By Garry 
Carrot: sowing, planting, growing and harvesting
Learn when to sow, plant, care for and harvest carrot in your garden.
🌱 Carrot : key growing facts
📅 Growing calendar
Indicative Northern Hemisphere temperate-climate calendar only. Adjust to local frost dates, climate, variety and growing conditions. In the Southern Hemisphere, seasons are approximately six months later.
🔎 Growing specifications
🧺 Harvest readiness & expected yield
When to pick
Pull when shoulders reach the expected diameter for the variety; loosen soil first to avoid snapping roots.
What to expect
One root per plant; roughly 1–3 kg (2–7 lb) per m² under good conditions.
Indicative only; variety, climate and care affect harvests.🌿 How to grow successfully
🤝 Companion planting
Leafy greens can use adjacent space while roots establish; prioritise correct spacing over companion-plant claims.
↔️ What to avoid
Avoid fresh manure, cloddy soil and transplanting long taproots.
🐛 Pests and diseases
Check regularly for aphids, slugs and fungal disease.
🧤 Ongoing care
Thin seedlings early and maintain even moisture.
🧺 Harvest and storage
Lift roots when shoulders reach the desired diameter; store cool and humid after removing tops.
🧑🌾 From sowing to harvest
Prepare the soil
Rake soil to a fine tilth, remove stones and break up compacted layers to prevent forked roots.
Sow or transplant
Direct sow thinly into moist soil and thin early to the final spacing. Most taproots dislike transplanting.
What to monitor
Check soil crusting, overcrowding and root-fly damage; maintain even moisture to reduce splitting.
When and how to harvest
Pull when shoulders reach the expected diameter for the variety; loosen soil first to avoid snapping roots.