How to Grow Carrot
Carrot At a Glance
Difficulty
Moderate
Category
Vegetable
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Frost Tolerance
Frost Hardy
Cold Hardiness
Survives to -4°C
Plant Family
Apiaceae
Growing Season
Cool Season
Plant Lifecycle
Biennial
How to Start It
★ Recommended for beginners
Carrots handle light frost, so sow them about 3 weeks before your last spring frost, and again every 2 to 3 weeks until about 2 months before your first fall frost. Sow the tiny seeds thinly 0.5 cm deep (mixing them with a little sand helps spread them) and keep the surface damp. They are slow and sprout in 10 to 20 days, then thin them (pull the extras) so each carrot sits about 5 cm from the next.
Carrots are always sown right where they will grow, because moving them bends or splits the one long main root. The hard part is the first 2 to 3 weeks: the seeds must never dry out, so lay a board or a piece of burlap over the row and lift it as soon as the first shoots appear. Rows sown a couple of weeks apart give you carrots all summer and fall.
When To Start
First chance to plant
30 Days Before Last Frost
Last chance to plant
60 Days Before First Frost
When should you plant Carrot?
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Your Carrot Planting Window
Start planting
May 15, 2026
Last chance
Sep 10, 2026
Your Carrot Calendar
Set your location to turn these into exact dates and reminders.
Sow carrots outdoors thinly and keep the soil damp
3 weeks before your last frost· every year
Pull carrots once the tops are about 2 cm across
10 weeks after your last frost· every year· optional
Did you water your carrot seedlings today? Keep the top of the soil damp until they are up and growing.
About 1 days after you plant it
Time to thin the carrot seedlings: snip the extras at soil level so each one has room to grow.
About 30 days after you plant it
Your carrots are on their way! Thin them to about 5 cm apart so the roots have room to grow.
About 40 days after you plant it
Your carrots are close! Brush back a little soil to peek at the tops of the roots and check their size.
About 60 days after you plant it
Picking time may be here: check your carrot.
About 60 days after you plant it
The Journey Ahead
Carrot's Lifecycle
Seedling
Mature Plant
Seed Production
Step 2
Planting & Sprouting
Expect sprouts in 10–20 days
Growing Tips
- 1Grow carrots in full sun, at least 6 hours a day.
- 2Loosen the soil deeply and pick out stones and lumps, because anything in the way makes the roots fork, and use a pot at least 30 cm deep for long kinds or a shallower one for short kinds like Chantenay and baby carrots.
- 3Mix in well-rotted compost before sowing, which is all the food carrots need, but never fresh manure, which makes hairy, split roots.
- 4Water gently every day or two until the seedlings are up, then deeply about once a week so the roots grow down and do not crack.
- 5Thin the seedlings to about 5 cm apart in the evening, since the smell of crushed leaves draws the carrot fly.
- 6Cover the bed with row cover from the day you sow to keep the carrot fly from laying eggs that turn into root-tunnelling maggots.
Seedling Phase
Step 3
Growth & Maturity
~60
Days to Maturity
22 cm
Mature Height
6 cm
Mature Width
Pests to Watch For
Diseases to Watch For
Mature Plant
Step 4
Harvesting
Harvest Window
45 days
When to Pick
Pull when roots reach desired size
How to Harvest
- 1Carrots are ready about 60 days after sowing, when the tops of the roots poking out of the soil are about 2 cm across.
- 2Water the bed the day before, loosen the soil beside the row with a fork, then pull each carrot straight up by its leaves.
- 3Pick the biggest ones first so the others have room to grow.
- 4A few light frosts make carrots sweeter, so you can leave the last row in the ground until the soil starts to freeze.
- 5Twist off the leaves right away and keep carrots in a bag in the fridge for weeks, or in a box of damp sand in a cold spot all winter.
Step 5
Saving Seeds
How to Save Seeds
Carrots flower only in their second year, so save seed from your best roots: in mild areas leave them in the ground under thick mulch, and in cold areas dig them up in fall, store them in damp sand in a cold spot, and replant them in spring. Carrots cross easily with wild carrot (Queen Anne's lace), so pull any wild carrot flowering within about 800 m. Let several plants flower together, and remember that hybrid F1 seeds will not grow true. Cut the flat, lacy seed heads once they turn brown and dry, and let them finish drying in a paper bag. Rub them between your hands to free the seeds and store them labelled in a cool, dark, dry place for about 3 years.
Seed Production
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