Causes of forked, split or pale carrots and how to grow smooth uniform roots for market.
How to grow straight, well coloured carrots and avoid forking in sandy loam?
NNaveen Kumar7mo ago · 287 views
7 Answers
🌾Farmer.in Krishi TeamExpert ✓7mo ago
Forking, branching and twisted carrots come mainly from heavy or stony soil, fresh undecomposed manure, hard pans, and root knot nematode, while splitting comes from uneven moisture. Grow carrots in deep, loose, well prepared sandy loam free of clods and stones, and avoid applying fresh manure just before sowing; use well rotted compost instead. Keep soil moisture even, especially as roots size up, to prevent splitting, and thin seedlings to proper spacing so roots have room to grow straight. Choose the right type for your season; tropical red types suit the warmer plains and temperate orange types need cooler conditions. Confirm variety, spacing and any nematode issue with your KVK or Soil Health Card.
PPawan Kumar7mo ago
In Hisar my carrots forked badly until I stopped putting fresh gobar before sowing and made the bed fine and stone free. Well rotted compost instead gave me straight roots.
SSandeep Kumar7mo ago
My carrots used to fork badly until I stopped using fresh gobar before sowing and made the bed really fine and stone free. Now most roots come straight.
JJaibir Singh7mo ago
A tip on splitting: keep the watering even as the roots size up. When I let the field go dry then flooded it, the roots cracked and the buyer cut the rate.
RRamesh Beniwal6mo ago
Thinning the seedlings to proper spacing was something I used to skip and the crowded roots came out small and twisted. Once I thinned them so each had room the roots grew straight and even.
SSube Singh6mo ago
Matching the type to the season mattered for me here. The tropical red type does well in our warmer plains sowing, when I tried a temperate orange type out of its cool window it just did not size up properly.
DDharambir Sheoran6mo ago
One field of mine forked no matter what I did and digging up a few showed knotty galls, it was root knot nematode, not just the soil. The KVK helped me confirm it, so if forking will not go away check the roots for galls.