by Despite the fact that carrots are quite a popular crop among gardeners, even the most experienced ones have difficulties in getting a rich harvest. Much depends on how well you have prepared the bed: what place you have chosen for it and what you have fed the plants with.
Of course, in the future, carrot plantings will require attention and proper care. However, it is very important not to make mistakes at the initial stage, otherwise all subsequent efforts will be wasted.
Choosing a location for a carrot bed
The carrot bed should be laid out in a sunny place. In the shade, the harvest will not only be more meager, but also less tasty. Consider what will grow in the neighboring beds, whether the crops “neighboring” will eventually give a strong shadow.
Carrots prefer fertile and loose soil: lack of air in the soil will also negatively affect the taste of root crops. As for soil acidity, carrots grow well in slightly acidic or neutral soil. Also, the site should not be located in a lowland: excess moisture is harmful to carrots.
After choosing a location, carefully clear the area of weeds.
It is more convenient to care for carrots in narrow beds: make 4-5 rows at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other.
The best predecessors
When choosing a place for carrots, be sure to consider crop rotation rules. It is recommended to sow carrots in beds where onions, garlic, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, cabbage, zucchini, grain crops, and early potatoes were previously grown. But after crops such as beets, parsley, fennel, and parsnips, you should not plant carrots. Carrots themselves are a bad predecessor for themselves. They can be planted in the same place only after 4 years.
The growth of carrots is also influenced by their “neighbors” in the garden. The crop feels good next to onions, tomatoes, and legumes. It is noteworthy that onions repel carrot flies, and carrots, in turn, protect their “neighbors” from onion flies. Some harmful insects cannot stand the smell of marigolds, so you can decorate the beds with these unpretentious flowers by planting them along the edges.
Fertilizers for carrot beds
If the soil on your site is peaty, then in the spring add a bucket of sand per 1 sq. m. If it is clayey, add peat to the sand. Deoxidize acidic soil with dolomite flour or slaked lime, and it is better to do this in the fall. The amount of deoxidizers added depends on the acidity of the soil on your site. First, determine the acidity, and then check the table of doses for adding dolomite flour or slaked lime.
For any type of soil, add 1 tbsp of superphosphate and wood ash per 1 sq.m. A week before planting, you can also add complex mineral fertilizer to the soil.
Fresh manure or bird droppings should not be added to the carrot bed either during the planting season or the year before.
If you are preparing a bed for carrots in the fall, then add 1,5 buckets of humus or compost per 1 sq.m, and after harvesting, sow green manure. Dig up the bed with green manure before winter. You will need to dig it up again thoroughly in the spring, and loosen it up immediately before sowing carrots.
There are not so many requirements for the arrangement of a carrot bed, but it is very important to fulfill them. A correctly chosen and well-prepared place for sowing is the first and very important step to obtaining a beautiful, tasty and abundant harvest.
