Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
CARROT
Daucus carota
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
• at least 30 (ideally 50 to 100) healthy, well-developed carrots
• mild climate or root cellar
• the absence of wild carrots and/or isolation cage
• support for flowers
• bed linen or cloth bag
Carrot seeds
POLLINATION NOTES
Like all umbellifers, carrots are outcrossers and are essentially self-sterile. Be-
cause of their high susceptibility to crossing, it is only possible to grow one variety per year for seed
without isolation.
The nectar of the large flower umbels attract a large assortment of insects, including beetles, bees,
wasps, and hoverflies. In many places wild carrots (Queen Anne's lace) grow in meadows and fallow
strips; these are the same species as cultivated carrots and will cross with them if the cultivated carrots
are not isolated. The white umbel of wild carrots differentiates itself from all other umbellifers through
the purplish black dot that is typically found in the center of its umbel. It is not uncommon to find even
commercial carrot seed that is crossed with wild carrot, which can be seen in plants with white, fibrous
roots and in plants that flower in the first year. Remove these plants by the root to eliminate possibility
of grow-back. Depending upon population size and location of the patch, use a spatial isolation dis-
tance of at least 500 ft. (150 m), though if wild carrot is anywhere near, mechanical isolation is a must.
When isolation cages or tents are used, hoverflies have shown themselves to be the best pollinators,
though flies of the Calliphoridae family (blowflies, carrion flies) will probably also get the job done.
Honeybees are not particularly effective pollinators of carrots.
