Growing Carrots

Though native of the British Isles, it was not until the arrival of the Hugenot refugees who taught us how it should be grown and cooked, that the carrot became an important part of our diet. The most delicious carrots are those grown over a gentle hot bed early in spring, the seed being sown in February. in a frame. Ifa frame is not available, make a sowing over a hot bed made in a slicked sunny corner about mid-March when the roots will be ready to use at the end of May.

Sowing The seed is sown broadcast into a finely screened soil, radishes being sown at the same time for they will be removed long before the carrots mature. The bed should be kept comfortably moist and whilst the frame must be kept closed when the weather is cold, admit plenty of fresh air on mild days. The young carrots will be ready to pull early in May, the smaller roots being left to mature later in the month. One of the shorter rooted varieties should be grown for forcing such as ‘Sweetheart’ or `Farly Gem’.

For the maincrop, the ground should be friable and well drained arid, as for all roots, should have been manured for a previous crop. Bring the soil to a fine tilth and sow early in April, in shallow drills made To inches apart. On land which tends to be heavy, sow the short-root varieties.

General cultivation As soon as large enough, the seedlings must be thinned to 2 inches apart in the rows, later removing alternate plants to allow the roots 4 inches in which to mature. Another sowing is made early in June to provide a winter crop.

Carrots are not improved by frost and any still in the ground should be lifted before the end of November and stored in boxes of sand in a shed or cellar.

Raw carrots chopped or grated with salad are delicious or, steamed and served with white sauce they are sweet and tender, but pull them before they become hard and woody.

Exhibiting With their orange-red flesh and handsome feathery foliage, well grown carrots correctly presented are amongst the most attractive of vegetables for the show bench. For exhibition, the long-rooted varieties should be grown like parsnips, in boreholes tilled with suitable compost whilst the stump and intermediate rooted varieties may be sown along the top of ridges of prepared soil. Yet another method is to prepare a trench 12–I4 inches wide and to sow a double row I 0-12 inches apart. Successional sowings will provide roots from early summer until the year end.

During dry weather, keep the plants growing by regular waterings and give the plants an occasional application of dilute liquid Frequent dustings of weathered soot on either side of the rows will encourage early maturity and assist in the control of pests.

As the plants reach maturity, make certain that the tops are not out of the ground and exposed to sunlight, for this will cause them to turn green. They should be lightly earthed up to prevent this condition or give a mulch of strawy manure.

Pests and Diseases Carrot

CARROT FLY The most troublesome of carrot foes, the flies laying their eggs in the soil when the yellow larvae will burrow into the ‘carrots’ causing considerable damage, and making them virtually useless for any purpose. Dressing the seed before sowing, with Dieldrex ‘B’ (one-sixteenth of an ounce per one ounce of seed) or dusting the soil with Lindex at sowing time and the seedlings when they appear will give complete control. The presence of the pest may be detected by the yellowing of the foliage.

DOWNY MILDEW This may attack the upper surface of the leaves causing them to shrivel and decay. Appearing as blackish-brown spots on the leaves, it is controlled by dusting with a copper fungicide. ELLA BEETLE, This occasionally attacks the foliage of root and all brassica crops causing the plants to die hack but may be controlled by dusting with Lindex as for Carrot Fly.

SCLEROTINIA ROT This is caused by a fungus which makes white fluffy growth on the carrot causing rapid decay and the formation of hard black bodies which winter in the soil and germinate the following season, attacking not only carrots but turnips, artichokes and dahlia tubers. There is no cure but any roots found to be infected when lifting must be destroyed.

SPLITTING A common trouble with carrots but it is non-parasitic, being a functional disorder by which the root splits lengthwise. It may be caused by heavy rain following a long period of drought during which time the plants should be watered artificially. A soil deficient in potash may also cause this trouble.