicy plants:
• celery;
• coriander;
• fennel;
• parsnip;
• dill;
• parsley;
• caraway seeds.

When can I plant carrots in open ground

The specific type of root crops (early, mid-ripening or late-ripening) and the desired time of their bearing affect the planting time of the vegetable. Given these factors, conduct winter and winter sowing of the culture. It is important to check on the lunar calendar the optimal time for landing, as well as the days when it is not advisable to do this. Like all vegetables, the Moon is best suited for this crop in the waning phase, while a new and full one is not advisable for agricultural work in the garden.

Important! If it didn’t work out process grains of carrots until sowing for the purpose of germination, before sowing, you need to slightly rub them with your palms, thereby removing rigid scales from them.

Lunar calendar 2019 for spring planting of root crops:

Lunar calendar 2019 for winter planting of root crops:

Under the winter

Winter sowing of seeds contributes to the production of early root crops. It is important to consider the climate of the region where you live. If these are climatic conditions with prolonged low temperatures, then severe winter cold will not always allow the seeds to remain productive. Therefore, in such a region, root seeds are sown only in the spring. In a warmer climate, winter sowing is carried out with the onset of stable autumn colds and daily average temperatures from 0 ° C to –2 ° C.

In the spring

At the onset of the spring period with stable heat from + 15 ° C to + 18 ° C, root crops with an average and late ripening season are sown. Only under these conditions will the grown crop have an acceptable keeping quality. During spring planting, it is important to consider the composition of the soil mixture in the garden:

• in the earth with an average density, the vegetable is sown in early May;
• on light ground - all of May.

How to properly process carrot seeds before planting

Since essential oil is present in the seeds of the plant and does not allow moisture to penetrate inside, they can lie in the substrate for a long time without peeling (up to 3 weeks). Therefore, the germination of seed must be accelerated.Do this in the following ways:

1. Soaking (1 option). Seeds are poured into a container with warm water and allowed to stand for 10 hours. Empty seeds that have surfaced during this time must be removed, and high-quality ones should be placed on a damp cloth in a room with an air temperature of + 20 ... + 24 ° C. Seeds should hatch after 3 days.
2. Soaking (2 option). Grains are poured into warm (+ 30 ° C) water, left for 24 hours, every 4 hours replacing it with fresh. Then the seeds are washed, wrapped in a canvas flap and sent to the refrigerator for 3 days.
3. Soaking (3 option). Lower the seeds in a canvas bag in a 0.5 liter container with a mixture of water and wood ash (1 tsp). Ash is needed to eliminate the appearance of mold. Grains are soaked for 3 days, because during this period of time they can hatch.
4. Soaking (4 option). Grains folded in gauze rags are subjected to alternating exposure to contrasting temperatures: 20 min. - in hot water (+ 50 ° C), and after - 3 minutes. in cool (+10 ... + 15 ° C).

Video: preparing carrot seeds before planting

How to plant carrots in open ground

Sow carrots according to the following rules:

1. The plot is prepared in the fall: digging up the soil, having previously brought in 1 m² 1 bucket from the mixture: rotted manure + wood ash (400 g).
2. Furrows are made in the soil, deepening them by 30 mm (in a light substrate) and 20 mm (in heavy). If the furrows are shallower, the wind can inflate the seeds along the bed, and grains with a large depth may not hatch.
3. The interval between the furrows is not less than 150 mm, and between the seeds - 30 mm.
4. After sowing, the soil is compacted with a roller, board or hands.
5. 30 mm thick mulch is placed on the beds - this will help protect the bed from the formation of a soil crust, which can prevent seedlings from hatching.
6. The required air temperature for germinating seeds is + 15 ... + 18 ° C. Small short frosts (up to –4 ° C) are not afraid of seeds, therefore crops do not cover.
7. The purpose of the future crop seed is the purpose of the future harvest: 50 g of seeds per 1 hundred square meters will be required for bunches, 30 g for the same area for planting in the winter.
8. After sowing, the bed is covered with peat in a layer of 30 mm. Early in the spring after the snow cover has melted, the crops are covered with film material, which is removed after germination.

Video: sowing carrot seeds in open ground

Other seeding methods

Sowing the root crop is painstaking work, since its seeds are very small. Therefore, there are several secrets that facilitate the sowing process.

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Sowing with sand

Technology of the considered landing method:

1. Mix 30 g of seeds with 1 kg of sand.
2. Prepare furrows on the bed.
3. Sow seeds in prepared furrows and cover them with earth.
4. Water the crops by sprinkling.

Video: sowing carrots with sand

Using a paste

Sowing using paste:

1. Cook starch liquid paste.
2. Place carrot seeds in a paste and mix.
3. Pour glue with seeds into the kettle and carefully spill it into the marked furrows with the help of its spout.
4. When the paste is absorbed, gently fill the furrows with earth.

Planting seeds in granules

The planting under consideration involves the purchase of seeds in a gel shell in a store. Such planting material has a more friendly and faster germination, since the seeds immediately after sowing from the upper shell receive the necessary nutrition.

Important! Sudden drops in watering carrots should not be allowed: drying of the soil, as well as an excess of water lead to the appearance of cracks on the fruits and reduce their stamina.

