Why is crop rotation important when growing carrots? Carrots should be grown in crop rotation to ensure that the vegetable is not sown on the same beds more frequently than once every 3 years. Carrots belong to vegetables with a moderate demand for nitrogen but a high demand for potassium. Therefore, it is recommended to grow vegetables with a high nitrogen requirement after manure fertilization before planting carrots. Carrots are deep-rooting vegetables, so it is advisable to grow them after shallow-rooting vegetables. However, they should not be planted directly after other root vegetables such as parsley, celery, or beetroot.
What vegetables are best suited for growing carrots after?
In a 3-year crop rotation, carrots can be grown after cucurbits (pumpkin, zucchini, cucumber), brassicas (cauliflower, white and red cabbage, savoy cabbage), or after sweet corn. In the second year, we sow carrots, and in the third year, peas or beans. Then we fertilize with manure and repeat the crop rotation. In a 4-year crop rotation, in the first year after manure, brassicas (cabbage and cauliflower) are grown, in the second year legumes (peas, beans, and chickpeas), in the third year onions and catch crops (e.g., mustard), and finally in the fourth year carrots.
What are the benefits of interplanting carrots?
When growing carrots, it is worthwhile to take advantage of the benefits of interplanting vegetables. Excellent companions for carrots are onions and garden cress. Interplanting carrots and onions is also a practical method for protecting carrots without chemicals. Onions deter the most common pest of carrots, the carrot fly, while the proximity to carrots prevents the occurrence of the common pest of onions, the onion fly. On the other hand, tomatoes are unfavorable neighbors for carrot beds.
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