A guide to planting carrots before winter for beginner gardeners

Planting carrots before winter is an excellent way to get a harvest already in June, while root crops sown in spring are just entering the stage of milky ripeness. Winter carrots grow larger, juicier and sweeter due to sufficient soil moisture with melt water.

In this article we will tell you which carrots to plant in the fall, how to prepare the site and care for the crop in the spring.

Advantages and disadvantages of the method

Advantages of sowing carrots in winter:

• early harvest;
• the opportunity to devote more time to preparing the site for the spring season;
• root crops sown in winter grow larger, contain more sugar and water due to their nutrition with melt water;
• When harvesting in June, space is freed up for sowing fast-growing crops - greens, lettuce, beets, cabbage, legumes.

The disadvantage of this method is the short shelf life of root crops.

Suitable carrot varieties

Early and mid-season varieties are best suited for sowing before winter. Bunch carrots have proven themselves to be excellent. Early ripening and cold-resistant varieties with a high percentage of seed germination give a rich harvest.

The table shows the most popular and proven varieties of carrots.

Sowing time before winter

Pre-winter sowing is carried out in October-November in the middle zone and in early December in the southern regions. There is no exact sowing date. Experienced farmers advise focusing on weather conditions - the soil should freeze slightly.

Winter sowing is not done in warm soil, otherwise the seeds will hatch prematurely.

According to the lunar calendar

Favorable days for sowing carrots for 2019:

• October: 1-5, 8-9, 15-20, 25, 28-31;
• November: 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 13, 14, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 26-28;
• December: 2, 3, 4, 9, 10.

Favorable days for sowing carrots for 2020:

• October: 4, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 17, 20, 22;
• November: 1-7, 10, 12, 16, 17, 19,21, 22, 28, 29;
• December: 1, 2, 6-10.

Preparatory work

When sowing carrots in winter, the main emphasis is on soil preparation. Seeds do not need pre-sowing treatment.

Seeds

To sow carrots before winter, dry seed material is used without prior preparation. preparation. Soaked or pelleted seeds (in a nutrient shell) germinate in the fall and die at the first frost. Dry seeds overwinter in the soil until spring, and then quickly germinate with the arrival of warmer weather.

The amount of seeding material is increased by 20-25% compared to spring sowing - some of the seeds will inevitably freeze in the winter, some will not “wake up”.

Priming

After the autumn harvest, plant debris is completely removed from the site and the ground is dug up to a depth of 25-30 cm.At the same time, potassium, phosphate and nitrogen fertilizers, organic matter (peat, compost, humus) are applied. The composition and amount of fertilizer applied depends on the nutritional value of the soil.

When there is a deficiency of phosphorus, carrots grow crookedly; when there is an excess of nitrogen, the roots become highly branched. The crop reacts to fresh manure with ugly, branchy and tasteless root crops.

The most favorable period for fertilizing is after harvesting or during autumn plowing.

First a portion of fertilizer should contain 15 g of double superphosphate, 15 g of urea, 15 g of potassium nitrate per 10 liters of water. Consumption - per 1 sq. m.

Second a portion is added after 3-4 weeks: 20 g of potassium chloride and 20 g of “Nitrophoska” per 10 liters of water. Consumption - per 1 sq. m.

Important! After planting fresh mullein in the soil, carrots are allowed to be sown only after 1.5-2 years.

Normalizing nutritional value, improving the structure and looseness of the soil are the primary tasks of the gardener. The soil should be loamy, nutritious, with a neutral pH = 6.5-7 units. To deoxidize acidic soil, use ash, slaked lime or dolomite flour - 400-500 g per 1 square meter. m.

At the beginning of October, the soil is loosened, leveled and long furrows 3-5 cm deep are formed, the bottom is compacted with a wooden block. The beds are left in this form until frost.

Separately prepare soil for filling furrows and mulch. The prepared soil mixture is poured into bags and stored indoors at temperatures up to +10°C...+12°C so that the soil does not freeze and dries out a little.

Crop rotation rules

When growing carrots, it is important to observe crop rotation. The crop grows best after potatoes, garlic, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and pumpkin.

Repeated sowing in the same area is carried out after 3-4 years.This allows you to reduce the number of carrot flies on the site.

