Carrots are one of the most rewarding vegetables to grow. I have had some failures with carrots and I’ve learned to keep trying and to grow different varieties. This post will help you learn how to plant, grow, and harvest carrots.

Choosing Your Seeds

Consider buying seed from local farms. Then, stick with the varieties that grow well in your garden. 

Buy more carrots seeds than you think you will need. Because carrot seeds are small, you might find it hard to scatter just a few seeds. As the carrots grow, you can simply thin the carrots (remove some to give room for the other carrots to grow). 

Preparing To Plant Carrots

Sow carrot seeds directly outdoors. They don’t transplant well, so starting indoors is not a good idea.

Remove weeds, rocks, stones, and any other objects from the planting area. 

Choosing A Location And Preparing Your Soil

Choose an area where your carrots will get full sun and where the soil isn’t rocky.

The best soil for growing carrots is soil that has good drainage and is free of rocks, stones, sticks, and other debris. Raised beds usually work well for growing carrots.

Add organic matter like compost or well-rotted manure to the soil to improve structure and fertility. Or, apply an organic, balanced fertilizer. Throw in a handful of bone meal and gently mix into the soil. Bone meal helps plants produce strong roots.

If you can, plant carrots near chives, leeks, onions, peas, radishes, rosemary, and sage. Planting them near these companion plants is not necessary, but it is helpful to carrots. 

Don’t grow carrots next to dill, coriander and cilantro. These plants can attract diseases and pests that might affect your carrots.

Planting Carrots

When To Plant Carrots

For a spring and summer harvest, plant carrots seeds in early spring. As a rule of thumb, you can plant carrots seeds about 3 weeks before your last spring frost date. Seeds will germinate when the soil is about 12 degrees Celsius. 

Do you want to plant, grow, and harvest carrots throughout spring and summer? You can sow carrot seeds every 3 weeks from early spring to the middle of August. 

For a fall and winter harvest, plant carrot seeds about 10 weeks before your first fall frost date.

How To Plant Carrots

Depth to plant seeds: ¼ inch 

Seed spacing: 2 to 3 inches between seeds

Row spacing: 8 inches between rows

Water regularly enough to keep the soil damp while you’re waiting for the seeds to germinate. 

If you have shade cloth, lay it on top of the seeds while you’re waiting for them to germinate. The cloth will help the soil retain moisture and keep the birds from stealing your seed. The cloth can also keep the carrot rust fly from damaging your carrots. 

Label your carrots with the name of the variety, and the date you planted them. 

Carrots take two or three weeks to germinate, so be patient. And remember to keep their soil moist. 

Growing Carrots

How long does it take carrots to grow? 60 to 80 days. 

How To Fertilize Your Carrots

When growing carrots, add compost or an organic fertilizer that’s low in nitrogen every 6 weeks. Too much nitrogen will give you lots of carrot tops (the greens) and smaller carrots. 

Add a handful of bone meal next to your carrots and gently scratch it into the surface. Bone meal helps plants form strong and healthy roots.

When To Water Your Carrots

Keep carrots watered especially during hot summers. But do not overwater carrots. Overwatering can cause carrots to split.  

When your carrot tops are three or four inches high, try mulching around your carrots to help keep the moisture in the soil.  

Remember To Weed Your Carrots

Keep your carrot beds free of weeds. Gently remove weeds growing near your carrots.  

Mulching your carrot bed can help keep weeds from growing.

Thinning Carrots

Remember how hard it was to scatter the tiny carrots seeds when you first planted them? Because of this, you might have planted too many carrots. Carrots need room to grow beneath the soil, so it’s important that your carrots aren’t spaced too close together.  

When the carrots tops are a couple inches tall, gently pull some of them out to give room for the other carrots to grow. This is called thinning your carrots.  

You might have to thin your carrots two or three times in the first 8 weeks. Aim to have a carrot growing about every 3 inches. 

Harvesting Carrots

Carrots are ready to be harvested 60 to 80 days after you plant them. 

To harvest carrots, gently pull the carrot tops so that you don’t disturb the other carrot roots. 

Rinse the carrots immediately after harvesting makes it easier to clean them. 

Experimenting

When you plant carrots, plant rows of radish seeds between your rows of carrots. Radishes germinate and grow quicker than carrots. Planting radishes with carrots helps you know where you planted your rows of carrots (because the carrot seeds take so long to germinate), and gives you a radish crop before the carrots start to bulk up. 

Try saving some of your carrots to harvest and eat with your Thanksgiving dinner. Carrots become sweeter when cool weather arrives.

Now that you know how to plant, grow, and harvest carrots, consider sharing this with a friend.