What to do if carrots do not grow: the better to feed and how to do it correctly
If carrots grow poorly in your area, root crops are uneven, deformed, thin and not stored all winter, in the new season it is worth dealing with these problems.
From the article you will learn what factors to avoid when caring for a plant and what fertilizers are needed for carrots so that the harvest is rich and well stored until spring.
The content of the article
For what reasons, carrots grow poorly
Carrots are a capricious culture... Let's look at the reasons why carrots grow poorly or not grow at all.
Improper care
Carrots are not planted in dense soil such as clayey... If the soil in your garden is too hard, it should be prepared for planting. For this, river sand is poured onto the top layer in a proportion of 12 kg per m² until the soil becomes loose. Before adding sand, the earth is dug on a full bayonet of a shovel, loosened, leveled with a rake.
The soil is kept loose throughout the growth of carrots. If the earth is solid, all the seeds will not sprout. They loosen the soil as soon as shoots appear, and after each rain or watering.
Spud carrots when the soil is wet... The first hilling is carried out when the upper part of the carrot sticking out of the ground has become clearly visible.
Important! Without hilling, the upper part of the carrot begins to turn green - this accumulates corned beef substance, which is dangerous to humans.
Unfavorable weather conditions
The optimum air temperature for the development and growth of carrots is + 18 ... + 24 ° С... If it gets hotter, carrots grow worse. To cool the soil in the evening, you can lay a hose between the rows and let the water go to a depth of 2-3 cm. This will reduce the temperature of the earth by a couple of degrees, and the carrots will grow again.
Incorrect landing pattern
A garden bed for carrots is prepared in the fall out of the blue, without slopes, depressions and are located from north to south. The width of the bed is 1 m, on it there are grooves 5 cm wide, 2 cm deep, the distance between the grooves is 18-20 cm. Before planting, spill with a pink solution of potassium permanganate and moisten with water at room temperature. Seeds are scattered in the groove 1 cm apart.
Important! Before sowing, the seeds are kept in water for a day to swell.
Crop rotation disturbances
You can sow carrots in the same place in 2-3 years... The best growth is observed when sowing after cucumbers, potatoes, onions, garlic, cabbage, tomatoes. It is better not to plant the vegetable after parsley and lettuce, they have common pests.
Excess or lack of light
Carrots not only love warm weather, but also the sun... Even a short shadow will affect her growth badly. Each root vegetable needs to be lit. Tall plants, such as corn, are best planted on the north side so that they do not shade the vegetable patch.
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Improper watering
Carrots yield good yields on light to moderately moist soils... If the soil is dry or excessively damp, the vegetable will not grow. There should be enough moisture during the period of active growth.Before harvesting, the intensity of watering is reduced so that the carrots do not crack and rot.
Diseases and pests
The table presents the main diseases and pests of carrots and how to deal with them.
| Name | How to find out | How to fight, prevention |
| Diseases | ||
| Phomoz, dry rot | At the end of the growing season, elongated gray-brown spots appear on the leaves and petioles. After harvesting on root crops, when stored indoors at temperatures above 10 ° C, black-brown depressions with a whitish bloom form on the upper part. They grow, the whole vegetable is affected. | All affected plants must be removed. For prophylaxis, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied before planting.
|
| White rot | Affects carrots. During storage, they become soft and covered with a fluffy white coating, and then a crust with black dots.
|
To prevent spreading to the ground, all weeds are removed in time. For prevention, potash fertilizers are applied and sprayed with copper preparations. The vegetable storage room is washed with disinfectants. |
| Gray rot | The surface of the root crop during storage gets wet, darkens and is covered with fungus.
|
For prevention, the soil is fed with nitrogen fertilizers and sprayed with a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid. The harvest is stored at a temperature of + 2 ° C. |
| Rhizoctonia, or felt rot
|
It affects carrots during the period of active growth or during storage of the crop. Dark gray inner spots appear on the root crops, and then a purple felt bloom and black dots form on them. | Treat the disease at the stage of active growth of the vegetable by spraying with preparations with copper oxychloride. |
| Alternaria, or black rot
|
It can occur at any stage of plant development. The stem turns black, the leaves curl, turn yellow and dry, dry black rot forms on the root crop. | They get rid of the disease by spraying with the drug "Rovral". |
| Bacteriosis
|
Yellow spots appear at the edges of the lower leaves, they darken, but the yellow outlines remain around. At the base of the leaves, a bacterial exudate is observed: gray-white or light yellow drops. There are brown spots or stripes on the stem. Ulcers and brown spots appear on root crops. A strong unpleasant odor emanates from the plant. | The affected landing is completely removed. Prevention - before planting, the seeds are kept in hot water. The seedlings are sprayed with the preparation "HOM". |
| Cercosporosis
|
Light brown spots appear on the leaf plate with a gradually growing light middle. At high humidity, they become covered with bloom. The edges of the leaves curl, the greens die off, the fruits remain small and do not grow. | Prevention - seed treatment before planting in hot water, spraying shoots with a solution of Bordeaux liquid.
