Carrots are one of the cold-resistant crops, which are usually planted rather early in the spring, as soon as the soil dries and warms up under the rays of the April sun.
However, with such unpretentiousness, it is still necessary to take into account some factors, such as the variety of sowed carrots, the climate and weather conditions of your area.
Further in the article we will describe how the dates of sowing carrots depend on the climate and ripening terms. We describe what the consequences of late planting are waiting for gardeners.
Why is it important to decide on the start of landing?
Usually gardeners especially do not think when planting carrots in open ground, and sow it immediately after the snow melts, and then keep it in the garden until autumn harvesting of the whole vegetable garden. In fact, this approach is not entirely correct.
Many varieties ripen in late July and early August, and sitting in the ground for extra time, roots burst and grow roots, lose their taste and nutritional qualities.
In this way, should carefully determine the correct landing time, because it depends on them when the harvest is received and how it will be. At the same time it is necessary to take into account the variety of carrots, since each of them has its own ripening period. In this regard, the important question is whether you want to harvest for immediate consumption or grow carrots for long-term storage for the winter.
Sowing time dependency
From climate
Sometimes there are recommendations to sow carrots the sooner the better, because in this case damage to young sprouts by various pests will be minimized. But we must not forget that too early planting threatens to delay the germination of carrots, even if it is significantly warm outside, because the soil after winter may still be too cold or sometimes cool during cold snaps.
Sown seeds or emerged shoots may simply die., if suddenly there will be frosts that they can not bear. Such a development is quite possible in areas with a harsh or sharply continental climate (these include the north of the European part of Russia, the Urals and Siberia).
According to the long-term observations of agronomists, the soil becomes ready for planting at different times. So:
- For the Central European part of Russia, the best is the period from April 20 to 30.
- For the Urals - from May 2.
- For Siberia and the northern regions - only after May 10.
From the terms of ripening varieties
In this case, you need to estimate when the crop is about to ripen, and also, of course, take into account the climate and the approximate weather reigning during the summer season in order to understand whether the carrots will have time to grow before the onset of cold weather.
Usually, First of all, they sow early varieties of carrots, which give a harvest in July. Slightly late and late varieties are sown a little later. Planting is carried out so that the early and middle-late varieties matured in summer, meeting the current need for carrots, and later ones that are grown for storage in the autumn.
In different regions of the country, the dates of sowing of early, middle-late and late varieties may coincide, and may have significant intervals between each other. Often, all varieties are sown at the same time, because this way continuous harvesting is carried out:
- July harvest of early varieties ripens first;
- then medium late carrot;
- with the end of the season - late.
It should be noted that late varieties grown for storage are recommended to be sown in such a way as to harvest them almost before the frost, because in this case it is important to keep the carrots in the ground as long as possible. Based on this recommendation, should be planted late varieties of carrots around the beginning of Juneand in the warm southern regions sometimes even in the middle of June.
When to sow in open ground?
In April
- As a rule, in central Russia, the most suitable time for spring planting of carrots is the twentieth of April.
- It is pointless to plant before this time, because in the cold soil the seeds may lie for a month, or they may even be killed by a sudden freeze.
- Too late planting is fraught with the fact that the harvest, as a rule, of middle-late and late varieties, will not have time to ripen.
- Consider the climate of your area. In regions with a more severe climate at the end of April, the soil can still be very damp and cold, and in some places at this time there are still remnants of snow.
- As mentioned earlier, later varieties can be sown later, but early varieties should be planted at this particular time, since the harvest of such carrots can be gathered in the middle of summer.
In May
- The beginning of May is best suited for sowing carrots in the Urals.
- In mid-May, carrots are usually planted in Siberia and in the north of the European part of Russia.
- If you live in an area where the climate is very harsh and a short summer, then it is recommended to plant carrots in late May or even early June.
- It should be noted that when such a late planting is not recommended to choose late varieties, because they may simply not mature.
Consequences of a delayed landing
Too early
When too early planting seeds or even sprouted shoots can just freeze, as a result, seedlings and roots will not appear. Sometimes this happens when, at the end of March and early April, heated air masses arrive from the south, and stable and warm weather sets in.
It is tempting to plant seeds at such a time in order to get an earlier harvest in the future. However, the temperature background at this time of the year is not yet stable, there is always the fear that frost will strike, so the planting material and seedlings may die, and all the work will go in vain.
Too late
Unnecessarily late planting, unlike very early, almost does not threaten your harvest. but always need to remember about the combination of climate and ripening. Thus, if you late plant late varieties of carrots, they may not have time to ripen. This is especially true of the northern and eastern regions of the country, in which at the time of harvest of late varieties can already snow. Therefore, too delaying the planting of seeds should not be.
It can be concluded that there is nothing difficult in choosing the dates for spring planting of carrots. You only need to take into account the climate and weather conditions of your area, as well as determine the carrot varieties that are most suitable for ripening.
