Tendersweet is a century-old American heirloom carrot that earned its name honestly: tender, fine-grained roots that rival sugar beets in sweetness. These long, slender carrots grow 9 to 10 inches in deep orange-red and mature in 70 to 80 days, making them one of the most reliable sweet varieties for home gardeners in zones 2 through 10. Whether you're growing in full sun from spring through early fall, Tendersweet delivers the same exceptional flavor that made it the parent crop for countless modern hybrids, yet the original remains unsurpassed.
Photo © True Leaf Market
Growing Conditions
USDA Zone
2-10
Sunlight
Full Sun
Water
Moderate
Soil
Well-drained, Fertile Loam With Consistent Moisture
Preferred Temp60-75°F
Growth Stats
8 in
Height
2 in
Width
2 in
Spacing
70–80
Days to Harvest
PeriodBiennial
TypeForb/herb
Plant Profile
Sunlight
Full Sun
Water
Moderate
Zones
2-10
Size
8in H x 2in W
Growth
Biennial
Care
Moderate
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Highlights
Tendersweet carrots are remarkably tender with a nearly coreless interior and sugar content that genuinely rivals the sugar beet itself. These gorgeous, uniform roots retain their vibrant deep orange-red color beautifully whether eaten raw, cooked, frozen, or canned. The variety's sweetness and fine texture make it exceptional for fresh eating, cooking, juicing, and baking, all from seed matured in just 70 to 80 days.
Common Uses
Tendersweet excels in nearly every carrot application. It's superb eaten raw, where its tenderness and exceptional sweetness shine without cooking. It holds its deep orange-red color beautifully during cooking, freezing, and canning, making it outstanding for preserving. The variety is particularly prized for juicing, where its high sugar content produces rich, naturally sweet juice, and it performs equally well in baking and cooked dishes.
Growing Timeline
First Bloom
Not Applicable (Harvested Before Flowering)
First Harvest
75-80 Days
Last Harvest
Determinate
Care Instructions
Direct Sow
Sow seeds directly outdoors 2 to 4 weeks before your average last spring frost date, when soil temperature is at least 45°F, ideally 60 to 85°F. In warm climates, sow primarily in fall, winter, and spring. Make successive sowings every 3 weeks until 10 to 12 weeks before your average first fall frost date.
Harvesting
Harvest Tendersweet carrots 70 to 80 days after sowing. Roots are ready when they reach mature size, typically 9 to 10 inches long, and display their full deep orange-red color. You can harvest by gently pulling individual carrots or by loosening the soil with a garden fork and lifting the entire root. Tender young carrots can be harvested earlier if desired. In cool climates, carrots left in the ground will sweeten further after exposure to light frost.
Growing Calendar
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Companion Planting
Pests & Diseases
Ecology & Traits
Edible
Scientific Classification
Daucus carota L. var. sativus Hoffm.
Family
Apiaceae
Genus
Daucus
Duration
Biennial
Growth Habit
Upright
Native Status
L48 (I)PR (I)CAN (I)SPM (I)
History & Origin
“Tendersweet stands as a true American heirloom, more than a century old, that transformed carrot breeding. Its exceptional sweetness and tender texture were so prized that breeders across generations selected it as the genetic foundation for countless modern hybrids. Yet despite its influence on modern carrot development, the original Tendersweet endures unchanged, a rare instance where the heirloom parent has never been surpassed by its descendants. Gardeners and seed savers have kept this variety alive precisely because no newer cross has matched its combination of sweetness, tenderness, and reliability.”