Grow Long, Thick Carrots

Carrots are pretty sensitive little plants, but once you learn more about them, they are quite easy to handle.

Here are a few tips on growing longer carrots.

- Loose Soil. Compact soil, as well as rocks and clods can prevent the carrot from growing further down. Make sure your soil is deep and fluffy.

- Watering. Probably the most important aspect is your watering habit. Water infrequently, but deeply, to encourage the roots to move down in order to find water. Frequent watering encourages shallow roots.

- Skip the nitrogen. Fertilizing carrots with nitrogen will stunt their roots. Use lower nitrogen fertilizers or well aged manure.

- Sow in place. Carrots are one of the vegetables you shouldn't start in containers (unless that's where they're staying). They are very sensitive to disturbance, and transplanting them could stunt them.

- Thin them. Once carrots reach about 3 inches in height, thin them out so they aren't crowded.