Hi all,
A fellow gardener on my site swears by a permenant raised bed for carrots.
The "raised bed" to rid him of carrot fly,and his mixture of soil for cultivation.
Any thoughts/advice over permenant beds for carrots please ?
Regards,
Mark.
I'm sure I read carrot fly can only reach heights of around 2ft so your bed will have to be at least that :o I found fleece at that height to be just as effective. 8)
Does he change soil in that bed ? As I don't think it would be a good thing to grow carrots in same place every year.
What do others think?..cheers ..Jim
Sorry if this is a hijack of the thread but the fleece at 2 ft - does it need to go over the top of the carrots also or just around them - do you just wrap it around some canes?
amanda21....I think just around....to stop them from flying onto the carrots ;D
All over!!
When I first took on my allotments, made a raised bed about 2m square and about 20cm deep. The soil is heavy clay, dug it really well and mixed in lots of sand and cheapo B&Q compost, to help make it lighter.
This was used for growing carrots for 2 years running, and didn't notice any problems over this period. But wouldn't do it for longer, as now I know more about rotation would be concerned about build up of pests. It was great to do in the early stages though, as I got good crops which was very encouraging at the time.
I've just made a permanent carrot bed, mainly to combat my stony, clay soil. I'm pretty sure I remember reading an article by Alan Titchmarsh where he said he'd made one for the same reasons.
You will also find that this warms a bit more quickly as well so the early forced if you grow them are early.
Someone suggested planting in old baths which would give you your 2 ft high. If I can find any this year, I will give it a go!
i know exactly where an old bath is. now to persuade the OH and his mate to carry it round.
;D
You are a champion skip diver MrsKP, would love to know how the carrots do in their bath. Shame they won't come out washed too ;D
An old fellow near me grows them in drainpipes of three foot in length filled with soil, he has them stood on paving slabs. One carrot per pipe.
Are the old fellows just for exhibitions? Saw a program on Medwyn Williams who grew his carrots/parsnips the same way for Chelsea where he received a gold medal for his veg exhibition. Very long, straight roots he got with this method.
Quote from: supersprout on February 27, 2006, 08:37:17
You are a champion skip diver MrsKP, would love to know how the carrots do in their bath. Shame they won't come out washed too ;D
hee hee I've learned all the scavenging tricks i know from this board. as luck would have it bessie mate (who also donated the divan base which i used as two raised bed frames) has just installed a new bath, and he only lives 200yds round the corner. i've sent him a text and await his reply.
i think the OH thinks i've gone bonkers !
now, back to basics, this bath .......... do i you think i should drill holes in the bottom for additional drainage or will the plug hole do ? :P
You could contact weedbusta who talks about this at http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,57/topic,13147.0 :) - he's done it, all I can do is dream ;D
and keep your eyes peeled ;)
thanks for the lead supersprout. it's quite reassuring to see others thinking along the same lines.
this plot has cost me and arm and a leg since i moved in back in August, so a bit saved here and there soon mounts up, and it's such fun !
(i also like the recyling aspect as there's far too much waste these days).
;D
Quote from: Jimmy on February 27, 2006, 11:03:41
Are the old fellows just for exhibitions? Saw a program on Medwyn Williams who grew his carrots/parsnips the same way for Chelsea where he received a gold medal for his veg exhibition. Very long, straight roots he got with this method.
No, he eats them.