Growing Organic Carrots: 3 Factors to Consider when Planting Carrots

There are three important things that you should consider when growing organic carrots.  These are the soil, the rust fly, and fungal growth.  These three factors will determine if you will be able to grow healthy organic carrots.

Carrots are root crops.  They grow underground, that is why they are relatively sturdy.  Once the seeds or seed pellet have taken root, you can be assured that your garden carrot will grow.  It really doesn’t need much attention or tender loving care.

But first, you need to understand that soil texture is very important for a healthy carrot growth.  This root crop needs a very loose and light soil.  Your carrot plots should be free of impurities like rock, solid clay, or other solid debris.

Before planting, condition your soil first. Incorporate compost and add bone meal to the soil. Dig deep and cultivate the soil until everything is evenly mixed.  The compost will bring nutrients to your garden plot while the bone meal can further loosen the texture of soil.  The reason behind this should be obvious.  If you plant on hard, compacted soil, your carrot will be stunted.  On the other hand if your carrot bumped on a solid matter while growing, the crop would certainly have deformities.  So, make sure that you have a rich, loose, and light soil texture for your carrot garden plot.

The next concern is the carrot rust fly.  These pesky flies will infest your carrot and damage the crop, destroy the leaves, and stunt growth.  Carrot rust flies are attracted to the smell of carrots and when they smell one, they would converge on your carrot plot like the deadly plague.

To avoid this inconvenience, put a thin net that will cover your carrot.  It is also better to avoid planting carrots when these flies lay their eggs. That would be from the month of April until June and from the middle of July until September.  So better skip carrot planting during these times.

The third consideration is fungus growth which is brought about by old carrot left underground.  These left-over carrots will rot and they will attract disease.  Disease-bearing fungus remains on the soil, so when you plant a fresh batch, it’s like giving them a shot full of germs.  You will certainly harvest carrots that are full of diseases and deformities.