How to germinate and grow carrots. Carrots are notoriously difficult to germinate which is why so many people think they're hard to grow. They're not, they're just hard to germinate.
So what's with the picture of the carrot cake? It all ties in to germinating carrots. My former fella's favourite birthday cake was carrot cake with a cream cheese icing. It's what his mother used to make him.
Years ago my plan was to grow all the carrots I needed to make the cake for his birthday. An ambitious plan that went horribly, horribly wrong.
Why?
Carrots are a bitch to germinate. Also, the year I was planning to do this, the fella ran away and I never heard from him again until a week later when I texted him a photo of me pirouetting his things into the dump.
Carrot germination is sporadic at best if you don't take certain precautions. A clump will grow and then nothing else, then a month later a few more might sprout. Or sometimes they just don't sprout at all and you hate them.
You can fix your relationship with germinating carrots. Here's how.
How to Germinate Carrots
Carrots like 2 things to germinate. Darkness and moisture.
Like mould. Or a yeast infection. If they don't have either of these things even for a day, their germination rate can drop by 50%.
One of the easiest ways to increase your carrot germination rate is to pre-sprout your seeds by "planting" them on a wet paper towel.
- You need squares of cardboard, carrot seeds, and paper towels.
- Place a very damp paper towel on a piece of cardboard (or anything else sturdy, the cardboard is just to keep the seeds stable).
- Place your carrot seeds 2 inches apart across the whole paper towel until it's covered. You'll plant about 20-25 seeds per paper towel.* Since I plant a lot of carrot varieties, I label each board to know what's what.
- Cover with another wet paper towel. Continue doing this with all of your seeds.
- Stack the boards up and place the entire stack in a plastic bag and put it in a dark area.
- Then wait.
- You can also just scatter the hell out of the carrot seeds if you want to go a bit rogue.
How to Germinate Carrots
How to help guarantee germination with carrot seeds.
Materials
- Carrot seeds
- cardboard
- paper towels
- water
- plastic bag
Instructions
- You need squares of cardboard, carrot seeds, and paper towels.
- Place a very damp paper towel on a piece of cardboard (or anything else sturdy).
- Place your carrot seeds 2 inches apart across the whole paper towel until it’s covered. You’ll plant about 20-25 seeds per paper towel. Since I plant a lot of carrot varieties, I label each board to know what’s what.
- Cover with another wet paper towel. Continue doing this with all of your seeds.
- Stack the boards up and place the entire stack in a plastic bag and put it in a dark area.
- Then wait.
In 7 - 10 days you can check to see if anything's going on in there.
As soon as the seeds have germinated and have a tiny root on them you can take the piece of cardboard and paper towel outside. Carefully slip the paper towel off of the cardboard and onto your garden soil. Cover with a scant ¼" or less of compost or vermiculite so the seeds and paper towel don't blow away or get eaten by whatever eats things in your particular garden.
How to Germinate and Grow Carrots in the Field
- Press seeds in wet/damp soil. (you can use your hand or a board and mallet like I am in the photo to press the seeds into the soil) Soil contact is important.
- Cover the rows of seeds with wood boards.
- Lift the boards after a week to see if any action is happening. Once you see seeds sprouting, you can remove the boards and remember to keep the area watered.
Lately, over the past 5 years or so, I've been planting my carrots in the field. One way to improve your carrot germination a lot is to oversow your seeds into wet soil and cover them with boards.
Covering your carrot seeds with boards will keep the seeds in contact with the damp soil, keep them dark AND prevent anything from eating them.
(most people grow them wrong)
When to Plant Carrots
Plant carrot seeds 2-4 weeks before your first frost-free date. This will give you a summer harvest.
Plant carrot seeds 10-12 weeks before your first frost. This will give you a late fall harvest.
This method doesn't give you as good of a germination rate as pre-sprouting, but it's perfectly acceptable.
Remember to oversow! That'll improve your chances at getting a good harvest.
In a couple of months you'll be looking down at a ferny swath of carrots.
No field? No problem.
Grow your carrots in buckets.
A couple of years ago when we were allowed to roam free I toured the University of Guelph's kitchen garden where they grew a lot of their produce in leftover muffin mix buckets. Carrots, tomatoes, corn, okra ... all grown in buckets.
Just remember to drill some drainage holes into the bottom and you have a perfect container for carrots.
That birthday cake for the man that ran away? I still made it. It was the one you saw at the top of the post. I froze a piece of it to eat on the 10th anniversary of my dump run.
This post was originally written 40 billion years ago almost before carrots were invented. It was completely rewritten with new photos for 2021.
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Krista Wilkinson
karen, have you heard of carrot flies? saw a post on them earlier this year, they develop after you have a successful carrot planting and then they apparently wait until the next year when you plant again. I was very successful my first year and then after that I would get germination but no carrots. Apparently you have to keep changing the location in the garden to thwart the little buggers
Karen
Krista - That's true of most things. You're always best to rotate where you plant things because of this. Pest and disease will pop up the next year. My carrots are in a different spot this year, although with a garden as small as mine is, you can only move things so far away from where they were before. :) ~ karen
Mary Kay
We have tried growing carrots in the past - and had little fat 2" carrots. So maybe I will try this method. My question is you put the paper towel in the ground with the germinated seeds on top and cover with dirt? Will the carrots grow through the paper towel?
