Louisiana growers produce carrots for local retail sales at farmers’ market and roadside stands in the late fall, winter and spring. Growers make several small planting of carrots at different times of the year. Carrots are an inexpensive crop to produce with a minimum amount of risk. Bright orange carrots with green tops add color to the display of vegetables and bring a premium price, providing a cash flow during the late winter and early spring when the supply of other vegetable crops is limited. Growers harvest carrots from a planting for an extended period of time. This provides a good volume of product and a significant return from a small piece of land.

Louisiana growers want a carrot variety that makes long tapered roots with good exterior and interior color and produces a high percentage of marketable roots with tall to medium tops.

Seventeen carrot varieties were evaluated at the Burden Center in Baton Rouge, La. Preplant fertilizer at the rate of 400 pounds of 8-24-24/acre was applied in two drills spaced 12 inches apart per row, September 29, 2005. Treflan 4EC (1-1/3 pts/acre) was applied October 13, 2006, as a preplant incorporated preemergence herbicide before planting. The carrots were planted October 17, 2005. The varieties were planted double drill with a Earth Way Precision Garden seeder in 25-foot plots, replicated three times. The carrots were sidedressed with 200 pounds of ammonium nitrate/acre on November 10 and December 1, 2005. A carrot hoe (a narrow subsoiler) was passed 12 -14 inches deep in between the double drills of the plots on November 16, 2005. This practice breaks up the compacted soil and encourages the development of good length and shape on the roots. Lorox DF (1½ lbs/acre) was sprayed over the top to control broadleaf weed November 21, 2005. Select (8 ozs/acre) + COC at 1 gal/100 gals was sprayed over the top of the plot to control annual bluegrass December 5, 2006.

The plots were evaluated twice February 20, 2006, and March 8 2006. The carrots on 2 to 3 feet of the row were dug by hand. The carrots were tagged, tied into bunches and removed from the field and washed. The bunched carrots were evaluated for maturity, root length, root shape, exterior color, interior color, marketable yield and length of tops. Danvers 126 was included in the test as the check variety.

The top variety in the test was Choctaw. It is a medium maturity variety with long tapered roots with very good exterior and interior color. When dug it produce few roots that were short or misshapen. The vast majority of the roots were marketable.

Enterprise and Maverick were tied for the second spot. Enterprise is a medium-late variety that produces long tapered roots with very good exterior and interior color and medium length tops. The marketable yields were good. Maverick is a medium maturity variety with long tapered roots with very good color and good marketable yields. The tops were medium short in length.

Apache and Tasty Peel were tied for the fourth spot. Apache is medium late in maturity with long tapered roots with very good exterior color and good interior color. It produces good marketable yields with a medium top. Tasty Peel is a medium maturity carrot with long tapered roots, medium tops. It has very good interior color and only good exterior color. The marketable yields were good.

A complete table on the performance of the 17 carrot varieties is attached.

Growers are encouraged to try these varieties of carrots. These varieties offer better color, root length and shape than the old standard varieties.