Vegetable · Apiaceae
Carrot
Daucus carota subsp. sativus
Give it deep, loose soil and steady water, and the carrot pays you back with sweet, straight roots.
Full sun
Every 3–7 days
41–77°F · 5–25°C
60–80 days
Overview
A carrot is a cool-season root crop topped with soft, feathery leaves above a long, sweet taproot that does its whole job hidden under the soil. It shares a family with parsley and dill, and its wild ancestor goes all the way back to Central Asia. That orange root everyone pictures is just one choice, since the crop also turns up in purple, red, yellow, and white.
More than anything, what decides whether a carrot feels easy is the soil it grows in. Give it deep, loose, stone-free ground and the root slides straight down, but bury it in heavy clay or hidden rocks and you get a forked, stubby thing instead. Prepare the bed well first and the rest really does come down to patience.
This is a biennial that gardeners grow as an annual, so you lift the root in its first season and almost never meet the flower unless a plant lives through winter. Sow the seed where it will stay, thin the crowd, water without letting it dry out, and lean the crop toward cool weather, and you will be rewarded with the sweetest roots.
Care
The short version: full sun and deep, loose, rock-free soil, steady moisture of about an inch a week, seedlings thinned so each root has elbow room, and a low-nitrogen feed mixed in before you sow.
Light
Carrots love full sun, six or more hours of it a day, though a little afternoon shade is welcome where summers turn hot. Give them too much shade and you end up with leafy tops and let-down roots, so aim for the open spot.
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist, around an inch (2.5 cm) of water a week, and water deeply so it reaches all the way through the root zone. Letting the bed lurch from bone dry to soaked is what brings on bitter, tough, or split roots, so steady is the goal.
Soil
Here is the piece that counts the most, and the good news is it is yours to set up. Carrots want deep, loose, well-drained sandy loam cleared of rocks, clods, and debris, sitting at a pH of 6.0 to 6.8, since anything heavy or packed will fork and stunt the root.
Temperature
Being a cool-season crop, the carrot is most content between 41°F and 77°F (5°C to 25°C). It takes frost in stride, and a late-season chill quietly turns starch into sugar and sweetens the root for you.
Humidity
Plain outdoor air suits carrots just fine, so there is no humidity number to chase down. What truly matters is even soil moisture, not anything happening above ground.
Feeding
Mix a low-nitrogen balanced fertilizer such as 5-10-10 into the bed before sowing, with an optional side-dress partway through the season. Go heavy on nitrogen or reach for fresh manure and it works against you, drawing out forked, hairy roots.
Pruning
There is nothing to prune, yet thinning truly is a must-do. Once the tops stand about 2 inches (5 cm) tall, thin the seedlings to 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) apart, snipping rather than tugging so the roots left behind stay undisturbed.
Size & spacing
The leafy tops reach about 8 to 16 inches (20 to 40 cm) tall, with the roots stowed below. Space each plant 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) apart so every root has the room it needs to fill out.
When to plant
Carrots are creatures of cool weather and do their best work at the edges of the season. Put in your first sowing a couple of weeks ahead of the last spring frost, keep sowing every few weeks right into midsummer, and the roots come ready from early summer through fall, growing sweeter for any frost they meet.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: Direct sow outdoors 2-3 weeks before the last spring frost once soil is workable and at least 7°C (45°F); succession sow every 2-3 weeks through midsummer for a fall crop
- Harvest: Harvest roots at any usable size, typically 60-80 days after sowing; fall crops can stay in the ground into cool weather, which improves sweetness. Flowers only appear in the second year if roots are overwintered.
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 3–10
Temperature: down to -40°C
Troubleshooting
Carrot troubles tend to stay out of sight until you pull a root, so the leafy tops seldom give you a heads-up in time. Get to know the few signs that do show, and dig a sample whenever something seems off. Find your match below, then put the bed right before you sow again, and you will be in good shape.
Rusty tunnels running through the roots
Finding grubby channels stuffed with rust-colored frass usually means carrot rust fly larvae have been at work, while neater round holes hint at wireworms instead. You can pare away the lighter damage and still enjoy the root, though the worst-affected ones are best composted. Drape floating row cover over the bed right from sowing, shift the patch away from where the carrot family grew last year, and wait out the first egg-laying flight before you sow, and you stay ahead of them.
Fix:
- Harvest promptly and discard heavily damaged roots
- Cut away lightly damaged tissue and use the remainder
Yellow, curled new leaves with a bushy, hairy root
What you are seeing here is aster yellows, a phytoplasma that leafhoppers carry from one plant to the next. The young inner leaves yellow and twist while the outer ones blush red, and below ground the root grows bitter and sprouts a thick fuzz of side roots. Since nothing will cure an infected plant, pull it and destroy it, then keep leafhoppers at bay with row cover and tidy away the weeds nearby that shelter them.
Fix:
- Remove and destroy infected plants; there is no cure
Roots that turn bitter, tough, or too small
If the flavor has gone sharp and woody, the usual reasons are easy to put right. Watering that swings between dry and soaked sets off bitterness, and seedlings left too close together crowd one another into slim, tangled roots, while a stretch of heat while the roots are bulking adds to the off taste. Settle into a reliable inch of water a week, thin the row to 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) apart, and time the crop for cool days, and sweetness comes right back.
