If the temperatures outside are not too stable, you can also prefer your carrots indoors. However, this method is not easy.
Carrots are very common in German gardens. They are not particularly difficult to grow and are very versatile in the kitchen. Normally, most hobby gardeners sow the seeds directly in the field. Carrots are therefore not normally one of the typical vegetables that are preferred. This is mainly because carrots are ready to harvest fairly quickly. You can even overseed the root vegetables several times in one season.
Nevertheless, it is of course also possible to prefer carrots on the windowsill or in the cold frame. However, it has to be said that the yield is usually better if you sow directly outdoors.
❀ Growing carrots indoors
You can start growing vegetables on the windowsill as early as February or March. In addition to the seeds, you need either a special potting soil or, alternatively, compost soil mixed with sand and sieved.
The pots for the cultivation should have a diameter and a height of at least eight centimeters, this is the only way to ensure sufficient space and stability. So that the irrigation water can drain off and nothing gets dirty, it is best to get suitable coasters.
You should later place the planters in a bright window where the temperature is as constant as possible at around 20 degrees. Fill the pots with so much soil that there is still about one centimeter left to the edge. The soil is then moistened before planting, but it must not be wet. Make small indentations of one to two centimeters at a distance of two centimeters and put a few seeds in them.
❀ Care of the seedlings
As soon as the plants sprout from the soil, you should only water them very carefully and only when the soil is dry. It is better than watering if you put the pots in a bowl filled with water from time to time. This allows the earth to absorb water without danger threatening from above. The soil also does not get too wet, so rotting can be prevented.
❀ Pricking outof young plants
As soon as the seedlings are two to three weeks old, they must be separated. (Reading tip: separate carrots - create space for a larger yield) This is the only way for them to have enough space to grow and develop strong roots. Using a pricking stick or the handle of a spoon, carefully lift the seedlings out of the pot along with the root ball.
Then carefully separate the little plants from each other and immediately sort out any weak specimens. The strong seedlings get the roots shortened a little, then place them individually in pots filled with soil. In the further time the carrots are watered moderately.
As soon as the ice saints are over, i.e. around the middle/end of May, you can transfer the young plants to the garden.