Carrot Nantaise 2 Marktgärtner - carrot seeds

Daucus carota - Nantaise 2 Marktgärtner

We all know it, we all love its taste, and in the kitchen it's one of the most frequently used root vegetables. Yes, we're talking about carrots. Originally from southern Asia, the region of today's Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. The carrot is a biennial plant with feathery leaves. The flower stem can reach up to 1.5 m in height, the inflorescence forms a compound umbel with whitish flowers.

Carrots can be divided into two basic types - wild carrot (the original uncultivated form with a white root) and cultivated carrot (which includes all carrot varieties grown today). The cultivated carrot has a more robust root, whose color can be white, yellow, orange, red, purple, or even multicolored (the outside can be different from the inside).

According to sowing time, we distinguish carrots as - BABY CARROTS (finer early carrots, shorter with a rounder root), EXTRA BABY CARROTS (young early baby carrots, characterized by delicate flavor and tender texture), and CLASSIC CARROTS (late type, with a sweetish smooth semi-long shaped root and pointed tip).

But that's not all. Popular carrots can also be divided according to root shape, for which we grow them. For example, the Berlikum type has larger cylindrical roots with a blunt end. Carrots of this type are suitable for direct consumption, long-term storage, drying, and further processing. Flakkee is characterized by very long tapered roots with a wide and flat end. Suitable for direct consumption, long-term storage, drying, and other types of processing. Parisian has small radish-shaped roots. This type is suitable for direct consumption and processing. Nantes is the classic baby carrot we encounter in shops. And finally, the Chantenay type is a carrot with shorter, rather conical roots. Suitable for direct consumption, drying, and other types of processing.

Carrots have a high content of minerals. They also have high levels of potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and chlorine. They also contain numerous trace elements - boron, vanadium, iron, iodine, cobalt, copper, manganese, zinc. As is well known, carrots affect vision quality! They are a source of provitamin A – beta-carotene. They also contain some vitamin C and B-group vitamins.

The advantage of carrots is that they are very undemanding vegetables. You can even grow them in containers, perhaps on a terrace!

How to Grow Carrots

• Requires a sunny location. Regularly loosen the beds and water them. Never overwater, as this could destroy the entire crop. Carrots are cool-season plants, thriving best at temperatures around 16°C. Prevent greening of root tops by hilling soil up around the plants.

• Freshly manured soil is unsuitable for planting. Sow seeds in beds when frosts have passed. Daily temperature should average at least 7°C (ideal carrot cultivation is at daily temperatures around 16°C). Sow to a depth of 1 to 2 cm at intervals of about 15 cm. Emerging seedlings must be thinned to about 5 cm spacing. Sow late carrot varieties in the same way from late spring to early summer.

• Carrots require thoroughly worked soil with sufficient nutrients and moisture. Soil should be light and fertile. Optimal pH is neutral to slightly alkaline. Soil should not contain clods or stones.

• Before loosening the soil, it's advisable to enrich the sowing site with well-composted compost. Before sowing, incorporate 70g N, 30g P, and 150g K into the soil. At the 3-5 leaf stage, apply 20g N as a side-dress. During vegetation, fertilize with NPK fertilizer with lower nitrogen content and higher potassium proportion. Don't use manure. Carrots react to this type of fertilization by splitting.

• Black rot of carrots appears on germinating plants as darkening, thinning, and rot of the root collar and leaf drying. During vegetation, this disease doesn't show much on roots. Dark, dry, sunken spots appear on affected roots. Protect with Dithane DG Neotec.

  Leaf blight of carrots appears during vegetation, spreading among plants via wind and rain through conidia that form on affected leaves. One to two millimeter yellowish-brown spots with lighter edges appear on the oldest leaves. Spots gradually enlarge, merge, and darken. In later stages, leaves are completely dark and dead. Protect with Ortiva.

  Carrot fly appears on younger plants, which turn yellow and die. Tunnel-like feeding damage with fly larvae is visible on the root surface, especially in its upper third. Damaged plants rot during storage. Protection is currently not possible. Previously, Dursban 10 G was used.

  Soft rot of carrots is caused by improper storage of root vegetables in humid environments. Carrots turn into a mushy, foul-smelling mass. Before storage, inspect carrots and clean off soil residue.

  Root-knot nematode infestation causes carrot roots to become deformed and produce excessive lateral rootlets. Sowing marigolds can significantly reduce nematode occurrence in soil. Also maintain crop rotation.

  Powdery mildew appears on all above-ground parts (leaves, petioles, stems, inflorescences, and seeds) as whitish powdery coatings. Protect against powdery mildew of umbellifers with Ortiva.

• Harvest early varieties from week 8 after planting. Late varieties sometimes need up to 11 weeks. Harvest manually by pulling or carefully use a fork to avoid damaging the plant roots.