A grocery store carrot will never taste as good as a carrot straight from the garden, but it can be hard to grow them. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to avoid the obstacles and have a successful carrot crop. If you want to grow carrots in your garden, here’s everything you need to know.
You can also get a copy of my “How Do I Grow Carrots?” sheet for free and keep it with you for future use.
People love the sweet and earthy tap roots of carrots. They are so fun to bite into when they are fresh, either by themselves or with ranch dressing. They are also wonderful when roasted or when added to soup. Carrots can also be steamed and served with butter or baked into a casserole. Carrot greens are edible too and can be served sauteed or used for making pesto or another sauce.
I love seeing the bright-green ferny foliage of the carrot tops every time I walk into the garden. Those frilly, tall carrot tops always make me feel better, even in the winter. It doesn’t matter what the weather is like or what else is growing in the garden. That alone could be reason enough to try carrots in your own garden.
Shopping for carrots at the store usually means orange ones, but if you grow your own, you can get white, yellow, red, and deep purple ones.
Planting carrots in the fall for harvesting in spring is an excellent way to get the most out of your garden. Carrots are hardy cold tolerant vegetables that can be planted in fall and left to overwinter providing bountiful harvests in early spring. With some planning and preparation, you can enjoy homegrown carrots fresh from the soil as early as March or April.
Why Plant Carrots in Fall?
There are a few key reasons why planting carrots in fall for spring harvest is a great gardening strategy
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Extended Growing Season – By planting in fall, you give your carrots more time to establish roots and grow before winter dormancy. This means you can harvest bigger, more mature carrots earlier in spring
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Sweeter Flavor – Carrots grown through the winter and into spring tend to be extra sweet and flavorful. Exposure to colder temperatures converts starch to sugar in the roots.
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Fewer Pests/Diseases – Cooler fall and winter temps mean fewer bugs, diseases, and weeds that can plague spring/summer plantings. Carrots also tend to bolt less when planted for spring harvest.
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Efficient Use of Garden Space – Carrots planted in fall take up space that would otherwise sit empty through winter. It allows you to maximize production from your garden beds.
Best Carrot Varieties for Fall Planting
When choosing carrot varieties for fall planting, prioritize fast-maturing, cold hardy types that can form roots before winter but remain dormant through freezing temps. Some top options include:
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Danvers – Classic blocky type, matures in 65 days. Does well in heavier soils.
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Scarlet Nantes – Slender variety, ready in 68 days. Sweet flavor.
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Little Finger – Extra early maturity, only 55 days. Great for containers.
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Chantenay – Red core type, matures in 65 days. Holds well in ground.
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Merida – Long Nantes type good for overwintering. Slow to bolt.
When to Plant Carrots for Spring Harvest
In Southern Zones – Plant carrots in early to mid fall, around 6-8 weeks before your first expected frost date. This gives them time to size up before winter dormancy.
In Northern Zones – Plant carrots in late summer to early fall, 8-10 weeks before the first fall frost. Harvest any large roots in fall, leave smaller ones in ground to size up.
Watch Your Zone – In especially warm zones like 9-11, you can even plant carrots as late as January/February and still get a spring crop. Just be sure to track your last spring frost date.
No matter your zone, the basic rule is to plant carrots as early as possible in fall while still giving them 2-3 months of growth before hard freezes set in. Adjust timing as needed for your specific climate.
Prepping Your Carrot Beds in Fall
Good soil preparation is key to growing great carrots. Here are some tips:
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Loosen soil and remove any rocks or debris. Carrots need deep, loose soil.
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Mix in 1-2 inches of compost before planting. This provides nutrients and improves drainage.
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Consider raised beds for better drainage and root development if native soil is dense.
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Rake soil smooth shortly before planting seeds. Create rows or wide beds.
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Check soil pH – carrots prefer slightly acidic soil in the 6.0-6.8 range. Adjust if needed.
Planting and Caring for Carrots in Fall
When planting carrot seeds in fall, follow these tips for success:
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Sow seeds about 1⁄4 inch deep and 1 inch apart within rows. You can thin later.
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Water gently after planting and keep soil moist until seeds germinate in 1-2 weeks.
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Thin seedlings with scissors to 2-3 inches apart once they sprout.
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Apply mulch like straw around plants in late fall for insulation from cold.
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Monitor soil moisture and water during winter thaws when ground isn’t frozen.
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Watch for bolting in especially warm spells and harvest promptly if tops grow rapidly.
Harvesting and Storing Fall-Planted Carrots
You can begin harvesting carrots as early as February or March depending on your climate. Use these guidelines:
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Test soil temperature – harvest when soils reach about 40°F in spring.
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Pull carrots when roots reach desired size. They don’t all mature at same pace.
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Cut tops off and store unwashed carrots in fridge for 2-3 weeks.
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For longer storage, pack trimmed carrots in sawdust or sand in a cold cellar.
