Growing Carrots in Central Texas: Secret To Growing This Superfood
Carrots- Everything you need to know about how to grow this cold weather superfood. From seed to table, learn how to grow this root vegetable successfully. The shear mystery of growing this underground beauty makes plucking each carrot from the ground an exciting and rewarding act of gardening. In fact, some gardeners claim to have difficulty growing carrots, but I will share valuable tips for a successful harvest each season. Keep reading to unearth the secrets of soil prep, sowing the seeds, thinning for crop abundance, harvesting, cooking and storing.
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WHAT MAKES CARROTS SO EASY TO GROW
You will soon discover that carrots are one of the most rewarding vegetables to grow in the garden. The key is having nutrient balanced, loose soil with a temperature range of 45-85 degrees. Make sure to provide plenty of water and take a long breath to cultivate 3-4 months of patience; they are well worth the wait!
How to grow carrots
Skinny carrots. Stubby-fat carrots. Sexy-leg carrots. Two-root carrots. Crooked carrots. No two carrots are alike!
Experiment with growing your own carrot varieties! I promise you will come to love growing this root vegetable from start to finish. Luckily for most of us home gardeners, carrots love growing in raised beds. The soil tends to be fluffier compared to planting them directly into the dense ground. As you tend to the stages of growth, you can enjoy the fern-like leaves in salads or juices. The secret is thinning out crowded carrots leads to optimum growth, but when you seed in succession you can stretch your harvest into stages. This is the root that keeps on giving!
When to grow Carrots
Above all, the best time to grow carrots is generally during the cold season, however, carrots like to germinate in warmer weather (70-80 deg) but the roots like to grow in cooler temps. For an early summer harvest, sow seeds in the spring a few weeks before your last frost date. For a winter harvest, sow seeds 10-12 weeks before your first fall frost. Keep in mind that when ground temps are cooler the growth rate slows but your harvest will not be compromised. Don't panic if a freeze hits! Carrots can survive down to 15 degrees.
I live in Central Texas. Most gardeners from zone 8 and up don't attempt to grow carrots in the extreme heat of the summer. Many varieties of carrots only successfully grow in temperatures below 85 degrees, but I've had plenty of luck growing several varieties in the heat. It's all about finding a balance of what works for you in your climate and garden. Make sure to check your zone's planting calendar to see when your frost dates typically occur.
Soil preparation for growing carrots
Light, loose, loamy- the 3 L's. Heavy, dense soil will stunt the growth of the carrots. The carrots will have to work harder to grow and reach their roots deep into the ground to find water and nutrients. I follow a no-till approach to gardening. Prepping the soil for carrots is the one exception where I will dig 12 inches deep to aerate the dirt. It doesn't hurt that my established European Night Crawlers help with the process. Earth worms are truly a gift in the garden!
If you are starting carrot seeds in a brand new garden bed, follow my general [soil amendment recipe]. Carrots don't like overly rich soil so just make sure to test your soil for high amounts of nitrogen (that's not optimal).
Pro Garden Tip: If you discover your garden bed is high in nitrogen:
Add sawdust to the top of the soil a few weeks before seeding to soak up excess nitrogen. Another solution is to plant a vegetable in the carrot bed that benefits from high nitrogen. Just make sure she is a [companion friend to carrots].
Pro Garden Tip: If you're growing carrots in an established bed:
Make sure no other carrot family crops were present before hand so you can minimize your risk of pests. For example, parsnips, celery, parsley, dill, chevril, fennel or cilantro.
“maintaining healthy soil diversity is a preventive measure for combating pests and establishes a strong foundation for a flourishing garden.”
How to sow carrot seeds
Carrot seeds are tiny!
Some gardeners like to mix the seeds in a spice shaker with sand to disperse them when seeding.
direct sow carrot seedlings
First, I amend my beds with [basic nutrients], then I direct sow the tiny carrot seeds by gently sprinkling them by hand or by using a seeder evenly across the soil. I am all about making things simple when it comes to seeding carrots, therefore, I typically don't grow carrots in rows like most gardeners. You will see a ton of advice to sow and space them at certain distances. But, because we like to eat the carrot greens and use them to feed our worms periodic thinning becomes a way of managing their growth. This way we still get to enjoy the benefits of what we pluck.
protect your growing carrots
Secondly, after scattering the seeds, gently cover the seeds with no more than 1/4 inch of compost or top soil. Next, gently press down the soil with the heel of your palm to ensure the carrot seeds are secure to grow. Later on, I will touch on how to protect your little babies so they can grow and prosper.
I tend to 'over seed' a bit because not all seeds will germinate. A month after seeding, if you have bald spots in the bed, spread more seeds in that area. Follow the above steps for getting them established.
