The Organic
Revival
Vegetables · Root

Growing carrot

Daucus carota subsp. sativus · also called GajarA cool season root crop sown straight into deep, loose soil. Red Asiatic types suit the plains and warm winters; orange European types suit the hills.

Cold desert: Ladakh, Lahaul and Spiti

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
A row of freshly pulled orange carrots with their feathery green tops, laid on dark soil
Photo: woodleywonderworks · CC BY 2.0

At a glance

Carrot in the Cold desert

  • Season

    Short summer crop, sown in late spring

    No published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

  • Sowing to last picking

    European types take about three to three and a half months in the short cold season.

    No published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

  • Sow

    Late April to early June

    No published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

  • First harvest

    90 to 110 days after sowing

    No published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Wait until April

The next sowing here is Late April to early June.

Sowing now in:Sub-tropical foothillsNorth-west plainsGangetic plainsNorth-east hills and valleysArid westCentral plateauDeccan plateauSouth interiorEast coast
  • Sow
  • Harvest
  • Today
Cold desertLadakh, Lahaul and SpitiTemperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, Dehradun
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
Cold desertLate April to early JuneAugust to early October
Temperate HimalayaMarch to JulyJuly to SeptemberApril to August
Sub-tropical foothillsSeptember to October (Pusa Kesar)November to December (Nantes, Pusa Yamdagini)August to September (Pusa Kesar)October to November (Nantes, Pusa Yamdagini)August to September
North-west plainsAugust to September (desi types)October to November (European types)
Gangetic plainsSeptember to NovemberDecember to February
North-east hills and valleysEarly October to November
Arid westSeptember to early NovemberDecember to February
Central plateauLate September to NovemberDecember to February
Deccan plateauOctober to early DecemberJanuary to March
South interiorAll year (with assured water)July to FebruaryAugust
West coastAugust to OctoberNovember to January
East coastAugustOctober to early December

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Well rotted farmyard manure or compostNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

    20 to 25 t per hectare · Dig it in well before sowing; fresh manure makes roots fork. · Field preparation

  2. Day 0

    Sow

  3. Day 7 to 21

    Seeds come up1,2,3,4,5Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  4. Day 90 to 110

    First pickingNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

  5. Day 90 to 110

    Last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Water every 5 to 7 days, more at germination and root development.No published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH1,3,4,5

    6 to 7

    Deep, loose, well drained loam or sandy loam. Heavy soil, clods, stones and trash hold the root back and make it fork.

  • SunlightNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

    At least 6 hours a day

    Full sun in an open bed. Roots stay thin and pale in shade.

  • Temperature1,3,4Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

    Grows best at 18.3 to 23.9 °C

    Takes light frost.

    Monthly temperatures for the Cold desert aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

WateringNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Light, frequent watering from the channel: the soil is sandy and dries fast in the strong sun. Keep the surface moist until the seed comes up.

WeedingNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Weed by hand twice in the first six weeks and thin the seedlings at the same time.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Field preparationWell rotted farmyard manure or compost20 to 25 t per hectareDig it in well before sowing; fresh manure makes roots fork.

SourcesNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Varieties and yield

Typical rangeNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

100 to 150 quintals a hectare

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Good neighboursNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Grows well with

Pests and diseasesNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Aphids

    Signs

    Colonies of small soft insects on young leaves.

    What to do

    • Wash them off with a jet of water or spray neem seed kernel extract 5%.

  • Pest

    Cutworms

    Signs

    Seedlings cut off at soil level.

    What to do

    • Hand pick the grubs from the soil in the morning.

  • Disease

    Alternaria leaf blight

    Signs

    Brown spots with dark rings on older leaves.

    What to do

    • Remove spotted leaves; collect seed only from healthy plants.

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed1,2Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Asiatic types set seed in the plains and low hills; European types such as Nantes need a cold spell and set seed only in the temperate hills. Lift the roots, keep true to type, healthy roots and replant them at about 60 x 40 to 60 x 60 cm after cutting back two thirds of the tops and half the root. Keep the seed crop 800 to 1,000 m from other carrot varieties and carrot family crops, and pull out early bolters and off types.

When the seed is ready

Seed ripens unevenly, in April and May in Jammu. Cut the heads when the second umbels are fully ripe and the third umbels begin to turn brown, in two or three rounds.

Cleaning the seed

Dry the cut heads, then thresh and clean the seed.

Dry the cleaned seed well in shade and keep it in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

After the last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Lift every root before the ground freezes; store the sound ones in a pit lined with straw.

Compost the tops and any split or forked roots that are left.

Rotation

Do not follow carrot with carrot or with coriander or other carrot family crops for two to three years. Peas or beans make a good next crop.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 1Package of Practices for Vegetable Crops 2020 (Carrot; root crop pests and diseases)Directorate of Extension, SKUAST-JammuRead the source
  2. 2Package of Practices for Vegetable Crops 2016 (Carrot; carrot seed production)Directorate of Extension, SKUAST-JammuRead the source
  3. 4Production Technology of Vegetables and Flowers, VSF-231, Part I: Vegetable production (Carrot)Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, PalampurRead the source
  4. 5TNAU Agritech Portal: Horticulture, CarrotTamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source

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