Carrot
Daucus carota subsp. sativus · Carrot family
Plant portrait
Carrots develop a storage root beneath finely divided leaves. Root shape and colour depend on the variety and soil conditions.
Harvested part
The root.
What to watch for
Leaves reveal emergence and growth, but do not show the whole root. Short or forked roots may be associated with stony, shallow or heavy soil.
Growth stages of the carrot
Plotilo illustrates the carrot in 5 stages in 3D: seed, small sprout, young plant, growing and harvest. The models show typical shapes; they do not predict how long growth takes.
- Seed
Starting from a seed. It is shown on the surface to make it visible in this illustration.
- Small sprout
A short first stem and its first small leaves emerge.
- Young plant
The young plant carries more leaves and starts to take its own shape.
- Growing
Leaves and stems develop. Their shape depends on the species.
- Harvest
An illustration of the harvested part. Roots are made visible for clarity; this image does not confirm actual maturity.
Same botanical family
Same botanical family as the carrot (the carrot family): the parsnip, the celery, the tuberous chervil, the Florence fennel and the Hamburg parsley. Gardeners usually avoid growing the same family in the same spot several years in a row: that is the idea behind crop rotation.