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None croft can not be imagined without a tuft of featherycarrot leaves above the garden beds. This is one of the most sought after root vegetables. But even experienced gardeners sometimes cannot get the harvest of even large carrots, the cultivation and care of which, it would seem, has long been mastered. What are the causes of failures, and how to grow a good carrot?
Choosing a site for carrots
How to grow carrots in open ground? A popular root crop requires attention not only when it is grown, taking care of the harvest begins with the selection of a plot. Carrots, like all root crops, are very demanding on conditions, especially on the site where the beds are broken.
If ugly, underdeveloped, branched or bursting root crops appear from the soil in the fall, there may be several reasons:
- application of fertilizers containing chlorine for crops;
- spring soil deoxidation;
- poor digging of beds, as well as lumps, stones and large organic residues left in the soil;
- lack of lighting;
- excessively dry soil or excessive watering of carrots;
- excess nitrogen fertilizer;
- rough uneven weeding or thickened planting.
Moreover, many factors negatively affect the appearance of root crops and their taste. Therefore, the area under the carrot is chosen very carefully. To get a quality carrot, and planting and caring for it were not in vain:
- soil should be light, loose and fertile;
- landing should not lack light;
- preparation for planting begin in the fall.
Preparing the soil for carrots
Before the onset of cold weather, carefully dig up the soil, remove the roots and stones. If necessary, make dolomite flour, lime, a complex of potash and phosphate fertilizers. In the spring, the site for carrots is once again fertilized and deeply loosened.
Often gardeners, sharing experiences on how to grow carrots in the open field, are advised to pay attention to crop rotation. Well, if before the carrots in the garden grew zucchini or pumpkins, beans, onions, potatoes or other nightshade. If last season carrot, parsley or celery grew on the plot, then this year the yield may decrease, and the crops undergo carrot diseases or pest infestation. Return planting carrots in the same place only after four years.
Planting dates for carrots
Planting dates are no less important than choosing a planting place. Wanting to grow good carrots as early as possible, gardeners try to use the frost resistance of the plant:
- Seeds begin to germinate already at + 3 ° C.
- Frost seedlings to –2 ° C are not afraid of seedlingsThe optimal temperature range is considered to be from 18–24 ° C.
- At temperatures above +25 ° C, the carrot vegetation slows down.
And although return chills adversely affect the shelf life of root crops, this does not prevent gardeners from leading if the climate allows, pre-winter or spring crops of carrots for early harvest. For such crops choose early ripe carrots.
Planting and caring for root crops intended for storage is carried out after setting the day temperature to about 15 ° C.
Carrot planting and seedling care
Only high-quality seeds, carefully sorted and disinfected, can produce abundant crops. And to facilitate sowing experienced gardeners offer some simple techniques.
Seeds of carrots:
- are mixed in equal parts with the washed dry sand;
- is added to the seeds of quickly viable crops, for example, lettuce or radish, in order to notice the plantings as soon as possible and carry out the first weeding;
- is mixed with flour or starch paste, which is poured into prepared furrows;
- stick on narrow paper tape.
These measures, as well as dragon seeds, make it easier to sow carrots, grow and care for the plantation, because thinning and weeding become less burdensome.
Before sowing, the beds are loosened to the depth of the bayonet, level and 25 cm apart from each other, prepare moistened furrows 2 cm deep. When the carrot is sown, the furrows are sealed with a mixture of sand with peat or loose soil, and the planting is covered with a film, not watering.
Film:
- will not allow the desired moisture to evaporate to the seeds;
- will prevent an attack on the shoots of dangerous carrot pests;
- will not allow the crust to form on the soil surface;
- will increase, which is important for early sowing, soil temperature and accelerate germination.
The film is removed only after the emergence of carrot seedlings, the cultivation and care of which now involves regular loosening of the soil, watering and weeding the beds.
Care
Answering the question: “How to grow carrots in the open field?”, Experts necessarily stop at the need for thinning seedlings. But gardeners, at times, it is so difficult to part with just sprouting leaves. As a result, the amount of carrots grown is large, but its quality does not at all please summer residents.
In order to get a good harvest, it is necessary to break through the shoots in time:
- When the first pair of true leaves is revealed on the shoots, the carrots are first thinned, leaving a gap of 3 cm.
Thinning is carried out after watering in the evening, so that the sun does not harm the injured sprouts, and the smell of greens does not attract carrot pests. Removed plants pull gently, not loosening in the ground.
A crust on the surface of the garden can become an obstacle to the growth of a good carrot, it is regularly destroyed after watering, carefully loosening the soil, or the soil is covered with mulch from peat. So that the upper part of the roots growing above and above the soil level is not green, the carrots are occasionally spud.
Watering and feeding carrots
The vegetation period for carrots is 4–5 months. In the first half of the term, the plant increases the mass of greenery, requiring abundant watering, and then the growth of the root crop begins, which negatively reacts to overmoistening.
- One square meter of young plants requires up to 4 liters of water three times a week.
- As carrots grow, until the middle of the growing season, watering increases.
- Two months later, the carrots are watered once a week, using 8–10 liters per square meter.
Thinking about how to grow good carrots, we must not forget about protecting plants from pests. Also important is the prevention of diseases of carrots, which can seriously affect the quality of the crop and its preservation.
Complex fertilizing for carrots contribute twice. The first is held a month after the appearance of sprouts, and the second two months later.
