Yellow Carrot Seeds

• Yellow Carrot
• The Yellow Carrot Plant
• How to Sow Yellow Carrot
• How to Grow Yellow Carrot
• Tips for Yellow Carrot
• Diseases and Pests of Yellow Carrot
• Properties of Yellow Carrot
• Nutritional Values of Yellow Carrot

Yellow Carrot

The yellow carrot is an heirloom variety, among the first grown by humans alongside purple and white carrots, well before today's dominant orange selection. Its root is elongated, with a bright yellow skin due to lutein and xanthophylls, pigments different from the beta-carotene found in orange carrots. The flavour is sweet and delicate, with a crisp texture much appreciated raw as well.

The Yellow Carrot Plant

Daucus carota is a biennial herbaceous plant of the Apiaceae family. In its first year it develops a rosette of green pinnate leaves and a taproot that accumulates sugars and xanthophyll-type carotenoid pigments, responsible for its yellow colouring. Only if left in the ground beyond the first season does the plant flower and produce seed, as with all garden carrots.

How to Sow Yellow Carrot

Yellow carrot is sown directly in the open field, as its taproot does not tolerate transplanting well. The recommended period runs from March to June, in loose, well-worked soil free of stones or compact clods. Seeds should be buried about 0.5-1 cm deep, in rows 20-25 cm apart, keeping the soil moist until germination, which takes about 2-3 weeks.

How to Grow Yellow Carrot

Once seedlings emerge, thin them to leave 5-8 cm between plants, allowing the root to develop evenly. Yellow carrot prefers full sun and well-draining, slightly sandy soil with a pH between 6 and 7. Watering should stay regular without excess. Harvest generally takes place between 80 and 120 days after sowing, once roots reach a diameter of 1-2 cm.

Tips for Yellow Carrot

To obtain smooth, well-coloured roots it is advisable to avoid excessive nitrogen fertilisation and instead use well-rotted manure or compost during soil preparation. Crop rotation remains important: after carrots avoid other umbellifers and prefer legumes or solanaceous crops. Good companion plants include onion, leek, peas and lettuce.

Diseases and Pests of Yellow Carrot

Yellow carrot too can be affected by carrot fly, which lays its eggs near the crown causing tunnels in the root, as well as physiological disorders linked to water imbalance. Alternaria leaf blight is among the most common fungal diseases. Good soil drainage and proper crop rotation remain the main preventive defences.

Properties of Yellow Carrot

Yellow carrot is rich in lutein and xanthophylls, carotenoids different from beta-carotene but also endowed with antioxidant properties, traditionally associated with eye health. It also retains the typical nutritional properties of the species, such as fibre and potassium, useful for intestinal regularity and overall wellbeing.

Nutritional Values of Yellow Carrot