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Carrots are considered one of the main sources of carotene, which is split into vitamin A in the human liver. Vitamin A is one of the components of many important processes in the human body:
- is a component of rhodopsin, which is responsible for night vision;
- accelerates the healing of superficial skin lesions;
- helps to maintain the elasticity of the skin;
- improves immunity.
All these benefits arise at the cellular level. It makes no sense to smear scratches with carrot juice in the hope of accelerated healing.
Parents usually know about the benefits of vitamin A and carrots as a source of carotene, and try to feed the child with carrots, looking for sweet varieties, since not all children are enthusiastic about parenting ideas.
Especially for children, not only sweet, but also very juicy crunchy carrots were bred. After all, just chewing sweet is not as interesting as eating sweet and crunchy.
Varieties of "baby" juicy carrots
Baby Sweetness
A mid-season carrot variety with elongated cylindrical roots. The root vegetable has a rich orange color. The core is darker than the shell. It is widely used for making fresh varieties and baby purees.
Matures for 110 days. It is sown at the end of April to a depth of 15 mm. The variety can withstand frosts down to -4 ° C. Carrots can be sown before winter. Winter crops are sown after a steady drop in temperature to + 5 ° C. This is usually October - early November. Seeds are planted to a depth of 1 cm and mulching must be carried out.
The dimensions of this variety are: length 10-15 cm, weight 90-130 g.
Children's joy
The variety contains 19 mg of carotene per 100 g of dry matter and 8.5% saccharides. Its pleasant taste is enjoyed by both children and adults.
Carrots ripen in 100 days. The fruits are bright orange. The mass of root crops is 120 g with a length of 20 cm. Such a small diameter of carrots is very suitable for those who like to eat carrots right from the garden. Yes, most often they are children.
The variety is sown from the end of April at a soil temperature of + 6 °. In general, carrots for this variety are the same as for others. Thinning the plantings in two steps, finally leaving a distance between the roots of 6 cm.
Watering is carried out evenly, taking into account the characteristics of the region, during the entire growing period. Optimum watering time: evening. Water consumption:
- for young carrots: half a bucket per m²
- for an adult 7 l / m² every 9 days.
On dry and hot days, watering starts from 3 l / m², after a couple of days the amount of water is increased to 7 l / m². Pour water gradually so that the soil is saturated with moisture. If you pour a lot of water into dry soil at once, the carrots will crack and become unusable for a long storage.
Children's F1
Mid-season variety that can be harvested 105 days after sowing. Fruits are long, 18 cm. The same diameter along the entire length. Contains a large amount of carotene, is used in dietary and baby food. Suitable for long-term storage.
Prefers well-lit areas. In the shade, it loses its taste and reduces yield.
Juicy sweet
A mid-season variety with beautiful even root crops up to 20 cm long. Fruit weight 100 g. The color is bright orange, the core is almost invisible.Planted in April-May, the harvest is harvested in August-September.
For the convenience of consumers, the manufacturer today offers seeds of this variety on tape and in gel pills.
The tape with seeds is placed “on the edge” in grooves 15-20 mm deep. The grooves must first be watered. After the tape is covered with peat or sawdust and periodically watered. When planting carrots on a tape, there is no need to thin out the planting.
New planting method: seeds in gel pills.
The seeds in such dragee do not need watering for the first time (2 weeks) after planting. But they are planted in the same way as ordinary seeds.
Sweet tooth
Probably the best carrot variety with one slight drawback: late maturity. It takes 4 months to ripen. Grows best on light loams.
The variety is excellently stored in winter, including in the ground, frost-resistant. You can sow before winter.
Root crops are conical, large, weighing 100 g. They contain an increased amount of saccharides and provitamin A. Recommended for baby food and fresh juices. It can be used for these purposes even in winter.
In stores, alas, such carrots are rare. And most often it tastes bitter due to the abundance of chemicals in it. It is dangerous to feed these carrots even to animals.
Early ripe carrots are very juicy, but almost all of them are unsweetened.
Reviews of "children's" varieties of carrots
According to reviews, the sweetest carrot "for adults" belongs to the following varieties:
Juicy carrot varieties "for adults"
Tenderness
Carrots with a high content of saccharides. The variety is mid-season, it can be laid for long-term storage.
It takes about 100 days to mature. With proper cultivation, it grows up to 20 cm. This variety can be sown from March to June. If you plant the seeds in several steps with a time gap, then you can collect fresh carrots from June to October.
The manufacturer today offers seeds of this variety in a gel dragee. The gel allows the first time not to worry about the lack or excess of moisture, protecting the seed from adverse conditions.
After watering, the gel absorbs some of the water and gradually gives it to the seed. Excess water passes by. Thus, in a drought, the seed is provided with water, and in heavy rains, it is protected from the "swamp".
