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The question of when to remove carrots from the garden is one of the most controversial: some gardeners recommend doing this as early as possible, as soon as the root crops ripen and gain weight, while others, on the contrary, believe that harvesting carrots should be late, this is the only way the vegetable is fed all useful trace elements.
Who is right, when should carrots be harvested, and also how to lay the root crop for storage – this will be the article.
When to dig up carrots
Usually, gardeners harvest carrots, focusing on the appearance of root crops and their size. In principle, this is the correct approach, because the overflowing carrot of a rich orange color and large size is definitely ripe and ready to be dug up.
But, on the other hand, there are situations when an external assessment may be unreliable. Calculating the time when to dig carrots is necessary taking into account several factors, such as:
- Root variety.
- maturation speed.
- The purpose of the vegetable (for fresh consumption, for processing, for winter storage or for sale).
- The state of the above and below ground parts of the plant.
- weather conditions in a particular area.
Collection of carrots of different varieties
The timing of the collection of carrots largely depends on the variety of this root crop. This is not surprising, because outwardly ripe carrots of different varieties can look completely different.
There are hundreds of varieties of carrot seeds on the market today, and each fruit is different. Therefore, before digging a carrot, you need to look at the seed bag to understand what a mature root crop should look like. More it would be nice to taste the vegetable, because ripe carrots have a special pronounced flavor, crispy flesh and a pleasant vegetable aroma.
Regardless of the variety, carrots should be harvested no earlier than the lower leaves begin to turn yellow.
Harvesting early ripening carrots
As you know, early-ripening varieties of carrots are grown not for storage, but for sale as the first young vegetables, for making salads, vitamin cocktails and juices.
Early ripe carrots are very juicy and tasty, but they are poorly stored, therefore, most often, such root crops are pulled out gradually – as needed. It is necessary to pull out carrots in such a way as to simultaneously thin out the rows, thereby providing nutrition to neighboring root crops.
It is not necessary to leave holes in the ground from torn carrots, these holes must be sprinkled with earth and tamped, otherwise infections and a carrot fly will penetrate through them to root crops.
Mid-season varieties of orange root crops are also not suitable for long-term storage, but such a carrot already tolerates transportation well and may well retain its presentation for several weeks, or even months.
Its appearance will tell you when to harvest medium carrots: the lower leaves of the tops will begin to dry, the root crops themselves will reach the optimal length and diameter for the variety, the color of the vegetable will become saturated, and the taste will be pleasant.
Do not rush to harvest mid-ripening carrots, because then the vegetable will not gain enough mass and will not accumulate the right amount of nutrients and very useful carotene. But it is also dangerous to overexpose such carrots, because root crops can rot in moist soil, and excessive drought will quickly dry out tops and root crops – the vegetable will become lethargic and tasteless.
With late-ripening varieties, everything is somewhat simpler, as folk wisdom suggests, the harvesting of winter varieties of carrots should be completed by September 24 – the day of Cornelius. After this date, real cold begins almost throughout Our Country, the night temperature can drop below zero, which is very dangerous for any root crops.
Although carrots are considered a cold-resistant crop, their fruits do not need to be kept in the ground when the temperature drops to -3 degrees, this leads to rotting of root crops and their infection with various infections – the immunity of frozen carrots is significantly reduced.
Harvesting carrots too early is also fraught with problems. This vegetable does not like sudden changes in temperature, therefore, if you tear the root crop out of the still warm soil and place the crop in a cold cellar, nothing good will come of it – at best, the carrots will become lethargic, and at worst, they will become infected with gray rot.
Usually, mid-season varieties ripen in 80-100 days, late carrots will need 110-120 days to reach full maturity – these figures should be taken into account in determining the date of harvest.
The following signs will tell you that the carrots “sat too long” in the garden:
- the appearance on root crops of small roots covering the vegetable along its entire length;
- complete drying of the tops;
- shredding carrots;
- fruit lethargy;
- color fading;
- decay or damage by pests, rodents.
Well, and most importantly – overexposed carrots will become tasteless, it may taste bitter or lose its peculiar flavor.
Such a crop cannot be stored for a long time – damaged root crops will not reach the spring.
When and how to harvest carrots for winter storage
It is very difficult to grow any vegetable crop, but it is even more difficult to keep root crops until next spring, providing the family with vitamins and useful trace elements.
As mentioned above, the most important thing is to determine the right time to harvest. It is important to understand that only a well-ripened carrot is completely saturated with vitamins, receives a large dose of carotene, and can be stored for a long time.
Based on the foregoing, it can be unequivocally stated – autumn cool days are simply necessary for the harvest of carrots, it should not be harvested before the second half of September.
An exception can only be cases of weather anomalies: a sharp drop in temperature, frost, heavy and prolonged rains. In such cases, the gardener tries to save at least part of his crop, there is no time to think about the vitamin composition of carrots.
In order for carrots to be well stored, they must be properly harvested. There are several recommendations for this:
- If the length of the root crops is small, it is better to pull the carrots with your hands. In this case, the root crop is held near the base and pulled by the lower part of the tops. A ripe elastic vegetable should easily come out of the ground. Difficulties can arise when the soil on the site is too dry and cracked.
- In such cases, and also when the roots are long and large, it is better to use a pitchfork or a shovel. You need to work with the tool carefully: stepping back a few centimeters from the row, they simply dig in the ground. Fragile carrots crack easily and can be cut with a sharp shovel, this should not be allowed.
- Do not leave dug up carrots uncut. The opinion that root crops should be left with uncut tops for several days, and left right on the beds, is fundamentally wrong. This cannot be done for one reason – the tops will lose their nutrition and begin to draw moisture from the root crops, thereby drying out the carrots and making it tasteless. Subsequently, the crop will begin to rot, it will be stored very poorly.
- It is better to remove the tops immediately after digging up the carrots and this should be done not with your hands, but with a sharp knife or scissors – this way the cut will be neat, the risk of infection getting into the “wound” is minimal.
- You should not leave “tails” – the tops of carrots must be cut “at the root”, that is, capturing 1-2 mm of the root crop itself. This is the only way to cut off dormant buds, and the carrot will not be able to start up young shoots as soon as it smells spring.
Correctly harvesting carrots is still half the battle, it needs to be prepared for storage. The collected carrots are thoroughly cleaned of adhering soil and laid out in one layer under a canopy. The place should be cool, dark and well ventilated. So, root crops are dried for several days.
The fact is that “wounds” are very poorly healed in carrots, an infection gets into them, and the vegetable rots, infecting neighboring fruits.
Now you need to sort the carrots, remove damaged, sluggish fruits. The harvest is laid out in boxes and left in a cold room for a couple of days. This is necessary in order for the vegetable to “get used” to the basement cold – carrots will evaporate excess moisture and will not “sweat” after being placed in the cellar.
In the basement, boxes or boxes with root crops are not placed directly on the floor, it is necessary to build a platform or put several bricks and bars under the container.
Results
Drawing conclusions, we can once again note the importance of determining the correct date for harvesting carrots. It is absolutely unacceptable to harvest this root crop at random when you want, because then the carrot will lose not only in mass and nutritional value, the root crops will be poorly stored, they will begin to wither and rot.
When to harvest carrots, each gardener must decide for himself. It is important to take into account all related factors, such as weather, variety, ripening time and appearance of the fruit.
