I get a lot of emails from people wondering why they can't get their carrot seeds to germinate outside.

Is it too cold? Too hot? (Yes, both of those affect germination.) Were the seeds sown too deep or not deep enough? (Probably.) Were they overwatered or underwatered? (My guess is not enough water.)

Carrot seeds can be tricky to sprout because they're tiny, and if your hands are even a liiittttle bit sticky, you'll never get them off your fingers. The general rule for how deep to sow them (at a depth equal to twice their width) doesn't really work because they're just specks.

So how can you get carrot seeds to germinate consistently without accidentally dumping a bunch of them in one hole?

Over the years I've perfected my technique for sowing carrot seeds outdoors and maximizing my harvests from just one bed. (Like, double the harvest!) I get an early snackable crop and a later full-sized crop (and not from succession sowing, although I do that too). I talk more about that in my new post.

Seasonal Tips

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A Simple Way to Harden Off Seedlings in 7 Days (Or Less) Read more

9 Reasons You Want to Keep Those Dandelions in Your Yard Read more

P.S. Learn my technique for getting nearly 100% germination from carrot seeds.

P.P.S. Did you know carrot seeds can take up to 3 weeks to germinate?! Keep track of when you sow them and when they sprout with my Ultimate Garden Diary. It's a mix-and-match garden planner with lots of different trackers, logs, and other pages to help you organize everything that happens in your garden, year after year.