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You can also overwinter carrots in the ground under heavy mulch until needed.
Enjoy your bounty of sweet, crisp carrots fresh from the garden this spring! With the right prep and care, planting carrots in fall is a simple, productive way to boost your harvest.
Where, When & How to Plant Carrots
If you plant carrots in the spring, you can harvest them early in the summer, before the heat makes the plants bolt and the taproots turn tough and tasteless. Plant seeds two to three weeks before the last frost date in the spring, and then plant again three weeks later. Alternatively or additionally, carrots may be planted 10 weeks before the first frost date for a fall harvest. I prefer carrots that mature in fall because they become sweeter when they experience a frost.
For carrot seeds to germinate, the soil should be between 45° and 85° Fahrenheit. As the carrots grow, the soil should be 70° or cooler. Seeds will remain viable for up to 3 years if stored properly.
Because they have taproots, carrots abhor being transplanted. For that reason, carrot seeds should be direct sown in the garden. In full sun to light shade, sow the seeds in loose, fertile, evenly moist soil. Carrots do best in soil with a pH in the range of 6. 0 to 6. 8.
To avoid stunted and deformed carrots, prepare the soil well in advance of planting. This is the most important step to setting up carrots for success. I start weeks ahead of time, working the soil deep with well-rotted shredded leaves and plenty of compost. Screen out stones, pebbles and any other objects that will obstruct a clear path for straight roots. Because the soil is easier to control in raised beds and deep grow bags, they are great ways to grow carrots.
Sow seeds a quarter-inch deep and an inch apart, in rows 12 to 18 inches apart. But it’s hard to do this because the seeds are so small—about the size of a poppy seed. I’ve found that using pelletized seed makes the job much easier.
The biggest challenge to starting carrots seeds is making sure they stay moist enough to germinate. This can be hard because they take between five and twenty-one days to sprout and are hard to keep an eye on. One trick I like is to cover the seeds with burlap fabric. I use old coffee bean sacks. These are great because the fabric lets water through from above and keeps the hot sun from drying out the soil surface, which needs to stay wet for the seeds to grow. It’s easy to pull back the fabric to see if the seeds are sprouting. If they are, the fabric can be taken off completely.
Take steps to keep pests and the diseases they spread away from your carrot greens once they start to grow. Floating row covers can be installed from the moment of germination to prevent pest access to plants.
You’ll need to pull back the row cover every so often to get rid of weeds that are competing with the carrots for water and nutrients and to spread out any carrot seedlings that are too close together. Even though it’s hard and takes a lot of work, try to leave one carrot plant every 2 to 4 inches.
When we talk about carrots in the garden, we’re talking about domesticated varieties of wild carrots. Also known as Queen Anne’s lace, wild carrots belong to the species Daucus carota. Garden carrots are of the subspecies Daucus carota sativus.
The Atlas variety is small and round. It grows faster than most carrots and does better in poor soil than longer varieties. The orange roots are 1 ½ to 2 inches in diameter and just as long. This variety is ready to harvest in 70 days.
Bolero is a sweet variety with improved resistance to common diseases and leaf pests. The slightly tapered orange roots are 7 to 8 inches long and take 75 days to mature.
Danvers is an orange heirloom variety that tolerates heavier soil. The roots grow 6 to 8 inches long. They take between 65 and 75 days to mature, or longer when grown in fall.
Dragon is a purple-skinned carrot with orange flesh that contains as much lycopene as a tomato. The seven-inch roots perform well in heavy soil and have a sweet but spicy flavor. This variety matures in 70 to 90 days.
Imperator is an heirloom carrot variety that is an All-America Selections winner. The orange roots are 7 to 8 inches long and have a wide shoulder that goes down to a fine taproot. They are ready to harvest in 70 days.
Yellow Moon is a lighter-toned yellow carrot with 6-to-7-inch-long roots. They are ready to harvest in 80 days.
YaYa is a fast-maturing orange variety that produces 6-inch blunt barrel-shaped roots. It looks and feels like a regular carrot and grows well in warmer places where crops need to be ready quickly before it gets too hot. YaYa takes just 60 days to mature.
As mentioned above, it is important to ensure carrots seeds and newly germinated seedlings are kept consistently moist. If Mother Nature hasn’t already done it for you, keep adding an inch of water every week once the seedlings are established. As the taproots get longer and deeper, they will need even more water to keep them from drying out and bolting. When carrots are halfway to maturity, up the water schedule to 2 inches per week.
Avoid applying too much nitrogen fertilizer, which can cause excessive top growth at the expense of root growth. That being said, stay away from too much phosphorus as well. It can make roots grow side shoots or split.
Once the carrot greens are 4 inches tall, side dress by applying fertilizer between the rows. Use an organic fertilizer that will supply a moderate dose of nitrogen and little to no phosphorus.
When to Plant Carrots for Great Fall or Winter Harvests
FAQ
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