Saving carrot seed is not difficult but it does require some patience. Carrots are biennials which means they flower and set their seed in the second year of their life. So in year one, you sow your carrot seed and it grows all summer. You can either leave the carrots in the ground over the winter with some thick mulch or a bale of straw. Or you can pull your carrots up when you harvest and store your seed carrots in a cool dark place until early spring. The carrots do need a few weeks of very cold temperatures to trigger their second year production.
Just wait for those seeds to dry out so you know they are mature and you can rub them with your thumb and finger into a bag. The seeds are easy to spot because they look as if they are covered with little hairs.
In late winter or very early spring you need to uncover carrots that were left in the ground or plant out seed carrots thats you saved and stored. They will take a while to grow; so, be patient and soon you will see beautiful umbels full of flowers. After the flowers have been pollinated, they will begin to form seeds.
Just wait for those seeds to dry out so you know they are mature and you can rub them with your thumb and finger into a bag. The seeds are easy to spot because they look as if they are covered with little hairs.
If you want to make sure your carrot seeds do not deviate from the variety of the plant, just make sure to keep them well separated from other varieties (as well as wild carrots aka Queen Anne's Lace). Or pop a Dollar Store folding mesh laundry hamper over the top of them while they are flowering. Have at least two so they can pollinate each other.
Really. It is that easy.
But if you really want to know all the dirty little details of how carrots can get jiggy with their neighbors, a resource I frequent is here.
No comments:
Post a Comment