Tutorials/Carrot farming

This is a tutorial page that will help with farming the new crop, carrots.

Carrots have the same prerequisites as wheat, but since it grows about twice as fast, you can do things a little differently. Carrots produce twice as fast, while also dropping up to triple the amount of crop harvest drops compared to wheat. This gives up to a maximum of six times the crop production as wheat. This is good since each carrot yields 4 hunger points and so makes a better food source than wheat (bread).

Like wheat, bonemeal can be used to grow carrots to their fully-grown state instantly. Water will also increase rate of growth like it does with wheat. You must also use a hoe to prepare the ground for planting. When fully grown, harvesting will yield 1-4 carrots, although using the fortune enchantment can increase the amount of carrots harvested. Carrots can be planted in the nether (on tilled dirt), but will grow slowly because you can not place water to increase the rate of growth.

To replant carrots, plant the carrots on the tilled dirt as if you were planting seeds. This will cause you to lose one carrot and harvesting an unripe carrot will not give you the carrot back.

It is smart to place fences around your carrot crops to prevent any mobs from destroying your crops. If you are harvesting your carrots do not jump on them or the crop will be destroyed and the dirt will return to normal. Carrots can also be crafted with a fishing rod to produce a carrot on a stick (used to control saddled pigs) and is used to breed pigs. Just like wheat, carrot crops can be found in villages.

Carrot crops will only grow under the following conditions:

-It is directly above a block of farmland. If the farmland is removed or reverts to dirt, the wheat crop will be broken.

-The light level above it is at least 9 (doesn't have to be sunlight)

-There is at least one block of empty space above it (transparent blocks count as empty)

-The player (any player in SMP) is within 7 chunks (~120 blocks)

(These traits are also shared with wheat)

Automatic wheat farm designs can also be used for farming carrots, as they both have almost have identical growth mechanics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awn0ZSScfiE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l47-sYPCFZs

Growth Rate
(Note: The following facts are shared with wheat, so you can apply these to wheat.)

Carrot growth is prompted by random update ticks (the same random events that, for example, create smoke particles above torches and play cave noises). For a given block a random update occurs an average of once every 82 seconds. However the delay can vary widely, and it is even possible (albeit very unlikely) for a crop to be updated multiple times in the same frame. During every update a carrot crop gets a chance to grow to the next stage. Any farmland in the 9 blocks below the carrot add to its chances to grow. If any carrots are growing in the eight surrounding blocks the growth probability is cut in half, unless the carrot is arranged in rows.

For the fastest growth, a solid layer of hydrated farmland with crops in rows is ideal. Under these conditions, the probability of growth during each update is approximately 30%, and most (4/5) planted carrots will reach maturity within 37 minutes (about 2 minecraft days)

Placing a row of non-farmland blocks next to a row of carrot crops reduces the growth probability to about 24%. This is best possible arrangement when using sticky pistons for automatic harvesting. Most planted carrots in this case will reach maturity within 50 minutes (about 2.5 minecraft days)

Replacing all unplanted farmland with other blocks reduces the growth probability to about 17%. This is also the approximate probability if carrots are planted outside of rows (but on pure hydrated farmland). In either case, most planted carrots will reach maturity within 62 minutes (about 3 minecraft days)

The absolute worst-case conditions for growing are two carrot crops placed diagonally on dry farmland. In this case the growth probability is approximately 4%, and it will take about 4 hours for most of the wheat to reach maturity (about 12 minecraft days)