When To Sow Carrots Zone 6 : Carrots

Growing Carrots Year-Round: A Strategy for Success

Growing carrots successfully can be a challenge, but they offer sweet rewards for a job well done.Since this activity will not damage the carrot crop, I prefer to let the caterpillars do their thing and be rewarded with lots of visiting butterflies!Because carrots like deep, loose soil a raised bed or planter can work well.This means that you will have to run your own experiments to see which carrot varieties work best for your climate and soil type.Carrots need warm temperatures in order for the seeds to germinate—around 70 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer.However, carrots need cool temperatures for developing sweet, fat roots—around 40 degrees F.To follow this method, you’ll need at lease 4-5 rows of dedicated gardening space.Note: The window for sowing seeds in your garden will vary depending on your growing zone.To get an idea of your unique sowing and growing window, get my downloadable Seedstarting & Planting Worksheet as a free bonus when you purchase my book, The Suburban Micro-Farm: Modern Solutions for Busy People.When I sow my first carrot seeds of the year in March, I know that I have 3-4 months before I will get my first harvest.Remember that carrots are slow to germinate and get growing in the cold spring soil.This means that my first harvest of homegrown carrots won’t be until June orJuly.You can help your carrots along by using row cover or a cold frame to keep the germinating seedlings warm (and growing faster) in those cool months.If you use a season extension method like row cover or a cold frame, be sure to open it on days when the interior temperature is above 70 degrees.Harvest half of the carrots, and mulch the rest well to help insulate them over the winter.This will reduce the chance of the soil freezing solid, so you can continue harvesting right through winter.As an example, here in USDA hardiness zone 6a, I can harvest at least until January using these techniques, and sometimes throughout the entire winter and early spring if it’s mild enough. .

When to Plant Vegetables in Zone 6

After many years of tweaking planting times and dates, I made a chart of when to sow seeds indoors, transplant and direct sow vegetables into the garden for USDA Planting Zone 6.The organized, dates, numbers, and planning side of gardening isn’t my strong suit.But with so many requests from you all on when exactly to plant for a zone 6 garden, I finally buckled down and got it done.I am in the southeast and have to think about how to combat plant problems like disease and pests naturally.In order to reduce diseases, I plant tomatoes, peppers, corn, squash, and melons at least two weeks past my last frost date, sometimes later.I have plenty of time to wait a few weeks to plant where I live but you may not and will need to start closer to your average last frost date.If you plant under a low tunnel or in a greenhouse you can avoid some of mother nature’s surprises.You can also start plants outdoors with soil blocks or in trays in a greenhouse.Transplant= The day when you will move your soil blocks from indoors to outdoors to plant.Harvest= Harvest time is incredibly variable based on what varieties you grow. .

How to Grow and Care for Carrots

Common Name Carrot Botanical Name Daucus carota Family Apiaceae or Umbelliferae Plant Type Vegetable Size 6 to 12 inch root, 1 foot foliage height; 9 inch spread Sun Exposure Full sun to part shade Soil Type Loose, well-draining soil Soil pH Slightly acidic (6.0–6.8) Bloom Time Spring (second growing season) Hardiness Zones 3–10 (biennial grown as an annual) Native Area Europe, Southwestern Asia.Growing carrots in raised beds with fluffy soil is the ideal situation.Correctly spacing carrots is the key to harvesting a healthy crop, but it's not always easy and requires plenty of thinning.Snipping or pinching the seedlings off at the soil line is the best way to avoid hurting the nearby roots.If your soil is not rich in organic matter, supplemental feeding will be necessary about two weeks after the carrot tops emerge.Because they are grown for their roots, don't go overboard with nitrogen fertilizer, which mostly aids foliage growth.Growing carrots (Daucus carota)—or any root vegetable, for that matter—can be a bit of a gamble because you can't see how well they're doing until you harvest.Test to see if the tops of your carrot plants have filled out to the expected diameter by feeling just below the soil line.To be on the safe side, it is wise to loosen the soil slightly before harvesting, making sure not to stab the carrots in the process.They will fork and deform if they meet with the slightest resistance, such as a rock or hard soil in the garden.The shorter finger-types or small round carrots, like 'Paris Market', or other types with roots that grow and mature to two to three inches long, are ideal for containers.To prevent deformed roots, keep the area free of weeds as the carrots are growing.Carrots can be planted from nursery-grown seedlings, but the more common method is to sow seeds directly into the garden as soon as the soil is workable in the spring.Till the soil at least a foot deep to make sure it is light and loose and can drain extremely well.Create shallow furrows in the soil (the long handle of a garden tool will do the job), 1/4 inch deep and one foot apart if you are sowing more than one row of carrots.Keep furrows moist and don't let the soil dry out because it will form a hard crust that is difficult for tiny seedlings to break through.Use tiny snips for this task so you don't pull up nearby developing carrot roots.You might even consider installing a fabric row cover if you live in a very cold climate.The carrot tops will die but the roots will continue gathering their sugar to survive the cold weather.You can foil some pests by rotating where you plant each year, but the easiest method is to grow your carrots under row covers (garden fabric).Nematodes, microscopic worms, can become a problem later in the season, causing badly deformed roots.Even if they don't notice the roots growing below the soil surface, there are plenty of animals that will want to eat the tops of your carrots and a few that will dig deeper.Clean up all debris at the end of the season and move your carrots to a different section of the garden next year because the microorganisms can persist in the soil. .

