Seed Saving - Carrots - Japan - ARI
by the Asian Rural Institute
page developed by Rina Tanaka, ARI Volunteer
submitted March 2020
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Carrot seeds
Collecting Carrot Seeds at ARI
This page explains how to collect carrot seeds. A general introduction to seed saving can be found here. There are special considerations when collecting carrot seeds. First, the process of collecting carrot seeds spans two growing seasons with a cool period in between. During the first growing season, we sow the seeds and harvest the carrots after they have grown big. In the second season, we plant the good carrots and wait for their flowers to bloom, which will eventually produce seeds. Importantly, the carrots need to experience a cold period (4.5-15ºC for 25-60 days) followed by warm, long days (10-20ºC) to develop flowers and seeds. How sensitive the carrots are to these conditions depends on the variety. At ARI, we typically sow carrot seeds in July/August, harvest the mature carrots in November/December, and replant them next January. The carrot tops will continue to grow in the spring until the flowers bloom in June/July. The seeds will be ready to collect in July.
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Important: Carrot seeds enter a resting period for about two months right after they develop. It means you must wait at least two months before planting them. At ARI we collect the seeds in July, store them for one year, and plant them the following July.
How do we collect carrot seeds?
1. Selecting carrots for seeds
When we harvest carrots, cut off the tops and set some aside to be used for seed collection. We recommend choosing ones that are big and straight. For reference, 70 carrots are enough to get seeds for about 1500 kg of carrots.
Store these carrots in a room until we are ready to replant them for seeds.
2. Planting carrots for seed
Mix in Bokashi (200g/$ m^2) in the soil and make beds.
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On each bed, place carrots at 60cm intervals.
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Bury each carrot in the soil and push it down. Make sure it is completely covered by the soil.
If the temperature is low, put a cover (pao pao) to keep the soil warmer.
3. Collecting seeds
In the spring, we will see the carrot leaves grow bigger.
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Late March & early May
Around June or July, the flowers will bloom. Then when the seeds dry up, they are ready to be collected.
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Dried flowers with seeds in the field / Dried seeds after being collected
Some things to be careful of when collecting seeds
The seeds growing on the main stem tend to be of higher quality compared to the ones on the side stems.
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Seeds on the main stem are the best quality.
Do not assume that we can get one carrot from one seed; since we usually sow about 7 seeds together and thin them to one carrot later, the number of seeds we need to collect will be at least seven times the number of carrots we want to harvest.
When collecting seeds, make sure it has not rained in the last few days since wetness in the seeds could shorten their expiration date. Just to be safe, after collecting the seeds, we put them in a net and hang them to dry for some time.
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Making sure the carrot seeds are fully dry
As mentioned before, since the seeds enter a resting period right after they develop, we need to let them rest for at least two months before using them. The seeds can then be stored for 2-3 years .
References:
Hide Farm Management Consultant. (2015). Ninjin no saibai $ \lbrackHarvesting carrots$ \rbrack. Retrieved from ----