|
| Brown spot
|
It affects the plant at all stages of development. In young shoots, brown constrictions are formed on the lower part of the stem. The leaves of adult plants are covered with yellow spots that turn black or brown, with high humidity, black bloom forms on them. | Prevention - in rainy weather, the aisles are regularly loosened and the plants are treated with a decoction of celandine, horsetail or nettle. |
| Pests | ||
| Carrot fly
|
Affects the root crop. The tops acquire a bronze hue, dry up and die off. | Prevention - regularly loosen the soil and weed the ridges. They are treated with "Decis Profi", "Actellik", "Sharpei" chemical agents or sprinkled with ammonia |
| Beetle leaf
|
Females of the pest lay eggs on the tops, their larvae feed on the sap of the leaves, which causes the plant to dry out. | Insect eggs are collected, the beds are treated with soapy water or tobacco dust. |
| Umbrella moth
|
It affects the tops of carrots, weaves cocoons on it, which feed on the juices of the plant before turning into a pupa. Greens darken, roots dry. | To remove the pupae, the aerial part of the plant is cut off together with them and destroyed.Spray carrots with "Entobacterin" or "Lepidocide". For prevention, they deeply dig up the soil before planting. |
| Naked slugs
|
Wind up from high humidity. They eat up leaves and pits in roots, leaving behind a shiny sticky trail. | Prevention - treatment with "Superphosphate" or 10% salt solution.
|
| Wireworms
|
These are yellow worms 3 cm long - the larvae of the click beetle. They feed on root crops, eating point passages in them. | Get rid of the pest with ammonia feeding. The drugs "Bazudin" and "Aktara" help. |
| Carrot aphid
|
Small green insects accumulate on the leaves of the plant. Greens curl and dry out due to the fact that aphids feed on stem juice. Small carrots stop developing. | Get rid of the pest by spraying the plantings with soapy water, infusion of tobacco or ash. For prophylaxis on hot days, carrots are irrigated with warm water. |
| Exclamation scoop
|
The insect feeds on the root part of the stems and root crops, making holes and passages. | The pest is removed using the chemicals "Polytrin", "Decis" and "Fury" or sprayed with chamomile and burdock infusions. |
Sowing too dense
All sprouted seedlings are thinned out so that the carrots are larger and juicier... The first time - when 2 real leaves appeared, the second - two weeks later. Leave 4-6 cm of free surface between shoots. During thinning, the soil must be moist.
Attention! Pull out the carrots carefully by the tail, take it as close to the base as possible.
Other
Short and small varieties ripen faster... Long and thick roots ripen in the time promised on the package, only under ideal weather conditions and care. They often grow slowly and do not store well.
Carrots are planted in clay soil to a depth of 1 cm, in sandy soil - at 4-5 cm. So the seeds warm up, germinate well, and moisture reaches them in the right amount.
Substances required for the growth of carrots
Mineral fertilizers, especially nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, are well accepted by carrots. They are introduced at different periods of growth, but not at the same time.
Nitrogen
It is a building material of protein compounds, which determines the yield of the crop. Macronutrient - a component of chlorophyll, without which photosynthesis is impossible. With an excess or lack of nitrogen, the leaves turn yellow and curl.
To saturate carrots with nitrogen, use ammonium nitrate, urea, carbamide, ammonium sulfate.
Nitrogen fertilizers are applied in spring and summer, embedded in the soil.
Attention! Follow the application rules indicated on the package so that excess nitrogen does not accumulate in the root crop in the form of nitrates.
Potassium
Concentrates in young vegetable cells, synthesizes sugar. Increases drought resistance, frost resistance, participates in the respiration and water exchange of carrots... If a carrot lacks potassium, ammonia accumulates in its cells, which leads to the death of shoots and instability to fungal diseases.
Potassium deficiency is replenished with fertilizers that are soluble in water: potassium chloride, potassium sulfate, potassium nitrate, potassium magnesium.
Phosphorus
Forms a strong root system and increases yields... If the plant lacks phosphorus, its leaves turn bluish-green. Phosphate fertilizers for carrots: "Superphosphate" and phosphate rock.
