When is carrots ready to pick

Kristina loves the challenges of dryland gardening and teaching others to use climate compatible gardening techniques, and she strives towards creating gardens where there are as many birds and bees as there are edibles.

Kristina considers it a point of pride that she spends more money on seeds each year than she does on clothes. Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know you appreciated the article. Happy gardening — and carrot eating!

So much good info! Thanks for the great article. I love your writing — it inspires me to garden more! Laura, Thank you so much for the kind words. You made my day! Best of luck with your future gardening adventures!

The Root of the Matter You now have a plan for harvesting your homegrown carrots! More Posts Notify of. Oldest Newest Most Voted. Inline Feedbacks. To help protect the seeds as they germinate, cover with a light layer of fine compost. Once the seedlings are about an inch tall, thin out the crop so that the plants are three to four inches apart.

You should be careful not to damage the roots, so it may be best to use a small pair of scissors to cut the tops instead of pulling the seedlings up. This will give your carrots room to grow and mature. Start with one inch of water a week, then gradually transition to about two inches of water as the roots grow. When you decide to harvest your carrots will depend on the desired size of maturity. The smallest you want the carrots to be is about the width of your thumb.

However, if you want larger carrots, you can care for them and let them grow longer. When to harvest carrots also depends on the time in the growing season. Carrots grown in spring and early summer should be harvested before average temperatures get too high.

Carrots grown in the summer toward the beginning of fall will actually taste better after the first frost because the frost encourages the carrots to start storing sugars. The carrots can continue to grow larger, but their quality and flavor may deteriorate. However, carrots also begin to lose flavor soon after harvesting, so it can make sense to leave them in the ground and only dig them up just before use.

Some gardeners sow a fresh row of carrots every three weeks spring through summer and harvest the carrots while they're young. Although sometimes you can see the top of the carrot just above the soil, occasionally you have to pull up one or two in order to see the size of the roots.

The earliest carrot crop comes from thinning the plants. When the carrot seeds have sprouted and the row has filled out with leaves that are 1 to 2 inches tall, it's time to remove about half the carrots. Some of the carrots that are pulled up are finger-sized and delicious. When to pick carrots - how to know when your carrots are ready for harvesting Image: Getty.

Carrots come in all kinds of varieties, so harvesting depends on the kind you're growing Image: Getty. Most carrots are ready to harvest when the shoulders reach about 1.

When to pick carrots: When picking carrots, loosen the soil around it Image: Getty. How to harvest carrots Knowing how to harvest carrots is just as important as knowing when, as picking them in the wrong way could result in damage to the growth. Loosening the soil with a garden fork will help greatly in harvesting the carrots.