GardenZeus Quick and Easy Guide to Carrot Varieties
Carrots are generally considered a cool-season crop, although some varieties of carrots may tolerate more heat than others.
Carrots produce the highest-quality, most-tender roots in soil temperatures of about 60 to 70° F, and are generally considered a cool-season crop. Carrots prefer shade during afternoons when temperatures are consistently above 80° F, and roots may lose color, become tough, and/or become bitter or unpleasant-tasting when soil temperatures are above 85° F. If grown over winter, keep in mind that while carrots withstand short frosts to approximately 25° F, they are are biennials, and after a period of weeks of cool to cold temperatures, especially with a few periods of light frost, that are then followed by warmer days, carrots may respond as though winter has passed and spring has arrived by bolting, flowering, and setting seed
Nantes types often perform and yield better than other carrots under challenging soil conditions, and are a good choice if planting carrots in previously uncultivated soil, for new gardeners, or those who have struggled before to produce good-quality carrot roots.
Scarlet Nantes is a good classic choice, and Nelson (a hybrid) performs better than most carrots in clay and heavy soils. If your soils are shallow, rocky, or compacted, try Paris Market, which forms small rounded roots up to about 2 inches in diameter.
GardenZeus is aware of no truly heat-tolerant carrots, but the classic Danvers 126 is more heat resistant than many other carrots, and is a good choice for planting in many Mediterranean climates in early to late spring. To grow the long-rooted Imperator-type carrots that you see in supermarkets, you need loose, uniform soil to a depth of at least 2 feet, an extreme rarity in many urban soils, and difficult to provide even in containers.
For customized instructions for growing carrot in your area, go to GardenZeus and enter your zip code, then go to carrot.
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