How to feed carrots if they grow poorly in the open field
The following types of organic fertilizers are used:
- green manure for carrots (compost and humus), as well as peat and manure are applied in the fall;
- bird droppings are diluted in water 1:10, insisted for a day, then again diluted in the same proportion - fed with infusion at the beginning of plant growth;
- crushed eggshells are scattered after the first entrances appear, it supplies the plant with calcium and potassium;
- sprinkle with ash before feeding with phosphorus or potassium - it neutralizes acidic soil.
Check soil pH with litmus test... Dissolve the soil in a glass of water, dip the test strip and compare the color with the scale on the package. The ideal soil pH for carrots is 6-7.
Mineral and complex fertilizers:
- Urea is a mineral fertilizer containing nitrogen, which improves the growth of green mass in the first months.
- "Quotes". The main components of the fertilizer are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The product is used for feeding, preventing disease and protecting against pests. Apply the solution "Cytovita" for soaking seeds: 3-4 drops of the drug per 100 g of water. The seeds are kept for 1-2 hours. Carrots emerge 2-3 days earlier than written on the package.
- "Ava" is a lava mass feeding, half of its composition is phosphorus, the rest is potassium, calcium, magnesium, chromium and other microelements. Dissolve 4 g in 1 liter of water and water the soil.
How to feed after germination? Complex mineral fertilizers: fit "Nitrofoska", "Solution" and "Kemira", they contain calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, nitrogen and other substances useful for plant development.
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Folk remedies
How to feed if the carrots do not grow, but there is no desire to use chemicals or buy organic matter? Folk remedies are no less effective than mineral and pure organic matter.
Here are some recipes for dressing:
- Take a container of any volume, fill it to the brim with chopped nettle branches, add 2-5 glasses of ash and 100 g of yeast. Pour water to the top and leave for 5 days. 1 liter of the product is diluted with 10 liters of water, poured under each root.
- Freshly cut nettle leaves are crushed, placed in a container and covered with warm water. The solution is left to ferment in the sun for 2 weeks and stirred daily. Before feeding, the infusion is diluted with water 1:10.
- Dissolve 100 g of yeast in a bucket of water and leave for 1.5 hours. Water the beds with infusion. The recipe is suitable for unsuccessful seedlings and as food during a period of active growth.
How to apply fertilizers correctly and in what quantities
You need to feed the soil for carrots before planting and throughout its growth.
When preparing the soil for planting
Since autumn, when digging up the soil, top dressing is carried out:
- For loamy soils - 3 kg of sawdust soaked in a solution of urea for 24 hours are scattered on 1 m². From above, half a bucket of sand and 100 g of lime, "Superphosphate" and potassium fertilizers are applied to the same area.
- For sandy soils - peat and humus are scattered over a bucket of 1 m².
After fertilization, the soil is dug up... The soil is sieved if it has not become loose after digging.
During sowing
Sprinkle the ridges with dolomite flour or wood ash... Ash reduces soil acidity, contains phosphorus and potassium, and protects against diseases. Before planting, 200 g of superphosphate, 100 g of potash fertilizer and 50 g of sodium nitrate are added per 1 m². Top with lime, 100 g per 1 m² for better assimilation of fertilizers.
In the process of growing
During the growing season and growth of carrots, several dressings are made. All root dressing should be liquid, they spill the aisles:
- First feeding: 150 g of mineral fertilizers per 1 m², of which phosphorus - 40 g, potash - 60 g, nitrogen - 50 g.
- The second feeding after 2-3 weeks to maintain active plant growth: ammonium nitrate - 20 g, "Superphosphate" and potassium chloride - 30 g each.
- A month after germination, spill with a solution of "Nitroammofoski" or "Nitrofoski" in a ratio of 1 tbsp. l. 10 liters of water. Repeat after 2-3 weeks at the rate of 7 liters per 1 m².
Top dressing for late varieties during the period of active growth should consist of nitrogen fertilizers.
Attention! Mineral mixtures are applied after deep watering or rain.
Feeding rules
When feeding it is important to follow the recommendations of experienced gardeners:
- Before feeding the carrots, the rows and aisles are watered abundantly with water or wait until the rain passes, and then fertilize is applied.
- The last root dressing is a month before harvest, in August or September. It reduces the amount of nitrates accumulated in root vegetables, makes them sweet, tasty, juicy and increases keeping quality during storage.
Conclusion
It is recommended to prepare beds for planting carrots in the fall: choose a suitable place and apply fertilizer. Carrots love loose sandy soils, sun, warmth and timely watering. Without top dressing, you will not be able to get juicy, sweet and large root crops. Choose what to fertilize, depending on the composition of the soil, the growth phase of the plant, follow the rules for applying top dressing, then the carrots will grow large, of the correct shape and will be stored until spring.