Nantes 2
The carrot to grow if you only grow one: sweet, quick, reliable and forgiving of an average Irish summer.
If you want one packet of carrot seed on the shelf, make it a Nantes. The type gives smooth cylindrical roots with a blunt end, a small core and a sweetness that holds up whether you pull them small in July or leave them until September. Nantes 2 is the standard selection, widely stocked in Ireland, quick enough to sow late and tolerant enough of ordinary garden soil to be the sensible default for most gardens.
Quick facts
- Botanical name
- Daucus carota
- Type
- Open pollinated
- Category
- Nantes type, early maincrop
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Hardiness
- Hardy, takes Irish frost
- In Ireland
- Cloche or fleece helps
- Germination
- 14 to 21 days at 7 to 25C
- Sowing depth
- 1cm
- Spacing
- 5cm apart, 25cm between rows
- Position
- Full sun
- Containers
- Grows well in pots
- Sowing to harvest
- 12 to 20 weeks
- Harvest
- July to October
Sowing and harvest calendar for Nantes 2
Months shaded below are the reliable windows for Irish conditions.
Where to buy Nantes 2 carrot seeds in Ireland
Irish suppliers that stock this, so postage stays domestic and seed arrives in time to sow. These are plain links, not paid placements.
Order online
- Quickcrop Irish Sowing and harvest months listed on every packet Ballymote based, lists sowing and harvest months per product and ships across Ireland. Visit Quickcrop , Co. Sligo
- Seedaholic Irish Detailed growing notes on every packet Family run in Clonbur since 2005, deep heirloom range with detailed growing notes on every packet. Visit Seedaholic , Co. Galway
Garden centres and mixed retailers
- Mr Middleton Irish Posted from Dublin Mail order arm of a long established Mary Street shop, carries the familiar named varieties the organic specialists skip. Visit Mr Middleton , Co. Dublin
- Johnstown Garden Centre Irish Widest branded range, near Naas in Co. Kildare Third generation family business near Naas with the widest branded range, though popular varieties sell out by midsummer. Visit Johnstown Garden Centre , Co. Kildare
Why it suits Ireland
The Nantes types were selected for quick, even growth rather than for size, which fits a climate that gives us a long mild season without much heat. Nantes 2 sizes up steadily through an Irish summer and does not need the sun that a big maincrop needs to fill out.
It is also forgiving of soil that is not perfect. The roots are not long enough to be badly troubled by a stony layer at 20cm the way an Autumn King would be, so it is a reasonable choice for a garden that has good topsoil but nothing wonderful underneath.
None of that makes it resistant to carrot root fly. Like almost every open pollinated carrot, it needs mesh or a barrier from the day you sow.
Growing notes
Sow direct from April, thinly, in drills 1cm deep and 25cm apart. Do not manure the bed. Water the bottom of the drill before sowing rather than the surface afterwards.
Cover with insect mesh or fleece over hoops at sowing and keep it on. Sow thinly enough that you do not need to thin, and if you do, do it on a still damp evening and take the thinnings away.
Sow a short row every three or four weeks from April to early July. Nantes 2 is fast enough that this actually works, and it spreads the harvest from July right through to October instead of giving you one crop that all has to be dealt with at once.
Start pulling at finger size from July. Loosen the soil with a fork first, especially in heavier ground, or the root will snap and leave its tip behind.
Common questions
What is the difference between Nantes and a maincrop carrot like Autumn King?
Shape, speed and keeping. A Nantes root is cylindrical with a blunt end, usually 15 to 18cm long, and it is ready in around fourteen to sixteen weeks. A maincrop like Autumn King is longer, thicker and tapered, takes twenty weeks or more, and stores far better through winter. In an Irish garden Nantes gives you carrots to eat from midsummer onwards, while a maincrop gives you carrots to keep.
Can I sow Nantes 2 late in the season?
Yes, and that is one of its strengths here. A sowing in the first week of June misses the first generation of carrot root fly, and a sowing in early July still has time to give small sweet carrots by October. Late sowings also germinate faster because the soil is warm, often coming up in ten days rather than three weeks.
Does Nantes 2 store over winter?
Not as well as Autumn King. The skin is finer and the roots do not hold their condition as long in store. Lift them and use them through autumn, or store what you have in barely damp sand for a couple of months, but if you want carrots in February grow a proper maincrop as well.
More carrots to consider
Amsterdam Forcing 3
AGMOpen pollinated / Amsterdam type, first early
The one to sow first and eat first, and the best choice for a shallow container or a March cloche.
Growing notes and stockistsAutumn King 2
Open pollinated / Maincrop, storage
The maincrop worth the space if your soil is deep, and easily the best of the common types for storing.
Growing notes and stockistsFlyaway F1
AGMF1 hybrid / Nantes type, root fly tolerant
Worth growing where root fly has ruined crops before, but treat the resistance as a second line of defence, not a replacement for mesh.
Growing notes and stockistsChantenay Red Cored 2
Open pollinated / Chantenay type, early maincrop
The answer to heavy or shallow Irish ground, because it never needed the depth in the first place.
Growing notes and stockists