Zone 6 Vegetable Planting Calendar/Schedule

There are no hard rules for this, it is dependent on the climate for your particular area, as well as the weather at the time.You should adjust the planting dates relative to your particular area, and the specific variety of vegetables going into your garden.See the chart (below) to view the average dates of first and last freeze (low temperature reaches 32 degrees Fahrenheit) for each zone. .

How To Grow Carrots

Some catalogs don’t describe how to plant carrots by type, but will point out which cultivars do better in heavy or poor soil.They will take 1 to 3 weeks to sprout (they germinate more slowly in cold soil than in warm), so you can always mix in a few quick-growing radish seeds to mark the rows.Cover with ¼ to ½ inch of screened compost, potting mix, or sand—a little more in warm, dry areas—to make it easier for the delicate seedlings to emerge.Water gently to avoid washing seeds away; keep the soil continuously moist for best germination.As the seedlings develop, gradually apply mulch to maintain an even moisture level and reduce weed problems.However, if the soil dries out completely between waterings, gradually remoisten the bed over a period of days; a sudden drenching may cause the roots to split.Carrots’ feeder roots are easily damaged, so hand pull any weeds that push through the mulch, or cut them off just below the soil surface.Parsleyworms are green caterpillars with black stripes, white or yellow dots, and little orange horns.Instead, transfer them to carrot-family weeds such as Queen Anne’s lace, and watch for chrysalises to form, and later, beautiful butterflies!Nematodes, microscopic wormlike animals, make little knots along roots that result in stunted carrots.To save harvested carrots for winter use, prepare them by twisting off the tops and removing excess soil, but don’t wash them.Layer undamaged roots (so they’re not touching) with damp sand or peat in boxes topped with straw.Or store your fall carrot crop right in the garden by mulching the bed with several inches of dry leaves or straw.This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. .

Vegetables and Herbs to Plant in July

And while July may be too late for varieties like tomatoes or squash (depending on where you live), you can still pick seeds that work for your USDA Plant Hardiness Zone's climate pattern.When gardeners in Southern California are at their peak harvest in July, those in cooler climates can still get going.Greens like arugula, spinach, parsley, and cilantro go to seed quickly in hot, dry temperatures.But sown by seed in cooler regions midsummer, these plants thrive and will produce well into fall.Root vegetables like beets and carrots also flourish when sown midsummer, as they can stand a little frostnip and can be left under the snowpack to harvest later for a sweeter taste.Broccoli and cabbage starts or transplants also stand a chance when planted in July.Provided the plants are irrigated thoroughly, the warm conditions will yield a tasty crop before the first hard frost.Radishes, turnips, beets, and carrots can all benefit from a second planting in zones 4 and 5, where warm fall weather is common.Radishes, with their relatively short maturation, will peak early and can be snacked on in late summer.Brussels sprouts, basil, and leeks planted from starts provide a nice addition to soups as the hot weather turns cool.And even late bloomers like winter squash planted from starts can be harvested well into fall, as long as you have row covers to keep the frost off.Mild temperatures with late frost create optimal seasonal conditions for most vegetables in zones 6 and 7.And the bolting nature of parsley, dill, and cilantro eases once the heat of summer passes.Vegetables that are late to mature in cooler climates do fine down south when sown in July.Lucky gardeners in this general region can plant nightshades, like peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant, and pick their ripe fruit from the vine into early winter.All types of squash can be planted in midsummer, and you can enjoy the delicacy of their blossoms in about a month, followed by their large, yummy veggies at harvest time.Still, dill and cilantro (traditionally grown in Mexico) may fare well, depending on the given season's weather pattern.Year-round growing is one of the many benefits of living in Hawaii, where melon, sweet potatoes, and even garlic can be planted in July.Tropical temperatures combined with ample moisture create the ultimate environment for growing vegetables by seed.And since most herbs are perennials in this climate, add them at any point in the year as companions in your garden or ornamental additions to flower beds. .