If you’re looking for some means to do away with the kitchen waste you generate, here is one way to reuse the carrot tops you throw away as compost.
You can give back life to carrot tops you’re constantly throwing when cooking.
Carrot, the root vegetable, can’t grow from carrot tops. Although, you can regrow the carrot tops for a green loom. Carrot tops take two weeks to start sprouting after you plant them. For carrot seeds, cut the carrot top flowers when they begin turning brown, trim the flower heads, and dry them.
It’s an added advantage for a gardener to learn how to plant carrots from carrot tops. Perhaps, you can harvest the flowers which have the seeds and save an extra coin.
How To Plant Carrots from Carrot Tops
It is no secret that Carrots, the root vegetable, cannot grow from Carrot tops.
However, the carrot plant, which you also call carrot top, is regrown to produce flowers you harvest as they contain the seeds.
Before diving into the subject matter, let’s go through the materials you need to prepare first.
Materials Needed to Plant Carrots from Carrot Tops
You need to assemble a couple of materials for easy planting of your carrot tops. The first key is finding a suitable pot in terms of size, shape, and color. Besides, the pot must be a deep one to allow the movement of roots.
On the other hand, prepare them adequately if you want to plant your carrots in a kitchen garden.
Whether you’re planting your carrots in a pot or a kitchen garden, make sure the soil is of high quality. You can top up the nutrient content by adding some extra feed to your pot or garden. High-quality soil is vital for the healthy growth of carrots.
Other requirements are sunlight and water. Without these two, your carrots aren’t destined for success.
Especially if you’re growing them indoors where there’s no sunlight, your carrot tops won’t even show sprouting signs.
Basically, these are the materials you need to be ready to plant your carrots from carrot tops.
Planting The Carrot Tops
Planting carrot tops is as easy as counting 1,2,3.
Assuming you’re planting your carrot tops in a place or saucer;
Begin by cutting off the 1-inch carrot crown to separate it from the top. Place the tops you obtain in the plate or saucer. The plate or saucer you’re using must have a flat large surface area.
When you have enough carrot tops, add enough soil, sand, pebbles, and warm water. Here, only the top ends should go under the mixture.
Afterwards, place your plate or saucer in an open place where it has access to direct sunlight. In a couple of days, not more than a week, you’ll see tiny sprouts emerging. The sprouts resemble carrot plants.
Another way to plant your carrot tops includes the following steps;
Put the carrot tops inside a bowl and make sure the cut is facing down. Cover the carrot top with an inch of water. Then take the bowl to a place with a sunny windowsill. Since you’re not using soil, change the water daily.
Those two steps help you grow carrot tops into edible plants and reduce waste generation. Besides, you save money and become self-sufficient.
What Happens If You Plant Carrot Tops?
When you plant carrot tops, don’t expect to generate new carrots, root vegetables. Instead, the carrot tops sprout, giving rise to a beautiful green lush.
Therefore, the tops grow to become carrot plants. Further, the carrot plants continue to grow until they begin flowering.
During the flowering stage, you can take advantage and harvest the flower heads, which act as carrot seeds. If the carrot tops you plant are hybrids, expect carrot seeds that don’t resemble the original carrot.
Nevertheless, you can plant the carrot hybrids in your garden and see the kind of carrot that comes up.
You can use carrot tops to create an attractive indoor garden. After sprouting, the carrot leaves look good and produce a beautiful loom.
So, you can use carrot plants to create a welcome green spot, thus giving your home a whole new look.
How Do You Get Carrot Seeds Out of Carrot Tops?
Are you looking to harvest carrot seeds out of carrot tops? Worry no more! I got a formula that’s of help to you.
All you need to do is give it a try and see the results.
Besides, if you know how to plant carrots from carrot tops, you also need to learn how to get carrot seeds from carrot tops.
Thus, follow these three steps to get carrot seeds from carrot tops;
Plant and Cultivate
The first step to getting carrot seeds from carrot tops is to plant the carrot tops. Of importance, when sowing, don’t use hybrid seeds. Instead, use pollinated seeds.
Using pollinated seeds ensures the offspring has similar features as the parent plant.
On the other hand, if you use hybrid seeds, they’ll produce different offspring apart from the parent plant. In addition, hybrid seeds often fail to produce viable seeds.
Sow the seeds during the cool weather period, especially between early spring and late summer.
After germination, the sprouts spend the first season creating a deep taproot and developing lush foliage. Towards the end of the season, the top lush dies, leaving back the roots.
In the following spring, new and more vigorous foliage emerges. From the foliage, flower stalks develop by early summer. The flower stalks produce numerous flat-topped clusters which have seeds in them.
The lacy white flowers attract pollinators, while roots use their energy to produce seeds on all flower heads after pollination. Thus, seeds mature up and turn brown by late summer.
At this moment, you should begin preparing to harvest carrot seeds.
Harvest
Carrots take a long time to produce seeds – however, this isn’t a reason for you to give up. Also, if you’re not sure what the seeds look like, watch the flower stems closely.
After umber fertilization, the base of every flower swells – this is a sign that outer seeds are mature since they mature earlier than the ones at the center.
When the seed heads start turning brown and dry, know they’re ready for harvesting. Therefore, go ahead and trim off the heads and store them to dry out thoroughly.
When storing the heads, don’t use a container. Instead, a paper bag works well. In case you store the heads in a container, leave it without sealing. Seeds lock under excess moisture.
Continue harvesting umbels one by one since they ripen over time.
Thresh and Store
This is the final step in harvesting your seeds. It involves the removal of debris and chaff embedded in the seeds.
Here, be ready to do thorough screening and winnowing.
Begin by filtering the entire batch through a mesh. This removes large debris and sticks that aren’t of use. The coarse mesh should be of ¼ to ⅛ inch. Also, do away with finer debris by carefully tossing the screened harvest.
Finally, store the seeds in a cool, dry place. Carrot seeds remain viable if you store them in temperatures between 40 and 60 degrees.
You can store the seeds in zipper bags, metal tins, small envelopes, and glass jars.
Place labels on the harvest date and cultivar to avoid future confusion.
Frequently Asked Questions
How To Tell When Carrots Are Ready for Harvesting?
You can harvest your carrots when they’re between a fingers size and about 1 ½ inches wide. Sometimes, when your carrots are ready for harvesting, they tend to protrude just above the soil.
Moreover, for certainty, you can pull up one or two carrots to confirm whether they have the correct width and length before you harvest.
Approximately carrots take 60-80 days to mature after the sowing date. However, some varieties, especially the hybrid varieties, take slightly longer or shorter periods to mature.
From observation, you can tell whether your carrots are mature by ensuring the top of the carrot is ¾ to 1 inch in diameter.
Also, their color appears vibrant enough to tell you they’re ready for harvesting.
Mark you, carrots are ready for harvesting after thinning onwards.
Can You Replant Thinned Carrot Seedlings?
You may be asking yourself, what can I do to the thinned carrot seedlings? I got an answer for you.
Yes, you can replant seedlings you thin from the mother plant when carrying out routine practices.
Oftentimes, this practice isn’t an option due to its low success rate. Supposedly, there’re limited chances that your thinned seedlings will bear healthy carrots come harvest time.
Nevertheless, if the replants are successful, you have more chances of turning out with a higher yield during harvesting.
Bottom Line
Gardeners and farmers who have tried or know how to plant carrots from carrot tops tell that it’s cost-efficient.
Being one of the best food ingredients, Carrot is easy to plant and isn’t labor-intensive. Therefore, combined with growing Carrots from carrot tops, you’ll save a good amount.
With these simple steps, you can quickly achieve a healthy harvest.
