Carrots are one of those vegetable crops that are present in the diet every day. It is necessary when preparing soups and main courses; most winter preparations cannot do without it. The root vegetable is also useful when eaten fresh. It is especially pleasant to crunch on fresh carrots picked from your own plot. Therefore, the root crop must be grown in every garden.
The vegetable is easy to grow. However, it often happens that someone’s carrots grow large and tasty, while others cannot boast of a harvest. Knowledge of the characteristics of the plant, agrotechnical nuances and the use of modern methods of sowing seeds, such as the use of seeds in granules, can significantly increase your yield.
The peculiarity of the crop is that it has very small seeds, which are difficult to plant. The methods used by many generations of gardeners earlier led to such additional work as mandatory thinning, sometimes repeated. Therefore, to reduce labor costs when planting, seeds in granules were invented. Seeds in granules save the gardener’s time, the cost of seed material, and greatly facilitate sowing, as they have a large granule size and bright color. So, you definitely won’t make a mistake and sow the seeds twice.
Landing dates
Carrots tolerate slight cold weather well.Its seeds in granules can be sown already at the end of April in open ground if the weather is warm enough. However, if some cataclysms occur in nature - a sharp drop in temperature, snowfall in April, then the sowing dates, of course, are shifted to May.
Then you can sow carrots in granules. The indicated planting dates are suitable for the Urals and central Russia.
Soil preparation
The culture prefers light sandy and loamy soils. Clay soils that retain moisture are not suitable for growing root crops and can cause them to rot.
Beds for carrots in granules should be laid out in the area of the garden where the vegetable will receive the maximum amount of solar heat and light; in shaded areas, the root crop grows worse.
It is better to prepare the soil for vegetables in the fall: dig up, remove weeds and plant debris in which various pests and bacterial spores usually overwinter. It is better to apply fresh manure to the soil in the fall. During the winter, beneficial substances transform into a form convenient for absorption by plants. It is necessary to apply fertilizer if you want to get a good harvest, since sandy and loamy soils, which carrots like so much, are poor in humus.
You can apply this combination of fertilizers per 1 square. m of soil: superphosphate (30 g), ammonium nitrate (15 g), potassium chloride (10 g).
Since it contains weed seeds, attracts pests and contains a large amount of nitrogen, which harms the plant.Moreover, carrots, like any other root vegetable, are prone to the accumulation of nitrates in fruits.
Maintain crop rotation on your site. With proper crop rotation, the soil is prepared by previous crops for subsequent crops, and the risk of damage by pests and diseases is reduced. Soil fertility increases, which is fully used by plants. The same plants planted year after year deplete the soil.
To improve soil quality, it is recommended to use green manure (mustard, rye, wheat, clover, etc.) in crop rotation.
Carrots grow best after:
- Cabbage;
- Ogurtsov;
- Zucchini, squash, pumpkin;
- Lettuce, spinach;
- Radish;
- Early potatoes;
- Spices;
- Sideratov.
The worst predecessor is: table beet. The vegetable grows well after tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, peas, beans, peppers, and eggplant.
The carrot fly can cause significant damage to the crop. In the spring, she lays eggs in the soil next to the plants, and the hatched larvae gnaw holes in the root crops. As a result, the vegetable loses its taste and presentation and is poorly stored.
In the spring, the beds must be dug up again, large clods of earth must be crushed, and the soil surface must be leveled. You can add ash and compost (rotted manure).
How to plant
Those gardeners who have tried at least once to plant carrots in granules subsequently switch to this method of planting carrot seeds. You can accurately follow the required planting pattern.
Furrows are made in the prepared soil, 2-3 cm deep. They are well moistened, then the seeds are laid in granules according to the pattern. Next, the seeds are sprinkled with soil and lightly compacted. And water again.
After sowing, the soil surface is mulched, covered with peat or humus. This helps retain the moisture necessary for germination.
Carrot seeds take a long time to germinate, about 2 weeks. The time for emergence of seedlings may increase slightly if the weather is cold.
How to plant carrots in granules, watch the video:
Carrot seeds in granules can be planted before winter. It is even preferable to do this with such seeds. Usually gardeners are afraid and do not risk ordinary planting material, assuming that it will freeze or sprout ahead of schedule.
If you have carrot seeds in granules, then you don’t have to worry about them, but a fresh root vegetable will appear on your table much earlier in the next season. You just have to meet some deadline requirements.
The soil for winter sowing of carrots in granules can be prepared in October, dug up and filled with fertilizers. Choose a flat area, without a slope, so that spring melt waters do not wash the seeds from the soil.
In the first half of November, when the soil freezes slightly, the seeds are sown. No watering required.
Sown carrots in granules are mulched with peat, humus or compost.
There is an opinion that carrots, the seeds of which were planted before winter, do not store well and that they must be used for food in advance of the season or frozen.
Care
Regular care:
- After seed germination, watering should occur quite often, 2 times a week, with warm water from a watering can. Water consumption is up to 5 liters per 1 sq. m landings. Mature plants require less moisture. During the period of root crop formation, watering can be reduced to once a week, but water consumption can be increased (10 liters of water per 1 sq. m of planting). Abundant watering is the key to getting large, juicy carrots. If there is insufficient watering, the fruits will taste bitter and hard. Organize watering based on weather conditions. Before harvesting, 2 weeks before, it is recommended to stop watering;
- Loosening promotes the penetration of oxygen to the underground part of the plant, which is especially important at the stage of formation and growth of root crops. If there is a crust on the surface, it becomes distorted and has an unmarketable appearance;
- Weeding at sowing carrot seeds in granules it becomes much easier. Removal of weeds must be carried out regularly; they have a very bad effect on plantings. Moreover, the preventative measure will protect your carrot beds from the appearance of carrot flies;
- Feeding is carried out 2 times per season. Use nitrophoska. The first feeding should take place no earlier than a month after emergence. The second one is in 2 months. You can use other universal fertilizers.
Cultivated plants require regular care. The gardener's work will be paid for with a rich harvest.
Conclusion
Carrot seeds in granules greatly simplify the work of the gardener; they are bright and clearly visible when planting.If the planting conditions are met, the plants will sprout without difficulty. In this case, you will be deprived of additional thinning work. By following the agricultural techniques for growing carrots in granules, you will get a decent harvest.
