How To Grow Carrots Indoors At Home In Flower Pots

You can grow carrots at home in flower pots on a window sill or under basic grow lights. Depending on the variety, indoor carrots can be ready for harvesting within a few months.

For more on indoor veggies, see How To Grow An Indoor Vegetable Garden.

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Getting Started

Indoor vegetable growing is becoming popular with gardeners because you can grow fresh vegetables and herbs indoors in your home at any time of year. There is no need to wait for spring or summer growing conditions.

While I encourage everyone to try growing an assortment of herbs and veggies inside, it is mostly for fun. It would take quite a setup to grow enough food to match what an outdoor veggie patch can provide.

But it’s still worth trying and makes for some interesting experiments.

To manage your expectations, keep in mind that some foods are much better suited for inside growing than others.

Spinach, arugula, and other leafy greens are fast-growing and can supply salad greens in winter when the grocery store offerings are limp and flavorless. I have an ebook on growing leafy greens indoors year-round here. These are by far the easiest indoor vegetables to grow.

Anything with edible fruits (like tomatoes) or edible roots take longer. Plus, anything that fruits may need assistance with pollination or just never fruit at all.

Carrots, of course, are root vegetables so they are easy to grow but take time. How long they take depends on the variety and how big you want them. Not a lot of people realize that carrot tops are also edible (any time) and make a lovely pesto or additions to stir-fries, but we tend to favor the sugary taproot.

I have experimented with all sorts of carrot varieties indoors and, just like outdoor growing, it comes down to providing lots of room for the carrot to grow without crowding the roots. Outdoors, carrots do nicely in loose, slightly sandy soil and the same goes for indoors. Any good quality organic potting mix is fine for this.

The other key is keeping the soil or growing medium evenly moist, never letting it dry out. This, along with adequate light and the right temperature range (more on this below), your carrots will thrive.

For total time involved, with all the batches of carrots I’ve grown in my house, I’d say, on average, it takes a month or two longer to reach harvest time than the same variety would require outside.

If you’re growing a carrot that takes 90 days, count on it taking 120 indoors.

And vegetables grown indoors tend to be smaller than their outdoor counterparts.

Contents

• Recommended Temperatures
• Supplies & Materials
• Seed Sowing
• Germination
• Care Tips
• Harvest
• Frequently-Asked Questions
• Resources

Indoor Carrot Growing Tips

Supplies & Materials

I recommend trying a bunch of different varieties and see how they do. Whatever you choose, be sure the depth of your container can accommodate the length of the carrot.

• Carrot seeds

Suggestions

• Organic potting mix
• Mask to avoid inhaling fine particles from potting mix and soil
• Flower pots with drainage holes & water saucers
  
  Size notes
  4-inch diameter x 6-inches deep (for 3 to 4 small carrots)
  8-inch diameter x 10 inches deep (for 4 to 6 mid-size carrots)
• Electric fan to keep air circulating and avoid pests
• Grow lights (or windowsill) | I use T5 or T8 full spectrum fluorescent shop lights
• Timer to automatically run grow lights and fan
• Watering can with fine spout
• Water mister for keeping potting mix moist
• Fertilizer (optional) | Make sure it’s food safe and apply at half strength.

Seed Sowing

To sow your seeds, first fill your flower pot with moist potting mix. Gently press it down to remove any air pockets and top it up as needed. Leave about an inch between the top of the potting mix and the lip of the pot for watering.

Carefully place your seeds on the surface of the soil, spacing the seeds at least an inch apart. Carrot seeds average a germination rate of approximately 60% so for every 10 you sow, 6 may sprout.

In the pictures below, I sowed a whole bunch of old seeds because I thought few of them would sprout. Surprise! So many of them germinated I had to really thin them out later (more on this below). It’s much better to space them out from the start.

If your carrots seeds are difficult to sow (because they are so tiny), you can also use homemade seed tapes or follow these tips for sowing tiny seeds.

After placing your seeds, sprinkle a fine layer of moist potting mix over the seeds to cover. While light is not required for germination, it’s fine to place your flower pot under grow lights or on a windowsill during this stage.

The most important thing is to ensure the potting mix stays moist (not too damp) and does not dry out. To keep the newly sown seeds from floating away, moisten the potting mix with a water mister instead of a watering can. Once they are stronger seedlings, you can use a watering can with a fine spout.

Germination

Depending on the seeds and growing conditions, it may take around 2-3 weeks for your seeds to sprout.

Once sprouted, if you haven’t already, provide light.

For grow lights, the lights should be an inch or two above the top of the flower pot for approximately 12 hours a day. I use an electric timer to run both the lights and a fan.

For windowsill growing, rotate your pot a quarter turn every day to help prevent the seedlings from leaning or getting leggy. And keep them back from the window if there’s a risk the hot sun might dry them out.

Care Tips

As the carrots grow, they require light and moisture.

Carrots are cool-tolerant vegetables so the goal is to avoid any intense heat.

If the potting mix gets too dry, the foliage will turn yellow. So long as the lack of water is not prolonged, the plant will recover with consistent watering moving forward.

Thinning Out

Carrots need room to grow. Crowding results in smaller carrots—sometimes so skinny they are not really worth growing.

I find about two-inches of space or more (on all sides) between carrots works nicely in containers.

If your seedlings are crowded, the easiest way to thin them out is to take a fine pair of scissors (like embroidery scissors) and trim back unwanted seedlings to soil level. Without the tops, they will die off, leaving room for the remaining seedlings.

Signs of Growth

When the tops of the carrot roots start appearing at or just above soil level, you know the root is growing nicely. That said, if the carrots are “shouldering” like this, it is recommended that you cover them in potting mix otherwise they may turn green.

Fertilizer

You can use a liquid or granular organic fertilizer, following the product instructions at half-strength, if desired. I rarely use one.

Harvest

Carrots—both the tops and root—are edible at any time but most of us want to wait until the root is as big as possible before harvesting.

Seed packets list days to maturity for outdoor growing. Indoor growing may take 4 to 8 weeks longer, depending on the variety and conditions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What other vegetables can I grow indoors?

You can grow all sorts of vegetables indoors including:

• Leafy greens

• Peas

• Swiss Chard

• Herbs

Resources

LED Grow Lights

Recommended LED Lights

Seedlings | Barrina Super Bright White LED Lights | Amazon

These lights work nicely for indoor seed starting and growing young plants until it’s time for outdoor transplanting.

Indoor Flowering & Fruiting | Barrina Full-Spectrum LED Lights | Amazon

If you need lights for long-term growing including plants that can flower and fruit indoors, choose full-spectrum bulbs. You can also use these for seed starting.

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~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