How to Grow Carrots:
From Seed to Harvest

Learning how to grow carrots is one of the most rewarding steps in vegetable gardening. A carrot pulled fresh from the soil is sweet, crisp, and earthy in a way store-bought carrots never are, and you can grow purple, yellow, red, and white ones you'll never find in a grocery store.

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Carrots have a reputation as a fussy crop, and it is partly deserved. They want loose soil and steady moisture, or the roots come out forked, stunted, or woody. Get the soil right, and almost everything else falls into place.

Funny Carrots from Our Clay Soil

We have heavy clay soil on our farm in Oregon's Willamette Valley, and over the years it has been hard to grow nice, long, straight carrots. Compost and soil amendments help, and so does growing the shorter varieties.

But my parents always grew carrots anyway, and we children had fun hunting for the oddly shaped ones. Some looked comically like little people, with arms and legs. A few were shaped in ways that were a little too cheeky to describe here, and those were good for a laugh from young and old alike!

If your carrots come out forked and funny, you are in good company. They still taste just as sweet.

Charlotte

Choosing Carrot Varieties

Choose a carrot type that suits your soil. It is the most important variety decision you will make when learning how to grow carrots.

Type	Length	Best soil	Days to harvest	Best for
Nantes	5 to 7 inches; cylindrical	Most soils; very adaptable	65 to 75	Beginners, fresh eating, best flavor
Chantenay	3 to 5 inches; broad shoulders	Heavy or clay soils	65 to 75	Clay soil, storage, tough conditions
Danvers	6 to 8 inches; tapered	Average to good soils	70 to 80	All-purpose; fresh and storage
Imperator	8 to 10 inches; slender	Deep, loose, stone-free only	70 to 80	Juicing; needs perfect soil
Amsterdam and round types	2 to 4 inches	Most soils; great in pots	58 to 65	Containers, early and baby carrots
Colored carrots	Varies	Same as their type	65 to 80	Salads, fun for kids, seed saving

For color, try Purple Dragon, Cosmic Purple, Solar Yellow, Atomic Red, or Lunar White. Most are open-pollinated, so you can save the seed.

Soil Preparation for Growing Carrots

Organic carrots growing in loose garden soil

Soil is the single most important part of how to grow carrots. Stony, compacted soil makes forked, stubby carrots. Deep, loose, stone-free soil makes long, straight ones.

Dig deep. Loosen the soil 10 to 12 inches down for most carrots, and deeper for Imperator types. Pick out every stone and break up clods.
Lighten heavy clay. Work in plenty of compost and coarse sand, or grow short Chantenay carrots instead.
Aim for a pH of 6.0 to 6.8. A basic home test kit costs about ten to fifteen dollars.
No fresh manure. Fresh manure, and freshly dug-in green manure, make carrot roots fork. Use well-aged compost instead.

Growing Carrots in Raised Beds

Raised beds are the easiest answer to how to grow carrots in most gardens. Filled with a loose mix of good compost and coarse sand, a raised bed gives carrots the perfect home no matter what your native soil is like, with no stones, no compaction, and good drainage. Nantes and Chantenay types do especially well. See our raised bed vegetable garden guide.

When to Plant Carrots

Chart of vegetable planting times by zone

Carrots are a cool-season crop, so timing is a big part of how to grow carrots well. The seeds sprout best when the soil is 55 to 75°F, and slowly or not at all in cold or hot soil.

Spring crop: sow 2 to 4 weeks before your last frost date.
Fall crop: sow 10 to 12 weeks before your first fall frost. Many gardeners think fall carrots taste best, because cool weather turns their starch to sugar.
A steady supply: sow a short row, 5 to 10 feet, every 3 to 4 weeks in spring.
Skip the hottest weeks. Soil above 80°F stops germination, and summer-sprouted carrots are often pale and bitter. In cool northern gardens, midsummer sowing can still work.

