Starting a healthy lifestyle can begin by consuming vegetables, especially bright-colored veggies such as carrots. But do you know how to grow carrots in containers? Find out here!
Carrot is a source of vitamin A that is good for your eyes with antioxidant beta-carotene that can boost the immune system. It is the most versatile and accessible root veggies you can consume daily.
Living healthy can also begin by doing rewarding hobbies like gardening. Growing vegetables on your own is a rewarding hobby that allows you to eat healthy veggies simultaneously.
Growing carrots is not as easy as people think. Still, it can be challenging and enjoyable if you’re an active person who likes to keep busy.
Carrots can grow well in certain conditions if the soil, water, and nutrients are maintained well. So, if you are wondering how to grow carrots in containers, here are some helpful insights.
Container Gardening for Growing Carrots
You don’t have to worry if you don’t have any yards for gardening. There is a way to start gardening in a limited space by using a sunny spot in your home. It is called container gardening.
Container gardening is a great way to develop your gardening experience in your home. This type of gardening is suitable for a wide variety of small to medium size vegetables and herbs. That includes growing carrots.
Container gardening not only allows you to organize your plants easily but also allows you to do more experiments with new plants and harvest the vegetables easier.
The more you practice gardening, the more gardening experience and skills you will develop. Gardening skills can also be a good lifetime investment! So, learning how to grow carrots in containers is definitely an excellent way to spend your time!
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Tips for Growing Carrots in Containers
These are a few things to do to successfully grow root-crop plants in containers. These tips are not just for carrots but for most of the root-crop plants that grow in containers. So better take note of these tips if you plan to do more experiments with other root-crops vegetables next time.
1. Pick Carrot Type that Suit Container Gardening
The average carrot you usually see is probably that long orange vegetable. But carrots have many types of different sizes and colors.
For container gardening, where the container can only accommodate a limited amount of soil, it’s better to grow a small carrot with a length of around 6 to 7 inches. It is half the size of the usual carrot, which is about 12 to 14 inches.
You can also choose between these carrot varieties that grow shorter than 7 inches, such as Babette or baby carrot, Chantenay Red Core Carrot, Cosmic Purple Carrot, Little Finger Carrot, and Oxheart Carrot. Growing smaller carrots can also save more potting soils!
2. Use the Best Soil Mix
For root-crop plants like carrots, soil quality affects the carrots. Typically, carrots plants prefer smooth soil, no rocks, and well-drained ground. Apart from the texture, the root-crops plants also need nutritious soil.
You can mix soil with compost with a 1:3 ratio of 1 part compost on 3-part soils. You can get the soil and compost from a gardening shop or just sort some soil and compost from your backyard.
3. Choose the Best Container for Growing Carrots
Well, since the size of the container depends on carrot lengths, it’s all up to what’s your favorite carrot type. It’s important to choose a deep container that supports plant roots that grow downward. The bigger the container area, the better because carrots need space to grow well.
4. Maintain the Plants Needs
Plants need water and other nutrients. Make a daily schedule to water the plants regularly and fertilize the soil so you won’t forget. Also, ensure the soil surface is clear from weeds and debris when you water and fertilize the plants so that the carrot can completely absorb the water and nutrients.
5. Organize the Carrot Plants
Organizing the plants is essential to ensure enough area for the vegetable to grow. Sometimes carrots can appear in unpredictable positions. They might interfere with each other in a tight space.
When the plant area seems too crowded with carrots and the spaces between the plants are too narrow, you can organize them by thinning the plants. Thinning the plants can be done by pinching the tiny ones and pulling them gently until their roots are out of the ground.
There is also a condition where the carrots push out to the soil surface. This condition can’t be good because sun exposure can affect the root’s growth, especially for root-crops plants like carrots.
However, if that happens, you don’t have to worry. You only need to hill the plants by covering the carrot parts on the soil surface with soil mix.
6. Harvesting Carrots
Knowing how long a carrot grows before starting to grow the carrot plants will make you prepared when the harvesting time comes. Carrot usually takes 70 to 100 days, but it always depends on what carrot type you grow and the condition of the carrot plants.
Keeping track of the growth of your carrots by noting the date of planting and the growth of the plant will be very helpful.
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How to Grow Carrots from Carrot Tops?
Now that you’ve got some insight about tending carrot plants in containers, have you ever wondered that carrots are not only growing from the seeds?
Well, there are two possible ways to plant carrots. The first is just a simple way by growing carrots from the seeds, and the second is from carrot tops scraps.
Planting carrots from the top part of carrots may sound more efficient because you don’t have to buy carrot seeds and can use the carrot leftovers.
All carrot parts are edible, but the top part is usually harder to consume, so better reuse that part rather than throw it away. Most of the root crop actually can regrow from the retained top scrap.
The method is simple, just place the top carrot scrap on a small container of water for a few days, then you will see the roots grow.
When the roots appear, the plant is ready to be transplanted into the soil mix.
The last tip for growing carrots is to ensure the soil is well drained and nourished. Hopefully, your carrot plants grow well!
Now that you have learned how to grow carrots in containers, you might also be interested in doing eggplant for your next project. Find out how to do it only at Beagreens!
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