On my last trip to Ahmed Maher Street, I got some more crop seeds to start. This post is about carrots and starting them. Carrots can be started about any time of the year, but early spring and early summer, yielding summer and fall crop respectively, are the most important planting times as they give the most flavorful carrots.
Carrots are not a fruit in that they are a root crop: the edible part is the taproot (although the greens are sometimes eaten too). They are biennial, completing their life cycle in two years; during the first one, the vegetative state, the leaves, stems, and taproot (which we harvest) grow to store the necessary sugars and nutrients for the flowering in the second year (for more details about plant anatomy and their life cycle you can check out this post).
Being that August has already started, now is not necessarily the time to grow the most delicious of carrots, but they are among the most adaptable crops that are tolerant of mismanagement - so I am eager at trying my hands at growing them in a container. In this post I detail how and include a factsheet containing key information you will need to start yours.
Being that August has already started, now is not necessarily the time to grow the most delicious of carrots, but they are among the most adaptable crops that are tolerant of mismanagement - so I am eager at trying my hands at growing them in a container. In this post I detail how and include a factsheet containing key information you will need to start yours.
Carrots belong to the Apiaceae or Umbelliferae family, to which anise, caraway, celery, cumin, dill, and parsley among others also belong. The common trait of members of this family being their hollow stems, and the umbrella-like structure of their flower clusters (or inflorescence). As mentioned above, carrots as a food crop are harvested before they flower during their second year of life - unless of course, they are grown for seed keeping.
The factsheet below details the needed information to help you start carrots from seed:
As mentioned above, although they are likely to grow from seed successfully, now is not necessarily the best time to plant carrots for a quality crop. However, with the local seeds I get, although usually good quality (the same brand has given very reasonable germination rates) - I miss some detailed labeling on the package, which just includes the common Arabic name and supplier details. Therefore, I have no idea what the variety it is - I only know I will be growing "red carrots", I have no idea what size or shape to expect, and I am eager to start them and see how well they will fare in a container, and will be sure to follow up with a post detailing my experience.
