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Baby Carrots
The major difference is in the varieties selected. There are different varieties for these smaller carrots when compared to their bigger cousins.
Not The Same
And yes, while you can harvest big carrots at a young stage, they will not have the shape or bulk of a what is sold as a baby in the supermarkets. It will be shaped like a tiny big carrot and the stem is usually quite thin.
The other difference is that the brix count (sugar content) of the baby varieties is much higher than bigger carrots.
Varieties
So, the trick then is to look for varieties such as:
Minicor (open pollinated) a 54 day carrot with an excellent brix count (one of the highest) Performs better on a sandy soil than on a heavy soil.
Baby Sweet Hybrid (hybrid) at 49 days is a very early harvesting root with smooth skin and bright orange color. The advantage to this variety is that it is slow-bolting (it doesnt go to seed quickly) in summer heat.
The last thing you should understand that if youre growing your own baby carrots, you are avoiding what some supermarkets sell as cut and peel roots. These are simply large carrots, quartered and shaped into the right size/shape and sold as baby carrots.
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