The agricultural technique for planting seeds in a gel dragee is very simple:
- seeds are sown at a distance of 20 mm from each other and watered;
- sprinkle with earth and spill well again;
- forget about crops for a couple of weeks.
After 2-3 weeks, the crops are cared for according to the standard method.
Sweetheart
Recommended for growing in the Volga-Vyatka region. The amount of saccharides in the variety is above average, reaching 8.6%. With an average carotene level of 9 mg / 100 g, the Slastena variety contains up to 16.5 mg. Root crops on average 120 g. "Slastena" is recommended for long-term storage, freezing, canning. Of course, it is also used fresh.
Having a high yield (up to 90%), it is well suited not only for a private garden, but also for industrial cultivation.
Vitamin 6
Yielding mid-ripening carrots, well suited for canning, freezing, long-term storage, making juices.Due to its very high carotene content (up to 22 mg / 100 g), it is recommended for fresh consumption and for making baby food.
Root crops are pointed, cylindrical, with an average weight of 150 g. The length of this type of carrot is 15 cm.
Best of all, this variety of carrots grows in loams and sandy loams. Seeds are usually sown in the last days of April in grooves 30 mm deep. The distance between the grooves is 0.2 m. 2 weeks after planting, the first thinning is carried out, the second - after the carrots reach a diameter of 10 mm. It is recommended to maintain a distance of 50 mm between plants. Carrots should be harvested 100 days after sowing.
The variety can be sown before winter. Winter crops are sown at temperatures below + 5 ° С to a depth of 20 mm and crops are mulched to preserve seeds from frost.
Nantes 4
A mid-season carrot variety with a ripening period of 90 days. It is very plastic in relation to growing conditions, therefore it is recommended for all regions. Grows outdoors.
Root length 15 cm, weight 140 g. The content of saccharides is moderate, and the amount of carotene is very high: 19 mg / 100 g.
The variety is fast. During storage, it does not rot or mold. Ripe fruits protrude slightly from the ground, which is bad for the taste of the root crop. When exposed to sunlight, solanine is formed in carrots in the same way as in potatoes.
When stored for a long time, solanine penetrates deep into the root crop, giving it a bitter taste. To eliminate this problem, the protruding part of the carrots must be sprinkled with earth.
Olympus
Late ripening, well-known carrot variety of French origin. Differs in excellent productivity in the region of the Middle Lane. The harvest record (995 c / ha) was recorded in the Tula region.
Like an industrial variety, Olympus has an even shape, rather large root crops. Carrots of this variety grow up to 130 g.
The variety prefers slightly acidic light soils. It is sown in April to a depth of 15 mm. Harvesting is carried out in August - September.
Reviews of "adult" varieties of carrots
Why are carrots bitter
Carrot fly
Very often, carrots are bitter due to damage by carrot fly larvae.
Bitterness is just a root vegetable's reaction to damage that looks like this
A sign of fly damage to carrots is the leaves with a red-violet color. Such plants are immediately removed.
Solanin
Formed when the top of the carrot is bare. During storage, solanine gradually penetrates into the tissues of the root crop and the carrots begin to taste bitter. There is only one way of fighting here: when growing, do not allow the tops to be exposed.
Fungal diseases
In a simple way, rot. Fungi destroy the tissue of the carrot, resulting in a bitter taste in the seemingly intact part of the root vegetable.
The rest of the reasons are not dangerous to health, but are laid even during the growth period:
- insufficient watering;
- too much mineral fertilizers;
- late harvesting of root crops and, as a result, their overripening;
- insufficiently fertile land.
Subject to proper farming practices, the overwhelming majority of these reasons will disappear by themselves and the carrots will be sweet, juicy and crunchy.
Another reason for bitterness: trying to grow a second generation from seeds derived from an F1 hybrid. In hybrids of the second generation, the properties of the wild ancestor of carrots begin to dominate. And the root of the wild ancestor is not only bitter, but also has a ligneous core.
It should be noted that in fact, the benefits of carrots are greatly exaggerated. The myth about the improvement of vision (myopia) as a result of eating carrots is another English hoax, along with the pharaoh dog and the Afghan hound, which has survived for decades. Only unlike the last two, the carrot bike did not pursue commercial goals, but was supposed to hide the fact of the use of radars on British Air Force planes during night flights during World War II.
The second argument against over-eating carrots is that carotene is found in many foods besides carrots. Young nettles contain 10 times more of it than carrots. An orange color is not an indication of the presence of a large amount of carotene. Melon, broccoli, and all traditional greens also contain beta-carotene. Vitamin A and carotene are stored in the liver and consumed as needed. There is no need to consume foods with carotene every day.
But it is very easy to overdose a vitamin with excessive consumption of the same carrots.
All of the above applies to carrot juice. It's even easier to overdose than just a root vegetable. No one will be pleased with non-infectious hepatitis or the birth of a child with pathology, if a pregnant woman is infatuated with carrot juice as a natural and healthy product.
