If you like to eat fresh organic carrots then why don’t you grow them at home? Now you do not need an outdoor garden to grow carrots. You can grow them easily in containers, big size plastic and in boxes. Growing carrots in containers is easier than growing them in outdoor garden. You can put the carrot containers on patios, decks, and balconies in case you live in an apartment.
This article will help you in growing carrots in containers. Just read it till the end and start growing fresh organic carrots from today.
Benefits of growing Carrots in containers
Even if you have a big garden, you should grow this root vegetable in containers. The first and most important reason is saving space for other vegetables and plants. In some gardens, we do not have the right fertile soil for carrots. In this condition, you can buy soil from the garden store, fill the container and grow carrots in it.
Container gardening is perfect for those living in apartments. They have the right to grow and eat fresh vegetables. There are many rooted vegetable like carrots that you can grow in containers and baskets.
All you need to do is buy a big size grow bag with 15 inches diameter and a total capacity of 10 gallons. This bag can easily hold 18 to 20 carrots.
Other benefit of container gardening is, your carrots are safe. Carrots are the favorite food of Deer and rabbits. By growing them in containers they will not have access to your growing carrots. You can also move the container to the safe place.
If you like that your kids should also learn about growing plants. Then this is the time to show them how to grow carrots in containers. It will be fun for them and they will learn many things about vegetables.
Best pots for growing carrots
Before choosing pots you need to select the type of carrots you want to grow. They are available in many varieties. Some of them have root size 2 inches while others have 1 foot long roots. Therefore, firstly check the root size of your carrots. I use large size pots because these pots hold a large amount of soil and also accommodate the carrot roots.
Having more soil in the container means you do not need to water frequently. Because a large amount of soil can hold a large amount of water for a long period of time.
The second thing you need to check is the material for the carrot container. Terra cotta, plastic, and metallic containers are famous for growing plants. In the case of carrots grow them in plastic pots. Because plastic pots do not have tiny holes like clay pots. This is the reason plants growing in plastic-made containers need less water to grow.
Some growers advise using fabric bags. But again, the problem is the same the soil in these bags becomes dry quickly. This increases the number of water applications per day especially on hot days of the summer season.
Plastic pots have one more benefit and that is crop rotation. You can use the same pot to grow any type of vegetable after harvesting the carrots.
There is only one thing that you need to keep in mind is the container should have a draining hole. This hole is required to drain the excess water out of the pot. Otherwise, extra water causes root rot like diseases.
Just in case you want to use an old pot to grow carrots in it. But it does not have a bottom hole. Then you can use the drill to make 2 half-inch wide holes.
When to grow carrots in containers?
First of all, you need to prepare the container before plating the carrot seeds. Now that you know which type of container you need to use for growing carrots. The next thing is the type of soil you need to grow carrots in containers.
The growing medium should be loose, fast-draining, and rich in organic material. It is clear that you need to add compost to your potting mix. Potting mix alone is not sufficient to grow vegetables like carrots.
20% of your potting mix should be organic compost. To speed up the growth you can add a bone meal to the potting mix. Because phosphorous is necessary to grow big carrots in shot time.
Do not use high nitrogen fertilizers. Because they are good for green color vegetables. As we all know carrots are not green. So, giving high nitrogen fertilizers will only boost the carrot tops. But it will not make the carrots large in size.
Carrots are a cool-season crop therefore you need to wait until the mid-spring for planting seeds. For a continuous supply of fresh carrots. You need to plant carrots from mid-spring to mid-summer. This way you will have them till late autumn.
Let’s say you sow one container at the starting of the spring season. Then you should sow the second container right after 30 days. This way you will have a bunch of carrots for a very long time.
How to sow carrot seeds?
Once you fill the container with potting soil. Then water it to make the soil moist for seeds. After that sow carrot seeds a quarter-inch deep and 1 inch far from each other. In the outdoor garden, we grow carrots in rows. But when growing carrots in containers we use the grid method. This way you can cover the entire area and have a heavy harvest.
Once you plant all seeds in the pot, water them by using a spray bottle. Remember that you work in not finish here. Now you need to move the container to a sunny place. Because the carrots need 6 to 7 hours of sunlight per day.
Carrot care guide
Watering carrots
Before watering the carrots, you need to check the soil moisture level. Here you can use your finger or you can use a digital moisture meter. If the top 1 inch of the soil is dry give some water to the plants. Remember that carrots need continuous slightly moist soil. Only by watering you can keep the soil moist.
Use filtered water for watering carrots. There no specific amount of water that they need per day. Water when the soil is dry.
Thinning
Thinning means creating space between seedlings. When the carrot seeds develop into carrot seedlings you need to thin them. In the previous articles, we have learned that just pull the unwanted seedlings to thin any group of plants.
But here you need to cut them for thinning carrots. Because by pulling them you can damage the other growing healthy seedlings. Use garden snips to cut them in their early stage of growth.
This improves air circulation and reduces the chances of plant diseases.
Fertilizing carrots
Organic fertilizers are best to use. Fertilize carrots with compost tea or liquid carrot fertilizers. Carrots need to be fertilized only once a month in their active stage.
Powdered fertilizers are not good for container-growing plants. A high dosage of nutrients can damage the growing carrots.
Helping carrots
When the carrots grow their shoulder become visible. Shoulders are the head part of the carrots. Once it happens take some potting mix and cover it. If it gets exposed to direct sunlight for a long time. Then the carrots develop a slightly bitter taste and they grow short in size.
Harvesting carrots
Your packet of carrot seeds has the days to maturity mentioned. Most of the carrot varieties get matured within 90 days. To check the maturity of carrots you need to pull one. If it has a good size then harvest all carrots.
If you wait longer than the 90 days. Then there is a chance that your carrots will get root rot-like disease.
At the time of harvesting, there must be some baby carrots. Once you pull them out of the soil do not sow them back. They are tasty to eat and have a tone of nutritional value.
If you do not like small carrots then you should not harvest the entire container at once. Pull the carrot to see if it has a good size to eat. This way you can have 10 days of continuous harvest.
Popular carrot varieties
There are many carrot varieties but only a few are popular in the country. Below are the delicious carrot varieties that you should grow if you like to eat carrots.
Your packet of carrot seeds has the days to maturity mentioned. Most of the carrot varieties get matured within 90 days. To check the maturity of carrots you need to pull one. If it has a good size then harvest all carrots.
If you wait longer than the 90 days. Then there is a chance that your carrots will get root rot-like disease.
At the time of harvesting, there must be some baby carrots. Once you pull them out of the soil do not sow them back. They are tasty to eat and have a tone of nutritional value.
If you do not like small carrots then you should not harvest the entire container at once. Pull the carrot to see if it has a good size to eat. This way you can have 10 days of continuous harvest.
Imperator
This type has long carrots around about 10 to 12 inches long. The carrots you see in the farmer’s market are these types. This type is suitable for containers but the condition is the container should be 20 inches deep.
Nantes
Nantes is the sweet carrot variety. They are medium in size about 5 to 6 inches long. You can wash and eat them fresh. This variety is the best for making carrot salads.
Round carrots
These are only 1 to 3 inches long in size. The cylindrical carrots that you see in the supermarket are this Parisian or round carrots. They are perfect for growing in containers or in small size pots. They need 4 hours of light per day. You can grow them on a sunny window.
Royal chantenay
If you like to have carrot juice on summer days. Then this is the perfect variety to grow in containers. They are 6 inches long in size with a round head.
Royal carrots take 70 days to get matured. Many vegetable juice stores use these carrots for tomato carrot juice.
