WHEN TO PLANT CARROTS

• For a summer harvest, sow seeds outdoors 3 to 5 weeks before the last spring frost date. Find your local frost dates here. 
  • To ensure a continuous harvest, plant a new round of seeds every 3 weeks through late spring. 
• For a fall harvest, sow seeds in mid- to late summer—starting about 10 weeks before your first fall frost.

CHOOSING AND PREPARING A PLANTING SITE

• Carrots need a location that receives full sunlight, though they can tolerate partial shade, too. 
• As discussed above, soil must be loose, sandy or loamy, and airy so that carrot roots can easily push down through the soil.

HOW TO PLANT CARROTS

• We recommend sowing seeds directly in the garden (or wherever you plan to grow them) rather than transplanting. Carrots do not like to have their roots disturbed. 
• Sow ¼ inch deep, 2 to 3 inches apart in rows 1 foot apart.
  • Tip: Try to distribute seed in an even fashion so that seeds don’t grow together. Use a seed-sower or thin vigorously to the right spacing.
• Keep the soil moist with frequent shallow waterings. For small carrot seeds to germinate, the soil mustn’t form a hard crust on top; cover with a layer of vermiculite or fine compost to prevent a crust from forming. (If you put your finger in the ground, it should be moist, but not wet, to the middle knuckle.)
• Carrots are sometimes slow to germinate. They may take 2 to 3 weeks to show any sign of life, so don’t panic if your carrots don’t appear right away!
  • Tip: To help keep track of where they were planted, mix carrot seeds with quick-germinating radish seeds or sow radish seeds in rows between carrot rows. The radishes will grow quickly and by the time the carrots really start to grow, the radishes can be harvested.