Carrot variety Queen of autumn
The Queen of Autumn is a popular late-ripening carrot. From germination to harvest, 117 - 130 days pass. In 2005, it was added to the state register of the Russian Federation. Approved for use in the Volgo-Vyatka, Central Chernozem and Far Eastern regions. Today, the originators of this variety are three companies - Euro-seeds LLC, Intersemya LLC and NPF Russian seeds CJSC.
The leaf rosette is spreading. Leaves are green, medium-sized, finely dissected.
Root crops of the Autumn Queen are large, long (20 - 30 cm), leveled, weighing 80 - 230 grams, conical in shape, with a convex head and a slightly pointed tip. Belong to the Flakke / Carotennaya cultivar. The integumentary color, pulp and core are orange-red in color. The pulp is juicy, sweet, of excellent taste.
From one square meter, you can get 4 - 9 kg of the crop. Marketable yield is 265 - 576 c / ha, which is 36 - 117 c / ha higher than standard varieties Nantes 4 and Vitamin 6. The maximum yield is recorded in the Udmurt Republic - 667 c / ha, which is 63 c / ha higher than the Nantes 4 standard. The output of marketable products is 77 - 89%.
This carrot is versatile: it is suitable for fresh consumption, processing and, which is important, long-term storage. It is able to maintain its taste and marketability for a long time. Root crops contain: dry matter 10 - 16%, total sugar 6 - 11%, carotene 10 - 17 mg / 100 g of raw material.
The pluses of the Queen of Autumn carrots include: yield, good taste and marketability, excellent keeping quality (up to June), resistance to shooting and cracking.
Of the shortcomings, one can single out a not very saturated color of root crops.
I got acquainted with this carrot as a child, when I sowed with my mother. She really is a queen: long, straight, bright orange. And how juicy! A root vegetable with a core, but it is also very juicy, sweet and snug. If I use other varieties in late summer - early autumn for harvesting, then this one is only for storage. It lies until the end of spring, but moderate humidity and coolness are needed. If the environment is very humid, it rots, starting from the tip, and if it is dry and warm, it will flabby. Can be stored in sand.
As for the landing - no special features. After digging, I mix the earth with humus. So I don't have to fertilize, she has enough nutrients. It takes a long time to grow and grow for a long time, requires loosening of the soil and loves space. I rarely plant right away, it's better to plant it later, if it doesn't come up (it's a pity to pull it out!), I mulch the soil immediately after planting. Watering is required in vain, with frequent watering it cracks. You can harvest at the end of October - November, because she is not afraid of frost.
At the dacha, we have heavy loamy soil, there have always been problems with carrots: it will somehow rise, then the roots are all crooked. I have been sowing this variety for four years. Of course, the seeds of the Queen of Autumn are smallish, but it is fruitful, does not crack during rainy summer, it is stored in the underground until May and does not grow hairy. Before planting, I mix the seeds with ash, pour this mixture into the grooves of a high bed. I plant often, then break through a couple of times. Sowing seeds for the sake of the experiment before winter. Liked it, they came in amicably and tied root crops early. True, she did not leave it for storage, she put it into processing.
The queen of autumn in my country house gives a good harvest, despite the heat and lack of moisture. When I first planted this variety, the roots turned out to be crooked, our soil is quite dense.The next year, I built a fairly high garden bed and the carrots made me happy. All root crops turned out to be long and juicy. I noticed one feature, although the description says that the variety is resistant to shooting, if you plant the Queen of Autumn very early, then some specimens may bloom. Apparently, this is how she reacts to temporary spring cold snaps.
I disagree with the author of the article - the Queen of Autumn carrots have a very beautiful bright orange pulp (maybe, of course, there are varieties with brighter roots, but I have not yet met such). We have been growing it for a long time - probably from the very beginning, as soon as the seeds appeared on the counter, and it was not realistic not to pay attention to the photo on the bag - the carrots are very beautiful. I bought it and tried it - indeed, the root vegetables are smooth, heavy, the pulp is crispy, juicy, tasty - my children adore it both raw and in sweet pies, and what kind of juice is obtained from it! This carrot lies perfectly - it does not deteriorate until mid-summer, but only the root crops must necessarily ripen well (we start harvesting in late autumn and only after the tops of bright green begin to turn into yellow with red tan marks). This carrot has two drawbacks for me - too large root vegetables (it is not always possible to immediately use a whole carrot without a trace) and a sweet taste (it is easy to overdo it when preparing first courses).
I planted this carrot for two or three years. The first year she did not please me with a special harvest, as she planted it in the place where the potatoes had grown before, and, apparently, she did not have enough nutrients in the soil. Smallish and crooked has grown. The next year I have already added mineral fertilizers and ash to the garden bed. And on top of the grooves I mulched with humus. And this autumn she gave a wonderful harvest. Fruits are even, large, as if picked. It tastes great and lies well. I keep it in the cellar, in the sand. For me, this variety is valuable because it ripens late, so I take it straight from the garden and into the cellar. And for summer use I plant others.
It also seems to me that this variety does not give a good harvest every year. I don't know what it depends on. The care is the same every year, the weather is the same. Little rain and hot for the last three years. Last year, the carrots were small and did not grow well, there were a lot of flabby root crops. This year, they did not expect a good harvest, they did not even pull it out for testing, and when they began to harvest at the end of September, they were very surprised: the carrots were large and even for selection. We store in a box in the sand in layers. Lies well until May, then deteriorates. The taste of this variety is excellent: crispy and juicy pulp.