When buying seeds, you cannot get a XNUMX% guarantee that the purchased material will work well in the garden. It turns out that even experienced gardeners have no idea how to grow a vegetable and where to find excellent quality planting material. Seeds collected and harvested with their own hands often do not fail and delight with a high yield, especially if all the rules are followed. First you need to carefully study how to grow carrot seeds on your own and only then proceed to the next steps.
Advantages and disadvantages
The advantages of self-harvesting carrot seeds at home are that:
- planting material with high germination rates when planting with seeds, which can be used for the next three years;
- no risk of purchasing a counterfeit product or sorting in retail outlets;
- saving on expensive planting material of popular varieties;
- the opportunity to collect marketable fruits with excellent nutritional qualities.
Despite the impressive advantages, it is also worth highlighting certain disadvantages:
- there may be a danger of a gradual decline in the valuable characteristics of the variety;
- if mistakes are made, self-selection will lead to the degeneration of culture;
- there is a risk that carrots will not bloom even if a competent and complete set of necessary measures is observed.
Preparatory stage in the first year
Carrots are known to be biennial plants. She gives the harvest of root crops already in the first year, but the seeds – in the second.
The selection of carrot seeds for planting is recommended in the fall of the first season.
Inspection and selection of root crops
It is not recommended to lay fruits in a chaotic manner for further extraction of material. All root crops must be carefully examined and the most suitable in appearance selected.
Can’t use hybrid
Carrots should be varietal, not hybrid, as the seeds may be infertile or produce unpredictable results when grown, with specimens that do not look like their parents.
Flower resistance
For the duration of storage and resistance to flowering, it is necessary to follow the rules of storage, as well as the preparation of fruits for it.
Appearance
To get a high quality crop, it is necessary to select fruits that correspond to the varietal form. They should be characterized by brightness, juiciness and evenness.
Special storage conditions at home
They should be removed from the tops, trying not to damage the tops with buds by the embryos of the second year. Keep carrots in conditions of low humidity and temperature in the range from +1 to -2 degrees.
How to plant in the second year
At the next stage, get acquainted with the specifics of planting carrots in the second year, after she has successfully survived the conditions provided to her.
Inventory
First of all, you should prepare equipment for the correct landing. To do this, you will need the following tools.
Shovel
Device for the formation and primary design of beds.
Mulch container
This tool should be used for mulching, composting the soil.
Manual hiller or motor cutter
The device is useful for reproducing soil hilling after planting.
Planting material
Unlike the root crop of the first year of growth, the carrot of the second year prefers heat and humidity. Even during the storage period, the germination of one of the specimens is possible. Such a carrot is also suitable for planting, so do not get rid of it. If the fruit is large, you can leave only a third of the upper part. The rest is used for cooking culinary masterpieces.
To get full pollination, you need to apply about 10-15 fruits of the same variety, since the plant is considered cross-pollinated.
soil
Soil for spring laying must be prepared in the fall by adding humus or compost. If the soil requires more microelements, then fill it with ash in the spring.
The planting process
2 days before planting, sort and disinfect the carrots using a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
When and how to plant
Landing begins with the onset of full confidence in the impossibility of repeated frosts. The soil should warm up to at least 10-15 degrees. Estimated end of April.
To do this, make holes in advance and moisten them a little before planting. Between the rows, it is necessary to measure the standard distance – 60-70 cm. And the landing units should be located at a distance of at least 30 cm from each other. The vegetable is installed vertically, with a sharp end in the ground. The other side of the root should be at ground level.
Carrots should be placed in the ground for the entire length, leaving only the greens open.
Mulching
Immediately after planting, carry out mulching around the seedlings, after watering the plantations abundantly. Compost, manure, green manure, nettles and mowed grass can serve as mulch.
Aftercare
To obtain high-quality seed, it is necessary not only to properly plant, but also to properly care for it.
Watering
During the entire ripening period, it is important to water the plant moderately, ensuring a sufficient level of humidity, as well as regulating temperature fluctuations that occur throughout the day. The amount of watering depends on the structure of the soil. If the soil is loose, it is moistened 1 time in 3-5 days, and the presence of loamy, sandy loamy soil requires water only 1 time per week.
Weeding
As necessary, carry out weeding of the site, removing weeds and loosening the soil. Weed crops can slow down the flowering process and reduce seed quality.
Additional fertilizing
Fertilizer should be applied only when necessary:
- nitrogen-containing substances during the active growth of the upper part;
- products based on potassium and phosphorus at the time of bud formation.
With sufficient saturation of the soil in the first year of germination, in the second, you can do without top dressing at all.
A month and a half after planting, lime milk can be used for irrigation, this will increase the seed quality indicator.
When did the peduncle appear
After 2 months, the plant will form a central stem with a flowering umbrella. When it appears, you need to cut off all the side shoots of the tops, on which additional inflorescences grow. This will help the main inflorescence get more nutrients.
Collection time
Carrot seeds are harvested when the inflorescence turns dark beige, do not wait for the umbrellas to dry. Collection time is in August.
Umbrella preparation
Umbrellas with a stem 20-25 cm long are carefully cut for a bunch. Inflorescences formed in bunches are hung for ripening in rooms where it is dry and well ventilated. To prevent carrot seeds from scattering, wrap umbrellas using paper bags.
The appearance of the seeds
Carrot seeds, characterized by size and maturity, are located along the edges of the inflorescence, in its central part they are small and immature.
The seed material of the culture is small, has a bright brown color and is covered with villi that have a white tint. There are varieties that are characterized by the presence of lobed stripes. The seed, ready for harvest, falls out of the umbrella with ease and has a slightly noticeable sheen due to the essential oil on its surface.
Collection process
You can get carrot seeds from formed buds using manual collection. Grind completely dried umbrellas with your hands, separating the seeds and placing them in a specially prepared dry container.
Selection of suitable from unsuitable
Pour cold water into a bowl with carrot seeds and mix, leave for 2 hours. Mature full-bodied specimens will remain at the bottom, light, low-quality, as well as small husks will float to the surface, they must be removed. Rinse the seed material until the water is clear of suspension.
Drain the water, put the carrot seeds on a paper towel and, stirring, dry at room temperature.
Storage
Carrot seeds are stored for 2-3 years without loss of germination power, if sent to a dry, dark place, the temperature of which is 12-18 degrees above zero. For storage, you need to use small canvas bags, cardboard boxes. You should not take plastic containers or plastic bags, as they do not allow the air necessary for carrot seeds to pass through.
How to use the collected seeds in the future
Planting material is ready for planting. The first shoots after sowing should be formed within two weeks.
To maintain varietal purity, selection and spatial isolation of varieties are needed, and in order to acquire carrot seeds with improved sowing qualities, excellent agricultural technology and the optimal sowing and removal of seed material are needed. It is on this that the percentage of germination in the first stages, as well as the quality of the fruits in the subsequent ones, will depend.
