Carrots are undoubtedly one of the most popular vegetables not only in this country, but also all over the world. Carrots are suitable for cooking as well as for eating raw in various salads and spreads. It is also great on its own. That is, at least if you don’t bring home carrots that taste like a bar of soap.
Carrots are also popular with small gardeners, as they are relatively easy to grow and thrive in most climates. Apart from the occasional weeding and possible thining at the start of their growth, they don’t need that much work.
Although carrots are still relatively cheap to buy from stores, carrots that you grow yourself in your own garden taste much better. Of course, you need seeds to sow them. Many beginners have no idea where carrot seeds actually come from. Sure, you buy them in the store, but where do you find them on the plant itself? Let’s find out!
How Are Carrot Seeds Formed?
Carrot seeds come from, you guessed it, carrots. However, they have nothing to do with the orange part of the carrot – that’s just the root.
Carrot seeds are obtained from the flower tops. Carrots do not usually produce flowers until the second year after sowing. After flowering, the inflorescence withers, and the seeds drop down on the ground and continue to spread, for example with the help of the wind.
If you would like to save the seeds for next year, you need to collect them before they drop down on the ground.
When Do Carrots Bloom?
The carrot is a biennial plant. During the first year, it forms foliage and a massive root in which nutrients accumulate. After surviving the winter, in the second year, the carrot begins to form a stalk, which subsequently produces an inflorescence.
Hence the reason why most growers do not see carrots flowering and subsequently producing seeds – the carrots are simply no longer present in their garden in the second year because they’ve already been pulled out. Carrots are grown for their roots, so they are harvested in summer or autumn.
What Does a Carrot Flower Look Like?
Carrots are members of the umbellifer family (Apiaceae), a family of nearly 4,000 plant species with a worldwide distribution, including the Arctic regions. This family includes, for example, dill, cumin, coriander, and also the infamous giant hogweed plant that is considered a dangerous invasive plant in many Central European countries. The flowers of carrots are similar to these plants.
The inflorescence of the carrot takes the form of a compound umbel, which is a compound inflorescence with umbrella-ribs-like stalks growing out of a single common point and ending in other umbels, which we call umbellules or umbellets. The number of umbellets is usually between 20 and 40.
The flowers themselves are usually white. One or more purple flowers may appear in the center of the umbellet. However, there are also varieties with a color other than white. That’s for example the case of the purple varieties of carrots. as you may have guessed the flowers of these varieties are purple.
Although the carrot flowers look very pretty, they are not something most gardeners would like to see. In fact, if your carrots come into flower during the first year, something is wrong.
Why Are Your Carrots Flowering?
Although we mentioned that carrots don’t flower until the second year of their life, you may also see them trying to flower in their first year. And that’s a problem for gardeners because these carrots will not form the tasty root that we usually grow them for.
Carrots start to flower in the first year mostly because they were planted too early. Abrupt changes in weather, which are not uncommon in early spring in most climates, can speed up the growing cycle and the plant figuratively thinks that the winter is already over. It then starts to set flowers and its root growth stops.
If this happens to you, you can try pinching off the flowers, but the success of this is highly uncertain. If you only have a few of these ‘bloomers’ it is usually not a disaster, but if it involves a larger number of plants you will be better off if you sow a new batch of seeds.
When Should You Sow Carrot Seeds?
Carrots generally do not tolerate transplanting, so the seeds are sown directly into the soil in the garden. The exact time of the year depends on the zone you live in and it may also be influenced by the specific carrot variety, but it’s usually done during the cold months.
The carrots should have enough space to grow properly. It’s often recommended that the seedlings are spaced approximately 1 inch apart. Carrots are mostly sown in rows. The space between the rows should be at least 16 inches.
With carrots, however, the spacing between plants in the row is not very important when sowing, as the seeds are very small and you often unintentionally sow them more densely. In the end, however, this is not a problem. This is because carrots can be easily thinned once they sprout. Thin them down so that only the strongest seedlings remain in place with plenty of room for their further growth.
The depth at which you sow the seeds is also important. This is usually a depth of 1/2 inch.
In some areas, carrots can also be sown in fall and winter. In this case, sowing should ideally be done as late as possible before the first frost – typically in November or December. That is, of course, if you live in a zone that experiences frosts. Seeds sown during fall and winter will germinate in the spring and reward you with an earlier harvest.
When Are Carrots Harvested?
The time of harvesting carrots depends on the variety sown. As a general rule, you can harvest carrots in 2 to 3 months after seed sowing. Smaller varieties tend to be ready for picking earlier than larger varieties.
However, the time given is always only an indication and depends on the specific conditions where the seeds were sown. A number of factors influence the rate of growth. The most important are the climatic conditions, the quality of the soil, and the amount of watering.
The timing of the harvest, therefore, needs to be adapted. It is a good idea to write down the date of seed sowing and then after the recommended growing period passes you can start checking the maturity regularly.
A carrot is usually ripe by the time the upper part of the root is already “peeking” out of the soil. However, even carrots with hidden root tops may be ready to harvest. The only way to check this is to pull one or two carrots out of the ground.
The good news is that carrots do not mind staying in the soil for longer than the indicated growing period. You can leave them in the soil and pick just one or two when you need them. Do it this way and you will have fresh carrots at your disposal almost all year long.
Do keep in mind that carrots may not be as crispy and fresh if you leave them in the soil during extreme heat.
Conclusion
In today’s article, we looked together at carrot seeds and their origins. Many gardeners don’t come across flowering carrots at all. If you encounter them right after sowing carrots in the spring, it usually indicates a problem and you will probably have to pull the flowering carrots out and possibly sow a new batch of seeds.