Planting Carrot Seeds – How to Grow Crunchy Carrots from Seed
Hey, not sure if you’ve noticed, but it’s time to get started with your cool weather veggies! Planting carrot seeds outside couldn’t be much easier! Try these tips on how to plant carrot seeds outside in the garden.
Growing carrots from seed takes only a few moments and it is totally worth getting your kids involved, if applicable.
Learn how to grow carrots from seed and your family will be rewarded with sweet, crunchy, delicious carrots all season!
Do carrots have seeds?
Traditionally speaking, carrots do not have seeds, at least there are no seeds within the carrots themselves. Carrots are considered a biennial vegetable, which means they grow and produce the crops you love to harvest for the first season, and they produce seeds during the second. Look for carrot seeds in the spent flowers from the flower stalk that eventually grows amid the carrot greens.
Where do carrot seeds come from?
Carrot seeds come from the flower stalk that develops during the second year of a carrot’s growth. If you do not pick all of your carrots during the first year, those you leave behind will grow umbellifer flowers that eventually brim with seeds during the second season.
When is the best time for planting carrot seeds?
Try planting carrot seeds as soon as your soil thaws out and becomes workable. You can plant carrots from seed before the last frost because carrots are a cold-hardy vegetable. Here in PA Zone 6b, we planted our carrot seeds outdoors on March 2 and we will plant a few more rounds of carrots.
How to Plant Carrot Seeds
Grow delicious root vegetables easily at home in garden grow bags, large flower pots, or raised beds.
Discover how to plant carrot seeds with these easy steps.
- Check to be sure the soil outdoors is workable.
- Take a small amount of carrot seeds out of the package.
- Sprinkle the carrot seeds across the top of the soil.
- Lightly sprinkle a bit of garden soil on top, only ¼ inch at most. (Sometimes I omit this step and our carrots still grow fine!)
- Water the seeds lightly or wait for Mother Nature to do her thing.
- Check back regularly to watch for signs of growth.
- Water adequately as needed.
Planting Carrots – Tips
Try these tips on planting carrots from seed:
- Direct sow carrot seeds as soon as you can work the soil. Most times, carrot seeds don’t like to be transplanted. For this reason, it’s generally best to directly plant the seeds outdoors in their permanent locations.
- Consider planting carrots where you have nooks and crannies. Oftentimes in the garden, little spaces will show up where no plants are growing. Try planting carrot seeds where the garden footprint is quite small.
- Use caution not to plant carrot seeds too close together. Sometimes carrots grow in very odd, funky shapes. We had a few carrots that legit looked like they had legs… and other parts. Try to space out the carrot seeds for best results.
By the way, if you found this post helpful, you may also enjoy my posts on Rainbow Carrots or how to harvest carrots.
I hope you found some helpful tips on planting carrot seeds in your home garden. If you have more tips to add or any questions to ask, be sure to hit us up in the comments below!
Happy Gardening!
