The main problem with growing carrots is getting them to sprout.
Sometimes the seeds lie in the ground for more than a month before the first sprouts appear. This ruins all attempts by gardeners to get an earlier harvest. It is also unclear whether the carrots will sprout at all.
To be on the safe side, you have to sow again, and as a result, both the early and the later sown seeds sprout, which leads to thickening.
To avoid this, gardeners have found ways to get seedlings twice as fast.
Method one: pouring boiling water
Watering the rows with boiling water before and after sowing helps speed up the emergence of sprouts. This method kills two birds with one stone. Firstly, when exposed to heat, growth processes are activated, as is inherent in nature - if it is warm, you need to grow. Secondly, hot water partially removes essential oils, due to which the seeds of all umbelliferous (carrots, parsnips, celery, dill) are so slow to start growing.
It is important to remember that you need to pour boiling water over the row first. Then spread the seeds, sprinkle them with soil and water again. This time, not with boiling water, but with slightly cooled water, about 85 degrees. If the bed is large, you do not need to water the whole thing at once. It is important that the sowing takes place in warm soil.
Method two: germination
This method is suitable for growing a small amount of early carrots. It should be sown in a pot, placed in a warm place (for example, near a radiator), wait for shoots and carefully transplant to a garden bed. In warmth, the seeds germinate in 7-10 days.
But here it is important not to damage the root system during transplantation, otherwise the root crops will turn out ugly. The method is good when you need to grow very early carrots for consumption in spring and early summer.
Method three: hot water treatment
Carrot seeds contain a lot of essential oil, which prevents moisture from penetrating into the seed and starting the growth process.
To speed up germination, it is necessary to remove the oil. Hot water is used for this.
You need to heat the water to 50–55 degrees, wrap the seeds in a cloth or gauze and place them in a cup of hot water for 3–5 minutes.
Squeeze, change the water to new and repeat the procedure. Then repeat again. Spread the seeds on a napkin, dry. Important: dry, but not dry. The seeds should no longer be wet, but should remain moist.
Sow the dried seeds in the garden bed. For a better effect, you can water the row with hot water to warm up the soil.
After such sowing, shoots will appear several times faster than with regular sowing. And if you cover the bed with film or spunbond, the shoots will appear even faster.