Region	Spring planting	Fall planting	Harvest
Northern US (Zones 3 to 5)	Late April to mid May	Late June to mid July	Summer; fall into early winter under mulch
Mid-Atlantic and Midwest (Zones 5 to 6)	Late March to mid April	July to early August	Late spring to summer; fall through winter under mulch
Pacific Northwest and Mountain (Zones 6 to 7)	March to April	July to August	Summer; fall and winter with mulch
Southern US (Zones 7 to 9)	February to March	August to October	Spring; fall and winter, the best season in warm climates

Zone Finder tool: enter your ZIP code to find your growing zone and first and last frost dates — Find your frost dates with our free Zone Finder.

How to Plant Carrot Seeds

Tiny carrot seeds next to a quarter, showing how small carrot seeds are — Carrot seeds are tiny. Mixing them with sand helps you sow them thinly.

Sow right where they will grow. Never transplant carrots. Moving them damages the taproot and makes them fork.
Mix the tiny seeds with sand. Stirring the seeds into fine sand or vermiculite spreads them more evenly.
Sow shallow. Plant seeds ¼ to ½ inch deep, about one every half inch to an inch. Space rows 16 to 24 inches apart, or closer in raised beds.
Add a few radish seeds. Radishes sprout in days and mark the row while the carrots are still coming up, and you pick them just as the carrots need the room.
Keep the surface moist. Carrots take 7 to 21 days to sprout, and the seeds must never dry out. Mist the row every day or two, or lay a board or burlap over it, and lift it off as soon as the first seedlings show.

Thinning Carrots

Carrot seedlings coming up in a garden row, ready for thinning

Thinning is the step most gardeners skip when they learn how to grow carrots, and it is the most common reason for small, twisted carrots. Crowded roots push each other out of shape.

First thinning: when seedlings are about 2 inches tall, thin to 2 to 3 inches apart.
Second thinning: when they are 4 to 5 inches tall, thin to 3 to 4 inches apart for longer varieties.
Snip, don't pull. Cut extra seedlings at soil level with scissors, so you don't disturb the roots of the ones you keep.
Eat the thinnings. Tiny thinned carrots and their tops make a tasty bonus harvest.

Watering and Mulching Carrots

A wheelbarrow of mulch for the carrot bed

Steady moisture is the secret of how to grow carrots that are smooth and sweet. Dry spells followed by heavy soakings cause cracking, splitting, forking, and woody, bitter roots.

Water deeply, about an inch a week, soaking the soil 6 to 8 inches down once or twice a week in dry weather. Deep watering sends roots straight down.
Use the finger test. Push a finger 4 to 5 inches into the soil. If it is still moist, wait. If it is dry, water well.
Mulch between the rows. Once seedlings are up, spread 1 to 2 inches of straw or shredded leaves between rows. Keep it slightly back from the carrot shoulders. See mulching a vegetable garden.

Feeding Carrots

Young carrot plants growing in the garden

Carrots are light feeders. In soil prepared with compost, they rarely need more. Too much nitrogen gives you big, leafy tops and thin, woody roots.

If your soil is poor, side-dress when plants are 4 to 5 inches tall with a low-nitrogen fertilizer for root crops, one with a low first number and a higher middle number on the label. See how to fertilize a vegetable garden.

Common Carrot Growing Problems

Most carrot problems come from the soil or uneven watering, not pests or disease.

Problem	Most likely cause	Solution
Forked or crooked roots	Stones, hard soil, fresh manure, clumpy compost	Loosen soil deeply, remove stones, use raised beds, never fresh manure
Short or stunted roots	Crowding; pH too low; soggy soil	Thin more; test pH; improve drainage
Pale, bland roots	Too much heat; too little water; too much nitrogen	Grow in spring or fall; water evenly; skip high-nitrogen fertilizer
Cracked or split roots	Uneven watering; fast growth after drought	Water steadily; mulch; harvest before roots get oversized
Hairy roots	Too much nitrogen	Don't over-fertilize
Green shoulders	Tops of roots exposed to sun	Hill soil or mulch over the shoulders
Tunnels in roots	Carrot rust fly larvae	Cover the bed with fine insect netting from sowing to harvest
Poor germination	Soil too cold or hot; surface dried out; old seed	Sow at the right time; keep the surface moist; buy fresh seed each year

Carrot rust fly is the main insect pest. The flies find carrots by scent and fly low, so fine netting over the bed, or a 2-foot-tall barrier of row cover around it, keeps them out. Thin carrots in the morning and take the thinnings away, since the smell draws the flies.

