Carrot — Vegetables

Daucus carota

Full sun, moderate watering — hardy anywhere in the UK.

Photograph of Carrot — iNaturalist / GBIF

Sow: Mar–Jun
Harvest: Jul–Sep
In flower: Jun, Jul, Aug

Sun: Full sun
Water: Medium
Difficulty: Easy
Hardiness: H7
Season: summer
Height: 50–100 cm
Spacing: 50 cm
Pets: Safe around pets
Bee friendly: Bee friendly
Native: Native

Grows well with

Chives — Sowing chives along the carrot row is long-standing advice: the onion scent is meant to confuse carrot fly as it hunts for the crop.Rosemary — Rosemary is listed as a good neighbour for carrots. A bush at the end of the carrot bed is easier than trying to fit it between the rows.Sage — Sage is listed as a good neighbour for carrots, said to put carrot fly and flea beetle off. Its flowers are worked hard by bumblebees.Onion — The scent of onions is often said to stop carrot fly finding your carrots. Trials have not found this reliably, so do not count on it - a fine mesh cover is what actually keeps the fly off.Radish — Drop a single radish seed in every 15–30cm along the carrot row. Carrots are slow to come up, so the quick radishes show you where the row runs, and they are pulled long before the carrots need the room.Courgette — Carrots are listed among the crops that suit a mixed bed with courgettes.Lettuce — Carrots are named as a good neighbour for lettuce. Mixing unlike crops is held to help them along, partly because the scents put feeding pests off.

Growing notes

Grows to 0.5-1 metres. Space about 10-50cm apart. In flower Jun-Aug.