Crop timing
When to sow carrots in the UK
The short answer, on 25 October
It is too late to sow carrots outside this year. The sowing window in Vercro's catalogue closes at the end of July, and the RHS stops in early July. The next outdoor sowing is from March, or April for the main crop. If you have an empty bed now, see what can still go in.
Carrots are sown straight into the ground, from spring until early July. After that the question is not frost, it is whether a carrot sown now has the summer it needs.
The carrot year at a glance
From Vercro's crop catalogue, a national UK calendar in whole months. The underlined month is this one. Where you live moves these edges by a few weeks either way.
| Window | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sow outsideMarch to July | January: no | February: no | March: yes | April: yes | May: yes | June: yes | July: yes | August: no | September: no | October: no | November: no | December: no |
| harvestJune to November | January: no | February: no | March: no | April: no | May: no | June: yes | July: yes | August: yes | September: yes | October: yes | November: yes | December: no |
Growing time in the catalogue: 70 to 80 days from sowing. Family: Apiaceae.
Is it too late? It depends on your first frost
The same catalogue, run through the same code as the Vercro app, for three first-frost dates. “Should finish” means even the slow end of the growing time is done before the frost. Across 1050 UK gardens in Vercro the typical first autumn air frost ranges from about 4 November to 22 November (Met Office records), and in any one year it can come weeks earlier.
| If your first frost is usually around | Last sowing that should finish | Possible only at its fastest |
|---|---|---|
| 20 October | 31 July | none |
| 5 November | 31 July | none |
| 20 November | 31 July | none |
Your dates
Add your postcode for your area's usual frost dates, and what they mean for carrot.
Want every crop at once, or a greenhouse? Open the full sowing tool.
What changes the answer
Soil temperature, more than the date
The RHS says most seeds won't germinate below a soil temperature of about 7°C, and Garden Organic gives 12 to 13°C for carrots and parsnips to come up well. A warm late March can beat a cold April. Carrot seed sat in cold, wet soil tends to rot.Carrot fly timing
The RHS notes that sowing after mid May misses the first generation of carrot fly. If fly is a problem on your plot, a later sowing under fine mesh is worth more than an early one.Early or maincrop variety
Early varieties are quicker and suit the first and last sowings. Maincrop varieties need the full season and are the ones to store.Your first frost, for late sowings
For carrots in most of the UK the window closes before the frost matters. The table above shows the frost date barely moves the answer, because July ends first.
Where the sources differ
Vercro's catalogue and published advice, side by side
Vercro's catalogue starts outdoor sowing in March. The RHS starts the main outdoor sowing in April, keeping February and March for early varieties under cloches or fleece. Both end in July (the RHS says early July).
The catalogue also holds a broader “sowing window” of February to May alongside the March to July outdoor window. The free tools and this page use the outdoor window.
Common timing mistakes
Sowing into cold soil
Poor germination is nearly always cold or dry soil. Water the drill before sowing and keep it moist until the seedlings are up.Forked roots
Usually fresh manure or stony ground. Carrots want a deep, stone-free bed with no manure added just before sowing.One big sowing
A single sowing gives a glut in one month and nothing after. Short rows every three to four weeks until July spread the harvest.Sowing in August "for a late crop"
Past July the catalogue and the RHS both stop. An August carrot rarely sizes up outside before growth stalls.
How Vercro handles this in a real garden
In Vercro each carrot sowing is recorded separately against the bed it went into, so you can see what went in when. In the Garden plan, an empty bed's “What could go here” list only offers carrots while the sowing window is open, and uses your location's frost date to say whether a late sowing will finish.
Because the bed's history is kept, Vercro knows next year that carrots grew there and can say so when you plan the bed again. It won't plan next year's rotation for you.
Frequently asked questions
Keep going
Where this comes from
Crop windows, growing times and plant families come from Vercro's own curated crop catalogue, the same data the Vercro app uses. Where a published source says something different, we show both rather than choosing the convenient one. Reviewed 19 September 2026.
- Carrots: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Seed sowing techniques, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Head gardener's guide to spring soil preparation, Garden Organic. Read 19 September 2026.
- Carrot fly, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
Keep every carrot sowing on the right bed
Add your beds and what is in them. Vercro keeps each sowing separate, shows the jobs that matter each morning on Today, and remembers what grew where.