My experiments with carrots 2020 ended with the harvest

Why were there any experiments at all? Eyesight is poor, so I didn't like sowing and weeding carrots in the usual way. I began to look for a way out. I found two ways. Not everyone is happy with them, and I understood why. I'll write along the way. I managed.

At the end of the article, our find for harvesting large carrots.

Carrots on a ribbon

She was the first to plant carrots on a ribbon at the usual time, April 7th. This one:

• I made grooves about 4 cm deep, about 20 cm apart from each other.
• Spilled water to the maximum.
• I laid the ribbons. I was surprised that the seeds were not one at a time, but 2-3. Paper on tape on both sides.
• Once again poured from a watering can with small holes
• The grooves were sprinkled with vermicompost so that the seeds were sealed by 2 cm in the hollow. Very little vermicompost was needed. The ground then leveled off, no hollows remained.
• Gently watered from a watering can with a nozzle until germination, so that the earth was always moist.
• After germination, I did not water it, it rained, fortunately, on time.

Nuances

• I waited for seedlings for a long time, about a month.
• The tape was washed out a little with rain in one place, I buried it back.
• I pulled out the extra shoots (there were 2 - 3 seeds each, and the germination ability was excellent), and I pulled out too late, besides, the ground was not very wet, so the carrots did not grow quite even.
• It was necessary to weed, and more than once. Polola, by hand.
• Removed September 16

Here's a carrot:

Sweet juicy and beautiful inside:

I liked the method, I will still plant this variety on the tape. If you do not have the opportunity to monitor soil moisture before germination, it is better not even try. It is very important that the humidity is optimal.

Carrots in granules

I had this one:

Sowed it late, May 13. It turned out very on time, it rained all 2 weeks, how many carrots it took to rise.

As conceived by the manufacturer, it was enough to water well when planting. Definitely not enough! No hydrogel could have withstood our usual drought in May. No wonder people complained that they did not wait for the seedlings. So if you want to try the method, get ready to wet your crops.

I placed the granules 20 centimeters apart. They are large, like radish seeds.

Out of 300 granules, 80 survived and became root crops. It would suit me, but the fact that the taste and even color of the carrot was different is not good.

Carrot harvest Touchon:

There were both small and large. Some are sweet and good, others are so-so.Some are yellow, some with a yellowish tinge.

Here is the middle (close to the spout) of those that are "so-so":

Sweet have an orange heart, like the whole carrot.

I also did not water this carrot after germination.

The idea with granules is quite good, but I will not choose this company anymore. The result would be more predictable.

Finishing touch

And the promised find for cleaning without undercuts. We do not dig up large carrots with a shovel. We insert the scoop and swing, then take it out so as not to hack to death.

How is your carrot doing?

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