Topic: Carrot Root Fly

[contessa]

Hi I'm Contessa,

I am a new member and am taking this oportunity to ask anyone out there if they have ever tried Thompson & Morgans Carrot Fly Away F1 Hybrid. I have just paid £2.89 for 500 seeds, I usually grow my carrots under fleece until the end of June, this solves the carrot fly problem that is rife in my area of Lancashire, I thought I would give these carrots a try but with so few seeds in the packet I will have to suppliment with my favourate Early Nantes. I am always a bit sceptical with all the claims the seed companies make
but it would solve a big problem for me. I am also going to try a trick I read on Allotments 4 all by putting Jeyes Fluid on strings across the carrot bed.

Looking forward to hearing from someone.

[fred]

Welcome

I believe they are less attractive to carrot root fly and not a complete solution

You could try companion planting Rosemary as this puts them off or construct a low level mesh around the growing area as they fly low to the ground

Hope this helps

[Lady of the Land]

I used flyaway from Kings Seeds in 2003 and did not have any problems with carrot root fly. However the seeds were planted inbetween garlic which I expect helped as well. Last year Autumn King used and lots of problems with carrot root fly, seeds not planted inbetween garlic. This year I am going to use fleece.

How many carrots are you planning on growing ! I would have thought 500 was Ok. I always sow my carrot seed individually, they are a reasonable size to pick up and it avoids thinning which encourages carrot root fly.

I might also add I have only had an allotment for 2 years so am learning and experimenting myself. There are agreat number of experts that may be able to advise both of us.

Good luck with your carrots this year.

[chrispea27]

Hello

I have always had trouble wth germination and then the fight with the fly. Will fleece keep the devils out or do you need the envirnmetal sheet >:(?

[moonbells]

MY method of growing carrots is to use a spade or something to form a narrow v-shaped trench. This I fill with compost, water it in, top up with a bit more, water again then thinly sow carrot seed on top, covering with a final bit of compost. This gives me straight carrots in my otherwise stony soil, and they germinate very easily.

I also covered mine last year with enviromesh, but you can also surround the carrot bed with tall stakes (I think >2' high) and wind some fleece or old net curtain around them: the female carrot flies are low flying and so can't get past the side barrier, and the top is open to rain and sunlight so the plants can grow well.

Also meshing them stops other pests: our lottie foxes love digging newly planted carrot beds for some reason!

 moonbells

[ALAN HOWELL]

Just sow your carrots(I use Autumn King),cover e'm with fleece and leave them covered until you wanna eat some of them,if you'r dead keen you could remove the fleece a couple of times thru the season and do some weeding,but put the fleece back after,we get super carrots and no fly this way......Alan

[SpeedyMango]

I shall try the companion planting with garlic this year I think. I was looking at my garlic bed the other day and wondering whether I could fill up the gaps with something. I'll probably add a mesh barrier around the bed when I do, and try to space out the seeds a bit more - I definitely suffered from more carrot fly last year after I started thinning.

[Slugger]

Hi. Like you I am fairly new to this and am trying the fly resistant carrots this year. I did ask the same question a while ago, and got similar answers.

I am also concerned about the flavour - it may be useful to feedback when the carrots are ready for cropping! :P

[Mark /\]

I read somewhere if you pick your carrots or thin them

do it in the evening as the carrot fly don't seem to be about then.

Does anybody know if this is true.

[redimp]

MY method of growing carrots is to use a spade or something to form a narrow v-shaped trench. This I fill with compost, water it in, top up with a bit more, water again then thinly sow carrot seed on top, covering with a final bit of compost. This gives me straight carrots in my otherwise stony soil, and they germinate very easily.

I also covered mine last year with enviromesh, but you can also surround the carrot bed with tall stakes (I think >2' high) and wind some fleece or old net curtain around them: the female carrot flies are low flying and so can't get past the side barrier, and the top is open to rain and sunlight so the plants can grow well.

Also meshing them stops other pests: our lottie foxes love digging newly planted carrot beds for some reason!

 moonbells

What compost do you use.  I thought carrots did not like fresh compost adding but I have stony soil and I like to sound of what you do.

[tim]

Alan - you've said it all - if you've got it, use it!

But the 'resistant' varieties are quite acceptable.

[kitty]

ok..probably a really daft question-but when you put the fleece over the carrots(as opposed to making a 'wall' of fleece..do you lay it flat or 'cloche' it with wire hoopy things?
if it s the first way dont the carrots mind their leaves being squashed? ???
sorry to sound so dim-i'm just about to plant some!
well...not RIGHT now-uts 8.30 p.m......i'm not THAT keen!! ;D
kitty

[gavin]

Hi Contessa - hate to say it, but if there's a lot of hungry carrot fly around, and not enough carrots to go round, then they'll go for the Flyaway too :(.

Cover with fleece - my old plot was quite exposed, so fleece on its own flapped;  I'd use hoops to lift the fleece off the plants.

All best - Gavin

[wardy]

I didn't have any hoops when I last grew carrots.  I just put fleece over ground where I'd sowed the carrot seed and the carrots grew under it.  Obviously it was loose enough to "grow" with the carrots.  I just weighed the edges of the fleece down with lengths of wood and bricks

[moonbells]

What compost do you use.  I thought carrots did not like fresh compost adding but I have stony soil and I like to sound of what you do.

I read that too, but figured that since I have the stony soil from hell and the odd shaped carrots to match, if the compost caused forking I'd hardly notice...

As it was, I got perfectly straight large carrots from both flyaway and autumn king.  So I'm doing it again, with el cheapo compost from the local garden centre.  Not even sieved.  Planted first row for this year on Friday under a cloche.  :)

(as a nice postscript to the first experiment, I now have a bed that has a lot of compost worked into it and a huge boost in worm numbers!)

moonbells

[Charlotte Sometimes]

I grew Flyaway last year, completely uncovered.  Last year was my first season veg growing and I never got as far as getting any protection on them (apart from chicken-wire to keep the cats out).  They were absolutely fine - no fly.  Very tasty carrot, too.  I am supposing there are plenty of varieties superior in taste, but they were better than supermarket ones by a long way.

This year I am doing raised beds and enviromesh so they will be covered anyhow.  I'll be making a carrot bed using 50% coir, 25% bought compost, 25% top soil.  Our soil is stony, so we did have a few forked last year.  I ate them anyway.  ;D   This year, with any luck all bases covered and a bumper crop. My only gripe about last year was that I didn't have enough!

[PREMTAL]

Hi Contessa,
What I do is this, two days before thining out I put a peeled Garlic clove in a one pint spray bottle.

then when I thin out I spray the row at ground level, this is quite effective in warding off the dreaded Carrot Fly.

After the first thining it is best to do this every two or three days, tedious but effective.

                                                      PREMTAL

[legless]

where do carrot fly come from? i was wondering if i would get them if i grew some carrots in a bucket in my yard (built up area with the sea 100 yars away) i don't know where they'd come from but i bet they would. like deep sea vent creatures probably.....

[wardy]

Premtal    I'll try that garlic spray on the carrots (mine not shown themselves yet though) I use it on my roses and clematis but had not thought of it for carrots.   :)

[gavin]

where do carrot fly come from?

If you're on the east coast, carrot fly come from Siberia; if you're on the west coast, they come from Ireland or N America.   ;D ;D ;D

All best - Gavin

(PS - by God, my carrots had better come right this year after all the attentiion they've had!)