How to Grow Carrots in Sandy Soil

Yes, as with any crop (even the most unpretentious, which carrots really are), there are some small nuances in growing this vegetable, secrets, if you like, the combination of which allows you to get a bountiful, healthy, juicy and tasty harvest.

We have already discussed in detail the issue of growing carrots on loam, today we will find out what to do with the cultivation of root crops if the soil on your site is exclusively sandy.

Preparing carrot seeds for sowing

In order to prevent further diseases, carrot seeds should be disinfected before sowing in the ground. This can be soaking for 30-40 minutes in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate (after which the seeds are washed and dried), heating in warm water (50-52°C) for 15 minutes, or treating with Sporobacterin (10 g per 1 liter of water).

Whatever variety of carrot you choose, its seeds will be very small and light, which are difficult to distribute evenly over the soil surface. Therefore, prudent gardeners have long ago come up with several original and simple ways to sow carrot seeds.

For example, carrot seeds can be simply glued with tweezers and paste in a row 3-4 cm apart on narrow strips of toilet paper. Yes, you will have to work hard now, but in the spring you will simply have to lay these strips on the bed at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other, sprinkle with soil and water generously with warm water.

Considering the tiny size of carrot seeds, it is recommended to germinate them before sowing – this way you are guaranteed to get shoots earlier. You can simply place the seeds on damp cotton pads 2-3 days before sowing, remembering to spray them with water from a spray bottle periodically. As soon as the seeds develop small roots, they are ready for sowing.

The “carrot in a bag” method is also suitable for germination. Its essence is that two weeks before the planned sowing, the seeds are placed in a small linen bag, soaked in water, and then dug into the area to the depth of a bayonet shovel. After 10-14 days, take out the bag, mix the sprouted seeds with sand and sow them.

You can sow carrots in open ground as soon as the top layer of soil warms up well and dries out – carrots sown in cold soil often grow irregularly shaped. Usually for the middle zone this is March/April/May, but you should focus primarily on the weather in the current year in your region.

Improving Sandy Soil for Growing Carrots

Let’s say right away that growing carrots on sandy loam and even sandy soils is less troublesome than on the same loam and especially clay soil. After all, carrots are a crop that absolutely cannot stand stagnant water, the formation of a dense crust on the soil surface and over-moistening, but, on the contrary, prefers loose and light soils, permeable to water and air.

However, even in this case, the bed should be prepared before planting carrots.

Choose the sunniest place on the plot for your favorite root vegetable – carrots love a lot of light and warmth.

Remember what grew in this place before? Good predecessors for carrots are green manure, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, onions, legumes, cabbage, squash. But you shouldn’t plant it after beets, chard, parsnips, celery, dill or other umbelliferous plants. Choosing a place for carrots after crops that leave large plant residues in the soil – late cabbage, corn – would be a bad decision.

The carrots themselves are replanted in the same place no earlier than after 3-4 years to prevent damage to the root crops by diseases and pests.

If you are going to grow carrots in dense or mixed plantings, remember that this crop tolerates the proximity of many plants well, but develops best next to onions, peas and spinach. And herbs such as dill, anise, celery and parsley should not be planted next to each other, because they act oppressively on each other.

How to prepare the bed for carrots? We proceed from the fact that the root crop prefers light and loose soils, rich in organic matter, with a slightly acidic or neutral reaction of the environment. It is on such soil that even, large and sweet root crops grow.

Sandy and sandy loam soils meet these requirements quite well. The only thing is that they may not retain moisture well and contain few nutrients. This means that they must first be fertilized with complex mineral fertilizer – this is usually done in the spring, at the same time as sowing.

Deoxidizing agents (lime, dolomite flour) are best added under the preceding crop if necessary. Untimely (spring) deoxidization of the soil before planting carrots will result in root crops with many tails.

The same applies to organic matter – it is added to carrots in the fall by digging the soil to a depth of 20-25 cm. At the same time, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are added (up to 15 g of urea, 30-40 g of superphosphate and 15-20 g of potassium sulfate per 1 sq.m).

It is absolutely important not to add fresh manure to the soil before planting carrots, even a year before sowing – this is guaranteed to spoil your harvest, if not ruin it completely!

Planting and growing carrots on sandy soils

It is advisable to cut out beds for carrots on light, well-warmed soils in the spring.

If you have not pre-germinated carrot seeds and prepared them for sowing, as we recommended in the first part of the article, you will have to sow the seeds “at your own risk” simply one by one, at a distance of 5 cm from each other, 15-20 cm between rows and at a depth of 1,5-3 cm, hoping for no wind on the day chosen for planting. With this technology, you will not have to carry out the first thinning, otherwise just sow several seeds in one hole, resulting in dense plantings and the need for this procedure.

After sowing, it is necessary to moisten the soil. Watering is especially thorough if granulated seeds or seeds on tape were used. Then cover the crops with film or spunbond.

Further care for growing carrots on sandy soil will not differ from that on any other soil – this includes watering, fertilizing, loosening and, if necessary, treatment against diseases and pests.

As you can see, there is nothing particularly difficult in growing carrots, it is only important to prepare the soil for this crop in a timely and competent manner and to follow simple agricultural technology. Big and tasty harvests to you!