How to Grow and Care for Carrots in Containers
Intro: The carrot is a delicious container plant perfect for small-space kitchen gardens. The carrot plant does well in cooler temperatures and survive frosts when planted in the ground (but probably not in above-ground plant containers), but the carrot does best when temperatures range between 55 and 75 degrees. There are many varieties of carrots, and you can get smaller kinds that grow well in plant containers, such as Parmex, Oxheart or Little Finger. Containers for growing carrots should be at least 1 foot deep.
Scientific Name: Daucus carota subspecies sativus
Plant Type: Root crop
Light: To best care for your carrot plant, let it receive full sun (will tolerate light shade). Don’t allow the carrot's roots to be exposed to the sun, so make sure the carrot is always covered with potting soil.
Water: When it comes to watering your carrot plant, keep the potting soil moist for best taste. Don’t water as much as the carrot plant matures.
Propagation: To propagate carrots, collect seeds from previous carrot flowers or buy a packet of seeds. Seeds germinate by soaking in water. Plant the carrot seeds two weeks before the last frost no deeper than a half an inch down (if it’s still quite cold, plant them just below the surface). Provide mulch and fertilizer.
Misc. Info: You can’t tell if a carrot is ready to eat by looking at it above ground. You can gently dig it up (move the soil away just as much as you need), check the carrot's size, and either eat it or leave it to grow some more. You can harvest carrots from the kitchen garden while they’re small, but why not let them grow larger? As long as the carrot has turned orange, it is good to eat.
