When to plant · 3 cities · zones 5b–6a

When to plant carrots in New Hampshire

Direct sow nantes carrot around Apr 24 — the New Hampshire statewide median, counted from a last spring frost of May 8 across 263 ZIP codes and 55 NOAA stations.

Apr 24Direct sowApr 16 – May 6 across the state
May 8Last spring frostmedian · 1 in 10 years after May 22
Jul 3First harvest70 days from sow

The rule: Direct sow two weeks before the last frost and keep the top half-inch of soil damp for the 14–21 days it takes to germinate.

New Hampshire carrots, by step

Statewide median last frost May 8, first fall frost Oct 4, 2027 season. Each cultivar's own indoor lead time and days to maturity, same engine as the Plan Builder.

CultivarStart indoorsSowFirst harvestDays
Nantes CarrotScarlet NantesDirect sowApr 24Jul 370 from sow

Tight means first harvest lands within two weeks of the median first fall frost. Statewide dates are the ZIP-weighted median of every NOAA 1991–2020 station New Hampshire's ZIP codes resolve to; 2 of 265 ZIPs have no datable freeze and are left out.

Carrots in New Hampshire, city by city

Nantes Carrot, scheduled from each city's nearest NOAA station — the same dates as its frost page.

CityLast frostSowFirst harvest
Manchesterzone 6aApr 30Apr 16Jun 25
Nashuazone 6aApr 30Apr 16Jun 25
Concordzone 5bMay 8Apr 24Jul 3

What New Hampshire carrots need

SeedsThe cultivar decides the sauce. Everything downstream is damage control.
  • Scarlet Nantes Carrot Seed

    The carrot that makes a fermented habanero sauce work. It brings sweetness and body so the sauce has texture without thickener and heat without being one-dimensional.

StartSoil temperature and light intensity, indoors, weeks before your frost date.
  • Organic Seed Starter Potting MixMust have

    Seed-starting mix is not potting soil with a nicer label — it is finer, lighter, and low in nutrients on purpose, because a seedling's first roots want air and moisture, not fertiliser.

GrowRoot volume, nutrition and structure. Where most home crops actually fail.
  • Ocean Forest Potting SoilMust have

    Pre-charged with enough nutrition to carry a transplant for its first month without feeding, which is exactly the window when most container plants stall.

  • 5-Gallon Fabric Grow Bags, 5-Pack

    Fabric pots air-prune roots and drain faster than a plastic pot can, which is the entire reason container tomatoes fail. Five gallons is the honest minimum for a pepper; a tomato wants ten.

  • Rapitest Soil Test Kit

    In-ground growers are guessing until they test. pH outside 6.0–6.8 locks nutrients out no matter how much fertiliser you add, and no amount of feeding fixes that.

  • 3-in-1 Soil Moisture / Light / pH Tester

    Used for one thing — is the root zone actually dry six inches down — it prevents both halves of the most common container failure. Ignore the pH scale on it entirely.

HarvestTiming, handling, and weighing what you actually got.
  • Garden Harvest Basket with Tool Caddy

    A harvest basket that doubles as a colander means the hose rinse happens in the garden, and the dirt stays outside. On a 20-pound tomato day that is a genuine time saving.

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Carrots in New Hampshire: questions

When should I plant carrots in New Hampshire?

Direct sow around Apr 24 at the statewide median; across the state that date runs from Apr 16 in the warmest tenth of New Hampshire's ZIP codes to May 6 in the coldest. To cut the freeze risk to one year in ten, count from May 22 instead of the median last frost. Use the city table for your own town.

When is the last frost in New Hampshire?

The ZIP-weighted median of NOAA 1991–2020 station medians is May 8. In the warmest tenth of New Hampshire's ZIP codes the median last frost falls on or before Apr 30; in the coldest tenth, on or after May 20.

When will New Hampshire carrots be ready to harvest?

Nantes Carrot planted on the statewide date is ready around Jul 3: 70 days from sow.

More for New Hampshire

Carrots in every state → · New Hampshire frost dates → · How frost-date math works →