Daucus carota subsp. sativus
Growing calendar
Typical timing for central Japan (Kanto region). Shift it for your own climate, and record your actual dates.
Guides
- How to Sow Carrots and Get Them to Germinate Evenly
- Carrot Soil Preparation: How to Stop Forked and Split Roots
- Thinning Carrots and Earthing Up the Shoulders
- Carrot Growing Calendar: Summer and Spring Sowings
- Carrot Problems: Pests, Nematodes and Split Roots
- When to Harvest Carrots and How to Store Them
Common problems
Start from what you can see on the plant.
Pests and diseases (43)
Problems recorded for this plant, most serious first.
Swallowtail Caterpillar
MajorPest
Leaves are eaten away from the base leaving only bare stalks. A single large caterpillar can strip an entire plant bare.
Fusarium Yellows
Disease
Yellowing starts on the lower leaves, the petioles twist and the plant leans to one side. Vascular tissue browns, growth stops, and heading vegetables may die without ever forming a head.
Fusarium Wilt
Disease
Lower leaves wilt during the day and recover morning and evening, and this cycle repeats as the plant dies back. Cutting the stem reveals characteristic browning of the vascular tissue.
Powdery Mildew
Disease
White patches appear scattered on the upper leaf surface at first, then the whole leaf is coated in a white powder. Leaves later yellow, brown and die back, and reduced photosynthesis cuts growth and yield.
Late Blight
Disease
Dark green water-soaked lesions appear on the leaves and expand quickly into brown dead tissue. White mold forms on the underside and at the lesion edge, and dark brown lesions spread to stems and fruit.
Brown Leaf Spot
Disease
Small light brown to gray-brown spots form on the leaves and enlarge into irregular lesions. When they merge the whole leaf dies and plant vigor drops sharply.
Sclerotinia Rot
Disease
The crown, stem or head rots in a water-soaked way and is covered in white cottony mycelium. Black sclerotia later form inside and on the surface, and the plant wilts and dies.
Crown Gall
Disease
Irregular galls form at the crown and on the roots, gradually enlarging and turning woody. They block the flow of water and nutrients, so the plant loses vigor and may die.
Southern Blight
Disease
The stem rots at soil level and white silky mycelium spreads over the crown and the surrounding soil surface. Brown sclerotia the size of rapeseed then form and the plant wilts and dies rapidly.
Anthracnose
Disease
Light brown to dark brown round lesions with sharp margins form on leaves and fruit, slightly sunken in the center. In wet weather salmon-pink slimy spore masses ooze out on the lesions.
Damping-off
Disease
The stem pinches in at soil level, turning water-soaked to brown and thin, and the seedling topples over. Infection before emergence makes the stand uneven with missing plants.
Bacterial Soft Rot
Disease
The crown or the head becomes water-soaked and soft, then collapses into a slimy mush. The rotting tissue gives off a distinctive foul odor.
Root-lesion Nematode
Pest
Elongated blackish brown necrotic lesions form on the root surface and fine roots rot away. Above ground the stand is uneven and plants stay small with pale foliage.
Root Rot
Disease
Fine roots rot brown to blackish brown, growth stops and the lower leaves yellow. The plant wilts easily in the daytime and eventually dies outright.
Root-knot Nematode
Pest
The plant wilts in the daytime and does not recover with feeding or watering. Pull it up and the roots carry beaded chains of galls of varying size with few fine roots.
Bacterial Spot
Disease
Small water-soaked spots appear on the leaves, later turning brown with yellowing around them. Fruit develops water-soaked or scabby spots from which rot spreads.
Leaf Spot
Disease
Small round brown to gray-white lesions appear on the lower leaves, the centers turning gray with tiny black specks. As they multiply the leaf yellows and drops early.