Crops › Carrot
How to grow Carrot
in the UK
Sow March to July, harvest June to November. About 70 days from seed to plate.
Carrots, proper good root veg, aren't they? A cracking addition to any dinner plate, and quite a chuffed feeling when you pull a nice straight one from the soil. They can be a bit of a challenge on the plot, mind, but well worth the effort.
Sowing
Right, with carrots you're sowing directly outdoors, no faffing about with indoor trays usually. Get 'em in from March right through to July, you can do a few small sowings every few weeks for a steady supply. Make a shallow drill, about 1 cm deep, in a nice stone-free bed. Sprinkle the tiny seeds thinly, then gently cover with fine soil. They need to be well-spaced, so you're not going to be able to avoid thinning later on, like I say.
Growing on
Once those little green shoots pop up, you'll need to thin them out. It's a bit heartbreaking, but you want about 5 cm between each plant, so they have room to grow proper. Do this on a still day to try and stop the carrot fly getting interested in the smell of the disturbed foliage, you know what I mean. If you're doing container varieties like Parmex or Paris Market, sow them thinly in a good deep pot or tub.
Looking after it
Carrots like consistent moisture, so keep them well watered, especially during dry spells. If they dry out and then get a sudden drenching, they can split, and nobody wants a split carrot. A bit of general purpose feed won't hurt, but they don't need much fussing over once they're off to a good start. Keep the weeds down too, they don't like competition.
What goes wrong
Carrot fly, now that's the main bugbear, isn't it? They sniff out the carrots and lay their eggs, and then the maggots munch on your roots. Best bet is fleece, a proper barrier over the row, like the app says. Some folks swear by companion planting with onions or leeks to confuse 'em. Slugs and aphids can have a go too, but carrot fly is the one to watch.
Harvest
You can start pulling carrots about 70 days after sowing, usually from June, right through to November. Just give 'em a gentle tug and see if they're a decent size. For winter storage, leave the maincrop varieties in the ground and cover with a good thick layer of straw mulch. Or, lift them carefully before the hard frosts, brush off the soil, and store 'em in sand in a cool, dark shed. They'll keep for months.
I always try to sow a few rows of different varieties, a quick early one and a big one for storing. That way, you're not putting all your carrots in one basket, so to speak.
Dates for your plot
Type the first half of your postcode and the plant-out advice shifts to your area's typical frost dates.
Varieties, and whether the club would grow them again
| Variety | Club verdict |
|---|---|
| Amsterdam Forcing This is a cracking quick-growing variety, perfect for getting an early harvest. Its roots are nice and cylindrical, good for smaller spaces too. | No club votes yet |
| Nantes 2 A lovely sweet early carrot that's a real treat from the plot. It grows with blunt-ended roots, making it a reliable choice. | No club votes yet |
| Early Nantes A proper classic, this one, known for its crisp texture and sweet flavour. It's an excellent choice for an early crop in your garden. | No club votes yet |
| Parmex These are proper little round baby carrots, great for a quick snack. They're just perfect for growing in pots or containers if you're short on space. | No club votes yet |
| Paris Market Like little golf balls, these round carrots are a bit of fun to grow. Another cracking choice for containers or heavy soils where long roots struggle. | No club votes yet |
| Chantenay Red Cored A fantastic maincrop variety, known for its stump-rooted shape and deep red core. It's a good choice if you've got heavier soil on your plot. | No club votes yet |
| Autumn King A really big maincrop carrot, ideal for getting a hefty harvest. If you're looking to store carrots through the winter, this is a top contender. | No club votes yet |
| Flyaway F1 This F1 hybrid is bred specifically to have good resistance to the dreaded carrot fly. It's a cracking option if you've struggled with that pest before. | No club votes yet 1 growing it |
| Resistafly F1 Another excellent F1 choice, offering strong resistance against carrot fly attacks. Grow this one for a bit more peace of mind on the plot. | No club votes yet |
| Bangor F1 A reliable F1 maincrop that produces long, smooth roots. It's known for its excellent storage qualities, keeping well through the colder months. | No club votes yet |
| James Scarlet This is a solid intermediate variety, a real good all-rounder for the plot. It's dependable for a decent crop with good flavour. | No club votes yet |
| Purple Haze F1 A striking heritage variety with a deep purple skin and a bright orange core. It adds a bit of visual flair to your plate and tastes great too. | No club votes yet |
| Rainbow Mix Why stick to one colour when you can have a whole rainbow? This mix gives you purple, yellow, white, and orange carrots, proper chuffed to pull these up. | No club votes yet |
| White Satin F1 A truly unique heritage carrot, producing pure white roots that look quite something. It's got a lovely sweet flavour, a bit different from the usual orange. | No club votes yet |
| Yellowstone This heritage variety grows bright yellow roots that stand out a mile. It's got a nice sweet taste and adds a bit of sunshine to your harvest. | No club votes yet |
| Cosmic Purple A cracking heritage carrot with deep purple colour right through to the core. It's got a surprisingly sweet flavour and looks fantastic on the plate. | No club votes yet |
Votes are members rating varieties in their Seed Tin, one vote per gardener. Tap a variety for the full page and where to buy.
Buy Carrot seeds
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Cook the harvest
This is a deeply comforting weeknight dal where carrots are cooked down until they almost dissolve into the red lentils, giving the finished dish a natural sweetness and an almost orange hue. Coconut milk makes it creamy without any dairy, and a tarka of mustard seeds and curry leaves poured over at the end transforms everything. Ready in under 30 minutes from scratch.
30 min · easyChunky carrots become silky and sweet when braised low and slow with warm spices, preserved lemon and a tin of tomatoes. This is a deeply satisfying Moroccan-inspired main that works beautifully over couscous or with flatbreads to mop up the fragrant sauce. It is vegan without any compromise, and tastes even better the next day.
65 min · easyWhole small carrots are gently braised in orange juice and stock, then the liquid is reduced to a glossy glaze right in the pan. A finish of brown butter and toasted hazelnuts turns this into something genuinely special — it takes about 25 minutes and the results taste far more impressive than the effort involved.
27 min · easySweet white miso and carrot juice form a sticky, savoury glaze that caramelises beautifully over salmon fillets. Thin pickled carrot ribbons cut through the richness with sharpness and crunch. This is a dish where carrots earn their place twice — in the glaze and on the plate.
35 min · mediumWatch for, and grow alongside
Companions: onions, leeks, rosemary, sage
Questions people ask
When do you sow Carrot in the UK?
Sow Carrot from March to July.
How long does Carrot take from sowing to harvest?
Roughly 70 days, with the harvest June to November.
Which Carrot varieties do gardeners grow again?
Club members rate every variety they grow. This page shows the grow-again votes for Amsterdam Forcing, Nantes 2, Early Nantes, Parmex and more.
Track your Carrot from packet to plate
Sowing reminders and harvest forecasts for your own frost dates, the Seed Tin, Scan Centre for any label or packet, and the Potty Mouth Garden Club. Free to start.
Allotment keeper in the North East of England, the voice behind the Tony C Smith YouTube channel, and the gardener who built GrowMore CookMore. Club numbers on this page update as members log their plots. Last updated 3 September 2026.