The soil for growing carrots should be loose and nutritious, ideally sandy loam. Clayey, heavy soil is not the best option: seeds in such conditions take a long and painful time to germinate.

The site is chosen on the south side of the garden, with good lighting, early snow melting, and without drafts.

Technology for autumn sowing of carrots

Sowing carrot seeds begins after the soil freezes to a depth of 3-5 cm. If snow falls, it is simply removed from the beds. A 1-2 cm layer of earth is poured into the furrows to plant the seeds to a depth of 1.5-2 cm on loose soil and 1 cm on dense soil.

The seeds are sown thickly, covered with prepared soil mixture and mulched with peat, humus, compost, adding a layer of up to 3 cm. The first snow is raked into the beds.

If the winter turns out to be little snow and frosty, the beds are covered with spruce or pine needles, large branches, dry leaves, and sawdust.

Further care

After sowing carrots before winter, the gardener can only exhale and wait for the arrival of spring. From the moment the snow melts, the most interesting part begins - caring for the plantings.

The first thing to do is remove the mulch from the beds. To speed up the emergence of seedlings, low arcs are placed over the beds and film or non-woven material is secured. After a stable average daily temperature of +15°C and above has been established, the shelter is removed.

The first watering is carried out after the top layer of soil has dried.

With the first shoots, regular weeding begins. It is important to prevent the appearance of an earthen crust, which impairs the aeration of the underground part of the plant. Weeds are removed as they grow.

At the beginning of the growing season, the soil is enriched with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Organic compounds are not recommended.

Further care is no different from caring for spring plantings:

1. Thinning the crops after the appearance of 2-3 true leaves. A gap of 3-4 cm is left between the sprouts. The procedure is repeated after two weeks, leaving a distance of 4-5 cm. The soil is moistened, the greens are pulled out without loosening, so as not to damage the main root to the neighbors, otherwise the root crop will grow “bearded”. Holes in the ground are filled and compacted.
2. The beds are hilled up as the carrots grow, sprinkling the tops with soil. The areas that are outside turn green and solanine accumulates in them, which gives the roots bitterness.
3. Carrots require moderate watering. Root crops form at the end of the growing season and do not tolerate excess moisture well, becoming covered with cracks. In drought, the beds are watered three times a week, and in moderate weather - 1-2 times a week. Watering rate - 4 liters per 1 sq. m. As the root crops grow, the water consumption is increased to 8-10 liters per 1 sq. m. m.

The plant is fed from the moment 3-4 true leaves appear:

• I feeding: 25 g of “Nitrophoska” per 10 liters of water;
• II feeding after two weeks: 1 liter of wood ash per 10 liters of water.

To prevent carrot flies, onions, marigolds, cilantro, and garlic are sown next to carrots. The strong smell of plants repels insects.

The most effective way to prevent the spread of the pest is to cover the beds with lutrasil or spunbond. Dense non-woven fabric prevents flies from penetrating into the ground where they lay eggs.

Harvesting after winter sowing is carried out in late June - early July. Carrots sown in spring are just ripening during this period.

Nuances for different regions

Sowing and caring for carrots is the same for all growing regions, only the sowing time differs:

1. In the middle zone (Moscow region), carrot seeds are planted in the ground at the end of October - beginning of November, focusing on weather conditions. Deadlines may change. The ground temperature should decrease by 2-3°C. The seeding depth is 5-6 cm.
2. In the North-West (Leningrad region) - in mid-November.
3. In the Urals and Volga region, carrots are sown in the same period as in the Moscow region. Sowing depth and soil temperature are identical.
4. In Siberia, autumn sowing of carrots is carried out from mid-October to mid-November. The beds are located on a hill so that with the arrival of spring the snow melts faster. Sowing depth - 2-3 cm.
5. In the south of Russia - at the end of November - in the first ten days of December. Sowing depth - 2-3 cm.

Conclusion

Planting carrots before winter in October - December allows you to get an early harvest in June - July. For sowing, time-tested early and mid-early varieties with high productivity and excellent taste are chosen. Root vegetables grow sweeter and juicier. This is facilitated by early feeding of the plant with melt water.

Caring for winter carrots begins from the moment the first shoots appear. It is no different from caring for spring plantings and involves regular loosening of the soil crust, weeding, moderate watering, thinning of seedlings and hilling of beds, fertilizing and preventing the spread of carrot flies.