Marie
I just can't get over that in May you're starting work on a birthday cake for January! You're amazing!
ruth
My problem isn't germination, it's the little worms burrowing into them. I live in the Fraser Valley too, Pat. You don't have a problem with the worms? I've given up because of them.
Pat
Never knew carrots were a problem. Although I haven't planted any in a few years, I used to just plunk the seeds in the ground, around the May weekend, and have carrots to eat in August. We live in the Fraser Valley, outside Vancouver, B.C. Who knew....
Leona
Bake at 375, huh? lol
I will absolutely try this next year. Thanks.
RuthyJ
If this actually works, I may think of trying my hand at carrots again. 0-5 carrots - after bed prep, soil amendments, seed-sowing, and faithful watering at a time when I should still be in bed - is not my cup of tea. Like Becky, I opted for lower blood pressure.
Karen
Well Ruth, I have to say I'm very impressed with how well it's went so far. Jamaica's pretty hot for carrots though. That cold be part of the problem. They like to grow in cool weather. Keep trying tho! ~ karen
RuthyJ
There are other folk around here who grow carrots successfully for the market, but they do it in the hills... but we don't have much shade in our yard, so that might be the problem. :-/
We may be 'pulling up stakes' and moving in a couple of months, so I will try again then.
pooks
What the hey? I had no idea they were difficult. This explains why I have had so much trouble with them! Duh! And, thanks!
Debbie Neal
Well I am glad you have had carrot success! All mine are good for is rabbit food!I have given up and continue my asparagus garden!
Michelle
This is awesome!! Just in time, too!
Leslie
Thank you for this info! I can't for the life of me get my carrots to grow. Not a single one! They're the only veggie my son requested and I've been so frustrated with them. Can't wait to try this method. Please keep us posted on how they do.
Ellen
Thank you thank you thank you..... going to use gutter gards since I have a chipmunk problem also. Oh happy day!!!
Langela
I have to say, I use the paper towel/napkin method you first mentioned, with great success. For me, it works for carrots and radishes the best. I won't do them any other way anymore. Especially here on the windy farm. If I don't glue those tiny seeds to a mat, they will grow everywhere!
Debbie
Just wanted to say thank you.
Thank you for motivating me to start my own garden. this weekend we are building an above ground enclosed vegetable garden - we are overrun with rabbits and I do not want it all for not.
curious to hear how your carrots turn out.
Karen
Thank YOU for letting me know! I always wonder what people just read about here and what they are actually inspired to do. Have fun with your garden. You'll LOVE it. ~ karen!
BarBee
I would love to hear how your rabbit battles go. Our weekend place has herds of them.
Nanette
Congrats on your progress so far! I love carrot cake. One question, do you keep the paper towels moist during the waiting period or is the plastic enough to hold the moisture?
Karen
Nanette - I had success using very damp paper towels, putting plastic wrap between each bundle and putting it all in a plastic bag. Things are *just* starting to dry out a bit after one week. ~ karen!
Allison
I am surprised to learn that carrots are problematic. I always seed them straight into the garden at the end of May and up they come! I usually have to thin them.
Now, of course, I've probably jinxed myself, and the lovely multi-coloured variety I just planted will all fail to launch.
Laura M
Carrots are not easy for many people. This year we dug a small trench in the ground and saturated it with water so there is plenty of moisture under the seed. Sprinkle seed in. Cover it lightly and in one week we have huge success with germination.
Natalia
That sounds like a lot of work but hopefully it will pay off. What helped me to get more carrots to grow was... sowing lots of them. I know this sounds obvious but if you think about that - not all of the seeds you buy in a package will germinate, some are older, some are weaker. That's what my grandmother tought me and one doesn't question grandma and her gardening skills! You seed quite a lot in a row and when they pop up and grow a bit you pull the weaker ones out to give more space to others. You can see it well here http://www.vegetable-garden-guide.com/growing-carrots.html Although I found this post on pinterest and one should maybe question that!
Thank you for such an inspirational blog and regular dose of humor.
Karen
Thanks Natalia - The reason I don't overseed is, it's less work to begin with but more work later. But more importantly, because I buy a lot of hard to find heirloom seeds and don't want to waste too many of them. ~ karen!
Natalia
That's a good point! I'll remember about your tips for the special heirloom seeds. Thank you for replying, you made my day :)
Maria
Would I use the same method for parsnips? I read the seed packet and it clearly stated that the seeds need to be kept moist to germinate them. And I thought, 'How in the world do I stay on top of that?' Thanks for the tip!
Karen
Hi Maria - Yes, that's a great idea. I grew some parsnips last year and now that I think of it, they did the same thing as the carrots. They *did* eventually germinate, but not all of them and it took a long time. ~ karen!
Ann
I have had pretty good luck with using the method where you plant the seed in the ground, water and cover with a board. But never does it work perfectly. I still have the random blank patch in the row.
And I have to keep everything covered or the chickens will denude the carrots down to soil level. And for some strange reason, carrots need those leaves to grow. Love my chickens, I love my chickens, I really do love my chickens