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Carrots and raised beds.
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Topic: Carrots and raised beds. (Read 1469 times)
springbok
Hectare
Posts: 923
Carrots and raised beds.
«
on:
March 08, 2008, 23:35:47 »
My raised beds are built on a patio area which is two foot higher than normal ground level.
Does this mean the carrots will be safe from carrot fly?
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Rotavator
Not So New ...
Posts: 12
Re: Carrots and raised beds.
«
Reply #1 on:
March 09, 2008, 00:04:02 »
I have grown carrots successfully in old baths raised from ground
above 2ft as I had learned the carrot fly cannot fly higher than
this.I grow early nantes first then follow with main sowings of autumn
king which are flavoursome grow well to good size and keep well,we
had fresh carrots every week last year and had the last of them for
christmas dinner (roasted in oven smeared with butter and seasoned
with black pepper foil wrapped ) Yum.We can get a lot of old baths
round here for our carrot crops I have collected loads of mole hills
locally from grass field behind my allotment and mixed with some
grit sand is an ideal soil to fill your baths and grow good carrots.
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tim
Hectare
Posts: 18,607
Just like the old days!
Re: Carrots and raised beds.
«
Reply #2 on:
March 09, 2008, 08:28:17 »
Funny - it looks perfectly capable of high flying.
http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/cultivation2.html
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springbok
Hectare
Posts: 923
Re: Carrots and raised beds.
«
Reply #3 on:
March 09, 2008, 08:35:17 »
Interesting read Tim, thank you.
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davyw1
Hectare
Posts: 2,530
I love My Country
Re: Carrots and raised beds.
«
Reply #4 on:
March 09, 2008, 09:39:48 »
As i have said before, no one has told the Carrot Fly that it is not supposed to fly higher than 18"
As the fly homes in on the smell of bruised carrots i have found the best thing to do when thinning out is not to pull the carrot but just to cut the tops off. minimum smell and also if the root has entwined with the next one you are not disturbing it. Also i have found placing mothballs at intervals in the rows also helps deter the fly
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When you wake up on a morning say "good morning world" and be grateful
DAVY
Jeannine
Hectare
Posts: 11,447
Mapleridge BC Canada
Re: Carrots and raised beds.
«
Reply #5 on:
March 09, 2008, 09:54:31 »
I have high raised beds and have never had carrot fly
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When God blesses you with a multitude of seeds double the blessing by sharing your seeds with other folks.
cornykev
Hectare
Posts: 9,893
Sunny Cheshunt just outside North London
Re: Carrots and raised beds.
«
Reply #6 on:
March 09, 2008, 09:58:05 »
My biggest problem was my carrots last year, I'm still pulling them, but 70% were affected by carrot fly, that was a good read Tim, I tried the onion idea but as said in the article it may be a romantic idea, as Davy says no one told the fly their height limit and a gust of wind will surely assist their flying height. This year I have some big toy tub containers with the rope handles so I will be putting some in there and a few rows on the ground with a mesh barrier. ??? ;D ;D ;D
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MAY THE CORN BE WITH YOU.
Riffster
Half Acre
Posts: 194
Chief Wormer
Re: Carrots and raised beds.
«
Reply #7 on:
March 09, 2008, 10:41:31 »
I wonder if the carrot fly follows the contours of the land / patio exactly. If it worried me, I would place 4 bamboos one in each corner, and wrap a layer of fleece around it - thus raising the level of the border/boundary of the box by say a foot.
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saddad
Hectare
Posts: 17,894
Derby, Derbyshire (Strange, but true!)
Re: Carrots and raised beds.
«
Reply #8 on:
March 09, 2008, 14:48:42 »
Local eddies can drive them higher but they wouldn't fly higher from choice...
:-\
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Fork
Hectare
Posts: 1,446
Amber valley,Derbyshire
Re: Carrots and raised beds.
«
Reply #9 on:
March 09, 2008, 14:55:51 »
The simple answer would be to sow the carrot seed very thinly so there is no need to thin........easier said than done though.
How about mixing the seed with salt in a salt pot?.........would it work?.....anyone ever tried it?.......would the salt have any effect on growth?
Saw one chap on TV some time ago,(cant remember when or the programme)earth up his carrots when the foliage was about 2" high.
Maybe earthing up after thinning out is another answer?
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You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friends nose
Oldhippy
Quarter Acre
Posts: 84
Re: Carrots and raised beds.
«
Reply #10 on:
March 09, 2008, 18:51:27 »
Perhaps fine dry sand would be better than salt?
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star
Hectare
Posts: 4,070
Northampton, sm greenhouse, heated propagator
Re: Carrots and raised beds.
«
Reply #11 on:
March 09, 2008, 19:26:22 »
I had very little damage from ground grown carrots last year. I did find a couple of flies and was able to squish them with no trouble at all. They are fairly dopey.
It does amaze me though how, if they can'y fly more than 2ft high, how they get into my garden in the first place. We have 6ft fences all round. (Not that they will standing after the storms).
That's a great link Tim, it's in my bookmarks ;)
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I was born with nothing and have most of it left.
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