Sow seeds in gel granules as follows:

1. In the prepared soil with a pencil make shallow (2 cm) holes and put one granule into them. Between the pits, the distance is observed no closer than 4 cm (you can pre-mark the rows).
2. After sowing, the granules are covered with earth and slightly smooth the surface.
3. Seeds planted in granules require high moisture so that the upper shell can easily collapse. For this, before and after sowing the described grains, the ground is abundantly moistened with water from a watering can.

Planting Carrots with a Ribbon

The method of planting carrots using paper tapes is as follows:

1. Cut the paper lengthwise into several strips.
2. Spread strips with flour-cooked paste.
3. Spread the grains in 20 mm greased strips and allow the adhesive to dry.
4. Place the ribbon with the seeds in the rows made in the substrate, cover and pour.

Carrots can be planted using the two-line method, with a distance between the stitches of 100 mm, and between the ribbons - 600 mm. This method will allow you to evenly plant seeds in the ground, increase the number of fruits per 1 ha, and also give them more area for food.

In the bag

The described method is performed according to the following instructions:

1. In early spring, before sowing, put the seeds in a bag of cloth and bury, sprinkle with snow on top. Due to the fact that the soil will be still wet and cold, grains in the natural environment will undergo stratification, which is important for their immunity.
2. In the soil, seeds must be left for 15 days for swelling and pitting.
3. Before direct planting, the seeds are taken out, mixed with the ground and sown on prepared beds.
4. Crops are covered with a film so that overgrowth does not die due to night frosts.

The described method allows you to collect large and juicy vegetable products by mid-summer.

By mouth

The technology of sowing grains using the mouth:

1. Pour the seeds into a cup, add a small amount of water and mix.
2. Pour the liquid with seeds into the mouth and, spitting out in portions, fill the furrows previously drawn in the soil.
3. Carefully level the bed with the back of the rake and pour from the watering can.

With a strainer

Technology for sowing carrot seeds with a strainer:

1. Take a tea infuser (salt shaker, colander) with cells corresponding to the dimensions of the seeds, and pour them into it.
2. Gently pour the seeds into the drawn furrows, gently shaking the strainer.
3. Sprinkle grains with earth.
4. Watering the planted area with a watering can.

Carrot care after planting

In caring for the plantation of carrots, the necessary conditions must be observed: a schedule of thinning, watering and top dressing.

Thinning

After the seeds sprout, periodically you need to adjust the density of their planting. If you do not thin out the root crops in a timely manner, then the carrots will lag behind in growth.

Thinning is carried out as follows:

1. The seedlings break through for the first time after the appearance of several leaves in young plants.
2. Thin out the culture after abundant watering of the soil on the bed, its subsequent drying and easy loosening.
3. When thinning plantings between individual seedlings, a distance of 3 cm should be left.
4. Thinning is carried out a second time after 3 weeks, leaving a distance of already 6 cm.
5. When removing the thickening of the sprouts, the soil around the root crops is pressed a little to maintain the sprouts in the vertical direction.
6. Simultaneously with thinning, weeds are also removed.

Watering carrots

For a juicy and sweet taste, carrots must be regularly moistened at all stages of growth.

Watering is carried out according to the following rules:

1. The soil under the plantings should be moistened to a depth corresponding to the size of the vegetable: for adult fruits, the moisture should reach a depth of at least 30 cm, otherwise, due to the lack of moisture in the soil, they will be sluggish and with a bitter taste.
2. The next watering of a small carrot is carried out after 4 days, distributing water of 40 liters per 1 hundred square meters of land.
3. Medium fruits can find moisture in the deeper layer of the earth, so 15 l of watering once a week will be enough for such plants per 1 m².
4. At the end of summer, carrots are watered once every 1.5 weeks, pouring a bucket of water for every 1 m².
5. 2 weeks before harvesting the root crop from the site, it is necessary to withstand planting without watering.

Top dressing

Feed is introduced in the following sequence:

1. For the first time, planting is fertilized at 5 weeks after the first seedlings.
2. The second time - after 2 months.

The fertilizer is liquid top dressing: add (at choice) wood ash - for 10 liters of water - 2 cups; nitrofosco - 1 tbsp. l .; potassium nitrate - 20 g, double superphosphate and urea - 15 g each

Pest and Disease Control

The main insect that infects the described fruits is a carrot fly. The attack of the parasite occurs due to the thickening of plants, weeds and excessive wetting of the earth. Signs of the presence of the pest are swirling and dried greens, therefore, urgent treatment of plantings with insecticides is necessary (Arrivo, Inta-Vir, Sochva). Also from the parasite will be effective plantings near the beds with marigold carrots, whose smell these pests can not tolerate.

As for diseases, this root crop is slightly susceptible to them, but sometimes the following diseases are found:

You can reduce the risk of their occurrence by treating plants with Bordeaux liquid (1% solution).

Harvest Dates and Scheme

The collection scheme is as follows:

1. Vegetables are harvested in the absence of rain, keeping up to persistent colds, until the mercury column drops to + 8 ° C, otherwise the starch in the product will turn into sugar, which does not lead to good keeping quality.
2. Digging out the fruits, you need to shake off the remnants of the earth from them and dry for 2 hours in air (without exposing them to direct sunlight), and then cut the tops.
3. Harvested carrots must be sorted by placing smooth, undamaged root crops in ventilated boxes for storage in cool, dark rooms.

Planting and growing carrots in a private plot is quite possible to carry out using any of the above methods. The main requirement will be compliance with all the rules of agricultural technology - the term and scheme of sowing, as well as proper care.