Carrot Adelaide F1 - Daucus carota

The Adelaide F1 Hybrid carrot is a fast-growing semi-long variety. It will ideally grow in a cold frame, but will also adapt well in your garden. Its skin is smooth and deep orange. The flesh is crunchy and offers a sweet flavour. Spread out the sowings to obtain a regular supply. Sow in January and February under cover, then from March to August in open ground for a harvest from May to October.

The carrot is a biennial herbaceous plant, grown as an annual, from the Apiaceae family. It is grown as a vegetable for its edible, fleshy, and generally orange-colored taproots. It is a root rich in carotene. It can generally reach a height of 30 cm (12in). The carrot is not very demanding on the type of soil. However, the best roots will be harvested in a rich, light, and deep soil. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare the soil by deep digging in autumn, during which 2 to 3 kg of well-decomposed manure or compost will be buried. All stones will be removed during this operation. Before sowing, the soil will be well crumbled and fertilized with a base fertiliser, then left as it is for about fifteen days. Sowing can then take place.

Harvest: during the season, harvest carrots as you need them. To extract the roots from the soil, use a fork-spade, taking care not to damage the root. Injuries to the roots can trigger carrot rot during storage.
Yield estimates can be made based on the type of cultivation and carrot. For early cultivation, plan between 1 and 1.5 kg/m²; about 3 kg/m² for seasonal cultivation of a semi-long variety, and up to 5 kg for late cultivation of long carrots.

Storage: it can be done in the ground, on the cultivation site, but this immobilizes a growing space in the vegetable garden. In winter, in this case, it will be necessary to protect the roots from frost with a good layer of dead leaves. Indoor storage is an excellent long-term solution. In a frost-free and ventilated place, cut the foliage at the base of the collar and place the roots next to each other on a bed of moist sand. Cover them with a 2 cm (1in) layer of sand and place the next row.

Gardener's tips: 
Sowing radishes and carrots on the same row and at the same time naturally distances the carrot seeds. Once harvested, the radishes will leave space for the carrots to grow. It's a winning thinning-out technique! 
Sowing carrots near a row of leeks helps protect them both from the carrot fly and the leek moth.