Grow Your Own Carrots

Lesson 2: Sowing Carrots

Seed Strategy
You may have thought that the hard work was behind you once you finished digging over that carrot patch. The physical graft might be done with but you'll need to stay alert in the coming weeks if you want to get the best out of your carrot crop. First things first, though: let's sow the seeds. Rake the earth until it forms a fine "tilth" – crumbly soil that's ready for sowing. Mark a row with garden twine and create a 2cm-deep drill (channel). Sow thinly – you're aiming to drop one or two seeds every 2.5cm. Cover and firm the row gently. Label it and water if the weather has been dry. Space rows 15cm apart.

Getting it Taped
Take care not to sow the tiny seeds too densely. An over-populated carrot drill will cause you problems in a few weeks' time. If you tend to be a bit butter-fingered, don't try to sow by scattering seeds directly from the packet. Instead, pour some seeds into the palm of your hand and use the other hand to sow a few at a time. The reason why you need to sow sparsely is to avoid too much thinning out once the seedlings have emerged. The scent of the bruised leaves of thinned-out seedlings can attract pests. Some seed merchants sell carrot seed in tapes of biodegradable paper. They're spaced so that the resultant seedlings require the minimum of thinning.

Variety Double Act
Main crop carrots can take 10-16 weeks to mature. In order to begin harvesting earlier, many gardeners choose to sow a fast-maturing carrot at the same time as their main crop variety. Sow the two varieties in alternate rows. Well-tried early varieties include "Amsterdam Forcing", "Early Nantes" and "Flyaway".

Pic: GAP Photos/FhF Greenmedia