Sowing and caring for carrots: useful tips and tricks
Continuing to talk about carrots, one should analyze such important aspects as sowing and care, planting carrots - one might say, the basis of the basics when growing, something that everyone who undertakes this noble cause should know.
Carrots are planted in a variety of seasons: in early spring, if the summer resident wants to get an early harvest, in late spring and already in summer - for harvesting for the autumn and winter periods, so that vitamins are accompanied even when nature falls into suspended animation.
However, in order to get the earliest harvest, early ripening varieties of carrots are sown, oddly enough, in the fall, even before the onset of frost, which first of all reaches the soil. This is to prevent the carrot seeds from sprouting. Choosing this method, the roots ripen surprisingly quickly, the period in comparison with the usual is reduced by 2-3 weeks.
If we talk about the most favorable time for sowing seeds, then this, of course, is the number of May from 1 to 10. The soil during this period, one might say, is already absolutely ready - it is sufficiently warmed up and moistened, which is favorable conditions for growing. If the sowing procedure is carried out too early, then this can result in cracking of the carrots, if you miss the moment and are late, the yield will inevitably decrease due to a number of factors.
As soon as the film is removed from the bed, the sowing furrows should be marked on it in a direction along or across in relation to the ridge. The estimated distance between adjacent ones is from 15 to 16 centimeters for the early varieties and about 20-22 centimeters for the later ones.
It is recommended to lightly powder the grooves with chalk, after which they can be considered fully prepared. This is followed by the direct sowing procedure - the seeds are sown using a sparse line method from each other at a distance of half to one centimeter. If you want to make it easier for yourself, then planting carrots prematurely is not worth it, since the process of thinning the seedlings seems to be quite time consuming, moreover, it can also cause a certain degree of harm - when extracting young plants, you can inadvertently damage the roots of a neighboring one, which will affect in the most unfavorable way on further development and growth. Subsequently, the grooves should be sealed with an earth layer at least 1 centimeter thick. Sprouted seeds are allowed to deepen by 1-2 centimeters, be sure, not too zealous, to tamp and moisten by spraying with plain water. The processing process is completed by mulching with dry peat with a layer of at least 1 centimeter. In conclusion, the bed should be covered with a film, but take into account the distance - there should be a space of about 2-3 centimeters between it and the soil, so as not to constrain the space.
The process of sowing thinning can also be avoided by sowing carrot seeds in a mixture with finely sifted sand. The ratio is characterized by a value of 1 to 3 parts. Thus, using this method, crops come out less thickened.
You can also highlight the method using narrow paper strips, to which the seeds are glued using starch paste. The values should be observed - on average, there are up to one hundred carrot seeds per meter of such a strip. The method is notable for its laboriousness and complexity, but it wins in the time allotted directly for sowing seeds - it can be significantly saved in the process.
Care for carrots should be started even before the first shoots appear, so that later it grows and develops well, and also gives the right amount of harvest on time.
By covering the beds with plastic wrap, as mentioned above, it helps to accelerate the emergence of seedlings, because as a rule, they germinate rather slowly, in some cases the time reached 25 days. When using film, the time of this process is reduced, on average, by a period of 7 to 10 days.
You should also use a film to avoid the appearance of a crust on the soil surface, which will most likely turn out to be a serious obstacle to oxygen access to the seeds, as a result, it will make it difficult for seedlings to emerge, and also to a large extent contribute to the drying out of the soil. In order to get out of this situation, you should carefully loosen the garden bed, but in such a way as not to damage the plants at the initial stage of their life. Also, to prevent the appearance of a crust and drying out, peat or compost is used, always in a rotted form. You should not keep the bed covered with a film after the shoots have appeared - it must be removed immediately.
Be careful with weeds as well - after all, their development and growth are defined as significantly outstripping most vegetable crops, including carrots, so even if you have properly treated the soil, you should be vigilant for the appearance of unwanted plants. Otherwise, at the most important moment, they can become a serious hindrance to you.
The process of growing carrots is quite painstaking and requires care if you really pursue the goal of a long-term perspective of growing it in your garden. Do not be lazy and take care of the noble vegetable, despite its initial slowness - having gained patience and overcoming all difficulties, as a result you will be happy with a generous harvest that will provide your body with pleasant taste and vitamins.