How to Harvest Carrots

Harvest is the best part of how to grow carrots, and timing it right keeps them sweet and crisp.

Check the shoulders. Most carrots are ready 60 to 80 days after sowing. Brush the soil away from the top of a root: ½ to ¾ inch across, with full color, means it is ready.
Taste one. The best test of all: if it's sweet and crisp, start harvesting.
Don't wait too long. Over-mature carrots get woody and may split.
Water the day before. Then grasp the tops near the crown and pull with a gentle twist. In hard soil, loosen it first with a garden fork a few inches away from the row.
Twist off the tops right away, leaving half an inch. The leaves pull moisture out of the roots and make them limp. Don't wash carrots you plan to store.

Storing Carrots

Homegrown organic carrots ready for storage

Method	How	How long
Refrigerator	Unwashed, tops removed, in a perforated bag or with a damp paper towel in the crisper drawer	4 to 8 weeks
In the ground	Leave fall carrots in the bed and cover with 6 to 8 inches of straw or shredded leaves before the ground freezes; dig as needed	Into January or February in most climates; all winter where it's mild
Root cellar	Pack unwashed carrots in boxes of barely damp sand, sawdust, or peat moss; keep at 32 to 40°F in a dark, humid spot	3 to 5 months

Frost makes stored-in-the-ground carrots even sweeter. See our cold hardy vegetables guide for more winter crops.

How to Grow Carrots in Containers

Containers solve the biggest carrot problem: poor soil. Fill a pot with potting mix and coarse sand, and you have perfect, stone-free soil.

Short and round types like Amsterdam, Chantenay, Parisian, and Thumbelina grow in pots 8 to 10 inches deep.
Nantes and Danvers need at least 12 inches. A 5-gallon bucket works for short types, and a half-barrel is ideal for standard ones.
Skip long Imperator types in pots.
Water often. Pots dry out fast, and uneven watering causes the same cracking and forking as in the ground.

See our container vegetable gardening guide for more.

Companion Planting for Carrots

Good companions	Why
Onions, leeks, and chives	Their scent helps hide carrots from carrot rust fly, and carrots help hide onions from onion fly
Lettuce and spinach	Fill the space between rows, shading out weeds and keeping the soil cool and moist
Rosemary and sage	Strong scents that may help confuse carrot rust fly
Tomatoes	Tall plants give carrots some afternoon shade in hot weather

Keep apart	Why
Dill (once it flowers)	Can slow carrot growth, and the two can cross-pollinate if you save seed
Parsnips	Same family and same pests, so growing them together concentrates carrot rust fly

See our companion planting chart for vegetables for the full list.

Mulching the vegetable garden with straw

Carrot Growing Questions

Why are my carrots forked?

Almost always something in the soil: stones, hard spots, lumps of compost, or fresh manure. The root splits around anything it can't push through. Loosen the soil deeply, or grow in a raised bed or container.

How long does it take to grow carrots?

Most take 65 to 80 days from seed. Amsterdam and baby types can be ready in 58 to 65 days. Fall carrots grow a little slower, but taste sweeter.

Can I grow carrots in clay soil?

Yes, with help. Grow short Chantenay types, work in lots of compost and coarse sand, or build a raised bed.

Why do my carrots taste bitter?

Usually from summer heat, dry spells while the roots were growing, or picking too early. Grow carrots in spring and fall and water steadily. Carrots that get a touch of frost are almost always the sweetest.

Can I save seed from my carrots?

Yes, from open-pollinated varieties. Carrots flower in their second year, so leave a few roots in the ground over winter, or replant some in spring. They can cross with wild Queen Anne's lace.

For more research-based help, see the University of Illinois Extension guide to growing carrots.

More Vegetable Growing Guides

How to Grow Vegetables How to Grow Beets How to Grow Leeks How to Grow Onions How to Grow Lettuce Cold Hardy Vegetables Raised Bed Garden Companion Planting Chart

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