Carrot Semi-Long Sylva

Daucus carota - Sylva

We all know it, we all love its taste, and in the kitchen it ranks among the most widely used root vegetables. Yes, we're talking about carrots. They originate from southern Asia, the area of present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. The carrot is a biennial plant with pinnate 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 (which is the original undomesticated form with a white root) and cultivated carrot (this includes all currently grown carrot varieties). The cultivated carrot has a more robust root, whose color can be white, yellow, orange, red, purple or multicolored (the outside can be different from the inside).

According to sowing time, we distinguish carrots into - EARLY CARROT (finer early carrot, shorter with a more rounded root), BABY CARROT (young early carrot, characterized by delicate taste and tender structure) and CLASSIC CARROT (late type, has a sweet smooth semi-long shaped root with a pointed end).

But that's not all. Our beloved carrot can also be divided according to the shape of the root for which we grow it. 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. Flakee 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 early carrot we encounter in stores. 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, but also chlorine. They contain numerous trace elements - boron, vanadium, iron, iodine, cobalt, copper, manganese, zinc. As is well known, carrots have an effect on vision quality! They are a source of provitamin A – beta-carotene. They also contain some vitamin C and B vitamins.

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

How to Grow Carrots

• Requires a sunny location. Regularly loosen and water the beds. Definitely avoid overwatering, as we could destroy the entire crop. Carrots are among cold-loving plants, they thrive best at temperatures around 16°C. We prevent greening of the root heads by hilling soil up to the plants.

• Freshly fertilized soil is not suitable for planting. We sow seeds in the bed when frosts have passed. The daily temperature should be at least 7°C on average (ideal carrot cultivation is at daily temperatures around 16°C). We sow to a depth of 1 to 2 cm at a distance of about 15 cm. Emerging seedlings must be thinned to about 5 cm apart. We sow late carrot varieties in the same way from late spring to early summer.

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

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

• Black rot of carrots manifests in germinating plants by darkening, thinning and rot of the root collar and withering of leaves. During vegetation, this disease doesn't manifest much on roots. Dark, dry sunken spots appear on affected roots. We provide protection with Dithane DG Neotec.

  Leaf blight of carrots manifests during vegetation and spreads among plants by wind and rain through conidia that form on affected leaves. On the oldest leaves, one to two millimeter yellowish-brown spots with lighter edges appear. The spots gradually enlarge, merge and darken. In later stages, leaves are completely dark and dead. We provide protection with Ortiva.

  Carrot fly appears on younger plants, which turn yellow and die. On the root surface, especially in its upper third, tunnel-like feeding marks with fly larvae are visible from the outside. Damaged plants rot during storage. Protection is currently not possible. Previously it was carried out with Dursban 10 G.

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

  Nematode feeding causes carrot roots to be deformed and produce excessive amounts of lateral rootlets. Sowing marigolds can greatly reduce the occurrence of nematodes in the soil. We also observe crop rotation.

  Powdery mildew manifests on all above-ground parts (leaves, petioles, stems, inflorescences and seeds) with whitish powdery coatings. We provide protection against powdery mildew of umbellifers with Ortiva.

• We harvest early varieties from the 8th week after planting. Late varieties sometimes need up to 11 weeks. We harvest manually by pulling or we can carefully use a fork so as not to damage the plant roots.