BAM! That's called succession planting.
watering carrots for successful grow rate
Carrot seeds are so small and light! During the seeding and germination stage, I recommend setting your hose on 'mist' so you don't disperse the seeds with initial watering. It is important to keep the soil moist up until you see green emerging. This can take a few weeks, so hang in there.
Early on in my gardening, I felt I could get by with hand-watering. I learned quickly that [investing in a irrigation system] was much easier than holding a hose over my vegetables every morning. Plus, that was a sure-fire way to spread disease to my plants by watering from above.
Established carrots like at least 1 inch of water each week. But plan to change your frequency based on heat fluctuations in your environment. Experiment with your watering and know that carrots LOVE water.
Hairy carrots = lack of water or too high of nitrogen in your soil. If you chose to follow my seeding advice, you are able to monitor your carrot growth from thinning every few weeks.
thinning carrot seedlings for optimum growth
Thinning is loving your carrots. I truly like to think of thinning seedlings as an act of meditation. Yet, I speak with beginner gardeners who actually have 'thinning guilt' (yeah, it's a thing). When you're a newbie gardener it's natural to want to hold onto every last seedling you see pop up because you nurtured that little guy. Am I right!? Well, I'm here to (lovingly) encourage you to move past that mindset. Thinning can set your plants up for faster, healthier growth. There are many reasons to thin, which I talk about in [another article], but know when it comes to learning how to grow and thin carrots you are giving them the room and permission to "dig deep" and find their true purpose (ok, I'll stop anthropomorphizing carrots).
First Thinning
I recommend giving your carrots time to establish roots before you engage in the act of thinning. After you see your first sprouts, wait as least one month to identify the crowded areas in your garden bed. Simply lift and peek under the greens and see where they meet the crown of the carrot. Observe the area around each carrot and make sure they're not butted up against a neighboring carrot. Look for multiple carrots in a 1 to 2 square inch area. Then gently wiggle in a circular motion as you pull at the same time. In the above video I show you how to create space for the first thinning. Press down any large holes you may have created to secure the soil around the carrots left in the bed.
continuous carrot thinning aka 'harvest'
A word of advice- don't stress too much about this part! Remember, I said you can thin carrots throughout the whole growing season? This allows you to check back every few weeks to see if they are getting crowded. "How long does it take to grow carrots?" you ask. Patience is a virtue! Depending on the variety, the process can take anywhere from 2-4 months.
My favorite part about growing carrots is that there is no harm in leaving them in the ground! Harvest only what you need, when you need them! Or, if you like, you can harvest all at once and get creative in the kitchen.
carrot pests
If you stick around for more gardening advice you will get sick of me talking about soil health; yet healthy dirt really is the key to a successful garden. Maintaining healthy soil levels is a preventive measure for comparing pests and establishes a strong foundation for a flourishing garden.
carrot rust fly
In general, carrots in mature growth stages can be pretty hardy but are susceptible to a few things. As you embark on your own garden journey you will find that crop rotation and soil biodiversity is crucial to combating pests and diseases. Top on the carrot pest list is the carrot rust fly (psila rosae). Knock on wood, I have not had an issue with this particular pest. I do rotate my garden beds each season which is helpful. In case you find yourself looking at harvested 'holy' grown carrots, you will know the CR Fly has graced you with it's presence.
The most effective way to prevent the carrot rust fly is to protect your growing carrot seedlings immediately upon germination with floating row covers. By covering your bed, you are also protecting from pesky birds eating all your seeds. The rust fly likes to lay their eggs in the soil close to the tops of the carrots. When the larvae hatches they go to town burrowing tunnels in your little golden beauties.
aphids
Another pest that might show up are aphids. Ah, aphids. Little bastards! Truly one of the most annoying pest across the board. However, they are one of the easiest to get kill. For most pest control my first go-to is a homemade basic insecticidal soap. Peppermint Dr. Bronner's will be your best friend in the garden!
how to use insecticidal soap to eradicate pests
You can follow the below recipe if you find them lurking in your homegrown carrot patch.
Place soapy mixture in a spray bottle of choice and treat the heck out of the infected area.
Now for the satisfying part: squish the treated bugs (use gloves if you are squeamish). Let the soap sit overnight.
In the early morning, blast their dead bodies off with a high power stream of water. Always be careful to make sure the blast won't damage the plant you are treating.
sometimes you gotta get dirty
Notice below in the right picture there are aphids AND a cluster of lady bug eggs. I chose to carefully hand squish the aphids with soap and pick them off with my hands. You don't have be this particular. In this case, we were having issues that season keeping ladybugs around to eat the aphid eggs. I wanted all the help I could get!
Pro Garden Tip: Always treat your plants in the evening. The sun can scorch your plants if there is a chemical barrier between the plant and sun.