Fix:
- Resume deep, even watering of about 2.5 cm (1 in) per week
- Thin remaining seedlings to 5-8 cm (2-3 in) apart
When roots come up forked or crooked
Take heart, because this one looks worse than it is. A taproot that meets a rock, a clod, or packed-down ground simply bends and splits as it works around the blockage, and fresh manure or a heavy dose of nitrogen can coax out the same forking and hairiness, with root-knot nematodes occasionally to blame as well. Loosen the bed well and lift out the stones before you sow, and your next round of roots will grow straight and true.
Fix:
- Harvest and use affected roots normally; flavor is unaffected by simple forking
- Deeply loosen and rake the bed, removing rocks and clods, before the next sowing
A patch of green on the top of the root
No need to worry over this little blemish. Green shoulders simply happen when the crown of the root nudges up out of the soil and the sun reaches it, and it stops at the top inch or so while everything below stays sweet and edible once you slice the green off. Mound a bit of soil or mulch over the crowns as the roots fatten up, and you head it off entirely.
Fix:
- Trim off the green portion before eating; the rest of the root is fine
Toxicity
Few garden plants are as gentle as the carrot. Root and leafy tops alike are simply food, with nothing in them to harm pets, livestock, or children. The one thing to mind is a large raw chunk, which can be a choking hazard, so cut it down for little mouths.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
You can relax around your cat with carrots, as a little cooked or grated raw makes a harmless treat. Most cats shrug it off anyway, and the only thing to mind is a big raw piece that could choke, so cut it small.
Dogs None
Dogs handle carrot beautifully, raw or cooked, and plenty of them love gnawing a whole chilled one as a light snack. Just cut the large pieces down so they are gentle on the teeth.
Horses None
Carrots have long been a favorite horse treat and do no harm given sensibly. Break them into long strips rather than round coins, which can catch in the throat, and keep portions modest for an easy keeper.
Rabbits None
Reach for the leafy tops first with a rabbit, since the root carries a lot of sugar and suits the occasional nibble best. None of it is poisonous, just on the rich side, so be sparing with the orange part.
Livestock None
Cattle, goats, sheep, and pigs all happily take carrots and their tops with no risk of poisoning. Bring them in slowly and chop them up so an eager animal does not gulp a whole root.
Birds None
Backyard hens and parrots can have carrot freely, and the bright flesh gives them good vitamin A. Grate or finely chop it so the smaller birds can manage, and the feathery tops are welcome too.
People None
Carrots are an everyday food for every age, raw or cooked, with nothing to keep an eye on. Eat a great many over time and your skin may take on a faint orange tint, which is harmless and fades on its own.
No special handling required.
Varieties
There is a carrot shape suited to nearly any soil, from the long types you see in stores to short, sturdy roots that take heavy ground in stride. These are the names worth getting to know.
Danvers 126
Reaching about 6 to 7 inches (15 to 18 cm) and tapering to a point, this one handles heavier ground far more kindly than the long, slim sorts.
Scarlet Nantes
A beloved staple of the home garden, its sweet, crisp, cylinder-shaped roots end in a blunt tip and are a joy eaten straight from the bed.
Imperator types
These are the long, tapered roots you find at the store, and they only come up straight where the soil is deep, loose, and clear of stones.
Red Cored Chantenay
Short, broad-shouldered, and dependable, it shines in shallow or heavy soil where the longer roots would only struggle.
Thumbelina
A little round carrot that is happy in pots and in the clay or stony beds where the usual roots fork and stall.
Companions
Carrots do best beside onion-family plants that throw off the carrot rust fly, and quick crops like radish that share the row while the slow seed germinates.
Plant near
onion: Onion-family plants interplanted with carrots are traditionally used to help deter carrot rust fly
leek: Like onions, leeks are used in extension companion guides to help confuse and deter carrot rust fly
radish: Fast-germinating radishes sown beside slow carrots mark rows and save space; cited as a space-saving intercrop by UMN Extension
lettuce: Shallow-rooted lettuce shares bed space without competing with the deep carrot taproot
Keep apart
dill: Some extension companion guides advise keeping dill away from maturing carrots; the related species may cross-react and dill can attract pests of the carrot family
How to propagate
There is just one way to grow more carrots, and that is seed sown right into the ground, because the taproot will not put up with being moved.
SeedEasy
Early spring through midsummer, once soil is at least 7°C (45°F) · Germination in 1-3 weeks; roots reach usable size in about 60-80 days
There is only one path to more carrots, and that is seed dropped right into the bed, because the taproot simply will not survive being lifted. Tuck the seed about a quarter inch (6 mm) deep anywhere from early spring through midsummer once the soil warms to 45°F (7°C), and keep the top of the bed damp through the full 1 to 3 weeks it takes to sprout, a wait slow enough to test anyone's patience. Stay with it and the roots swell to eating size in roughly 60 to 80 days.
Myths
Carrots are fine to start indoors and set out as seedlings, the way you do with tomatoes.
Lifting a young carrot upsets the fine taproot right when it is trying to push straight down, which leaves you with a forked or stunted root. Carrots are happiest sown exactly where they will grow, then thinned in place instead of moved.
Carrots are ruined unless you dig every one before the first frost arrives.
A light frost does fall carrots no harm whatsoever. The chill actually converts starch into sugar, so the longer the roots rest in cool soil the sweeter they get, and across many regions you can keep harvesting well into late fall.