Video: Grow Carrots & Other Root Crops Successfully

grow carrots, root crops
grow carrots, thinned seedlings
This photo illustrates how the seedlings should be thinned once they’re about 3″ tall.

I’m frequently told by folks that they can’t grow carrots. When they tell me the plants’ leaves look great but the roots are tiny, I know exactly what’s wrong! And that’s why I decided to make that the focus of this week’s video.

But I don’t just talk about carrots. My three main tips also apply to root crops. If you’re not too sure what root crops are, here’s a list of the most commonly grown ones:

  • Beets
  • Carrots
  • Kohlrabi
  • Onions (some folks think of them as root crops, although they technically produce bulbs)
  • Parsnips
  • Radishes
  • Rutabagas
  • Turnips

Want a sneak peek of my secrets to successfully grow carrots and other root crops?

  1. Plant their seeds directly out in the garden (although you can start onions indoors ahead of time). Why? Certain root crops don’t like their roots to be disturbed. If you start them indoors and transplant them outside later, this can impact how well they grow for you.
  2. Use phosphorus when preparing their planting bed! Phosphorus is the middle number on fertilizer packages. When that number is the highest, that means the fertilizer is high in phosphorus. My favorite soil amendment for this is bonemeal.
  3. Be sure to thin your seedlings once they’re about 3″ tall. The goal is a 3″ spacing in between each plant so there’s room to develop those roots we all love.

I also wanted to mention that if you have really rocky soil, carrots won’t grow well. Consider growing them in a raised bed filled with loose garden soil or in a container. In addition, don’t add any type of manures or other nitrogen sources: the carrots will split and fork!

I’ve got other growing information in the video but I don’t want to give everything away here, right?

One other thing: early spring is a great time to start carrots out in your garden. It’s also possible to plant them at other times so you’ll have a longer harvest period.

Here’s my video about how to grow carrots & other root crops:

As I mentioned in the video, I hope to hear from a lot of you that this video made all the difference! My goal with every video, as well as my website and social media posts is for you to be successful.

Did you enjoy this week’s video? I have 600+ gardening videos on my YouTube channel. I also have a Vegetable Gardening Videos playlist so you can pick and choose what you’d like to watch. 

Next week, I’ll plant more cool-season crops so see you then!