Aphids can come in brown, black, green and yellow. If you notice the leaves of your plants curling (like the upper left photo) and tiny dot clusters, that is a sure sign you have aphids on the underside of the leaves.
The bright, yellow egg cluster in the second pic are ladybug eggs. Aphids are a ladybug larvae's favorite meal!
You can tell the difference from the lady bug eggs because they are only grouped in one area and are bright yellow.
insecticidal soap recipe
Spray bottle or Garden Pump Sprayer
1 gallon of water : 5 T of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castile Soap
OR 1 qt of water : 1 T DBP Soap
I won't go into detail in this article about how beneficial nematodes can ward off such pests, but I am a firm believer in introducing them at the start of the season if I feel there is a need. As a newbie gardener there will be several things you can do to create healthy, biodiversity in your environment. [Not all pests are bad!]
grower tips for the carrot newbie
grow carrots in containers
Learning how to grow carrots in containers allows for much more control of your crop and environment. Many seasons my neighbors have seen me struggling to move heavy black bags all over my property to find just the right light.
Grow bags come in all sizes. I personally like the 10-20 gallon bags, simply because they are easier for me to move without help. The depth of the grow bags are excellent for testing your gardening skills for growing carrots and potatoes. Just remember to make note of what was grown in each bag for the next season! Crop rotation is crucial to keeping the pests that over winter in the soil under control.
rotate where you plant carrots each season
Extend your carrot harvest season by succession planting! Space out when you spread your seeds by a few weeks or a month to stretch out the growing season. This helps avoid having to store your whole harvest in one batch.
protect your carrot crops from animals
Larger pests chomping on your crop?! You are putting in a ton of work to grow your carrots. The last thing you need is a varmint digging up your root gold! A nifty trick my husband and I use is to take chicken wire or hardware cloth and lay it over the wood of the raised bed and tuck the ends into the dirt around the beds immediately after planting. We will still set up hoops and row covers to protect the seedlings from birds but this method ensures that rabbits, squirrels, opossums, skunks, armadillos and deer (yes, we have them all...sigh) can’t get to the new seedlings. As the carrots mature, we take off the protective wire.
Adjacent companion plants can also help deter the bigger fellas from digging up all our hard work. There are many tricks to ward off large pests. You can read [this article I’ve written] for the key eradicating garden infestations. Not all the approaches will work for you and some have failed for us so take some deep breaths and experiment.
weed, weed, weed
Get all of the unnecessary growth and debris out of the beds so the carrots are not competing for nutrients.
harvesting your carrots
Ok, Ok! We are here to the best part of the article! Now that you know how to grow your own carrots, you have done the hard work. You've nurtured your amazing root veggies for a few months. Congratulations! You’ve probably been thinning your heart out and sneaking some golden snacks so you definitely have an firm idea of the health of your carrot crop.
What to do next?
Scrounge around under the beautiful greens and look for some nice bulbous heads emerging from the dirt. Grab onto where the greens meet the crown and give a little wiggle. Gently pull up and VOILA! Not all carrots will fully grow at the same rate. Pull up a few to test the size and determine if they need more growing time. If you have extra, no biggie! Throw them in your compost so they can feed the next crop.
Pro Garden Tip: Thoroughly wet the carrot bed before harvesting your carrots.
Congratulations on your first carrot harvest! Keep reading to see how to store those beauties…
storing carrots
You have put in numerous days of hard work to successfully grow your carrots. At some point in my gardening I went from harvesting little amount of each vegetable to having a surplus that I had to give away. Believe it or not, you can store carrots for weeks and/or months if you package them correctly. When you find yourself ready to do a ‘proper’ carrot harvest, go ahead and pull the mature roots. If you have a freeze headed your way, you can also pull the rest of the crop (or cover for protection).
CUT THE GREENS: MOST important thing to do when preparing your carrots for storage is to cut the greens off down to the head.
SAVE OR COMPOST THE GREENS: I find that seedling greens are more tasty than mature greens. If you wish to savor the greens check out some recipes like < >
DRY OUT THE CARROTS (optional): Just like potatoes or beets, I suggest keeping the soil on. Drying carrots is an optional step but it is important to not wash them prior to putting them in storage.
STORE IN PLASTIC BAGS: Poke some holes in the bags to allow for air flow and place in the fridge. Check the carrots periodically for any signs of potential rot and wash them as you need them.
Happy harvesting!
Learn how to keep your raised bed vegetable garden thriving in Central Texas (Zones 8b and 9) with tips on heat-tolerant plants, intensive and companion planting, mulching with coconut coir, wise watering, shade provision, soil feeding, foliar feeding, pest management, regular harvesting, and vertical gardening. Discover holistic gardening strategies to beat the extreme Texas heat and ensure a bountiful harvest.