Last edited by shiny on November 07, 2026. View history
Purple Carrot
A variety of carrot
How to sow purple carrot: Direct seed outdoors, thin to 3cm apart when seedlings are 7cm high
Sun requirement for purple carrot: Plant in Full Sun
Purple carrots are a carrot cultivar that have purple skin and orange to purple flesh. They are a little less sweet than orange carrots and sometimes have a lower yield. They can be cooked the same way as carrots.
- 6
- plantings
- 3
- harvests
- 0
- seed packets
Purple carrot facts
Lifespan
Height × spread
15cm × 8cmRow Spacing
3cmGrown for
whole plant harvested 2 timesCrop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For purple carrot, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 3°C and a shortest growing cycle of 40 days at its best temperature, about 660 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your purple carrot will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing purple carrots
- Dig the bed fine and stone free 1 week before sowing
- Keep the seed bed moist at sowing every week
- Thin the seedlings 3 weeks after sowing
- Weed between the rows 4 weeks after sowing every 2 weeks
- Start pulling young carrots at first harvest
- Lift the rest of the crop 8 weeks after first harvest
How members grow purple carrots
Sunniness
Planted from
Harvested for
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Purple carrot harvests
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Where purple carrots grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about purple carrots
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Who's planted purple carrots
- natha natha's garden21
- CloCkWeRX A & B - Raised Containers · Rosewater, South...
- Ellen Garden · Fergusson avenue,...
- Doveoscar Patio greenhouse · Wing,...
- Tui Back Garden · Brooklyn, Wellington
Purple carrot harvests
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CloCkWeRX harvested 4.
almost 2 years ago
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CloCkWeRX harvested 5.
almost 2 years ago
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CloCkWeRX harvested 2.
over 2 years ago
View all purple carrot harvests
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 40 to 150 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Daucus carota L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Rosidae Apiales Umbelliferae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: 0 °C, rest: -1 °C |
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | biennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | moderate |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about purple carrots
Resources outside Growstuff.