carrots

hi all as anyone got any tips on growing carrots failed big time last year. just moved home the orther house had alawn so here i thought lets get rolling with that spade again.fantastic year with greenhouse.just cant seam to grow carrots why?

 

Dont worry mate niether can I.
If the clay soil dont get them, the carrot fly will.

 

hi nathan forgot the variety all they did was grow to about 1to 2 inch and when i opened some they were like a munchy sawdust the ground as never been touched until i moved in here and was surrounded by plum trees until i cleared them out with a machine the soil is good and not clay

 

I am trying the variety 'Flyaway' in the allotmant this year, its supposed to have some resistance to carrot fly so i'll let you know how they go

 

"Nantes" worked well for me in 'new' ground last year and planting spring onions in between rows of carrots helps to deter carrot fly.

 

I've also heard planting tall crops either side should work as the flys home in from the side over the soil, but I still got them

 

I gave up growing carrots years ago. Without the chemicals the professionals use I dont think you stand a chance, after the first couple of years on new ground.

 

To grow decent carrots you need well prepared ground ie worked until you have a nice crumbly tilth. Dont sow to early, in the midlands I sow mid-april. Water the drill before you sow, not after. Dont water again until seedlings emerge, and then only in dry weather. I have used "flyaway" and it does have quite a bit of resistance to carrot fly. There are quite a few organic ways to reduce damage from fly eg inter-cropping with onions, covering with old net curtains. It is perfectly possible to grow carrots organically, even on clay soil so dont give up. A few holes in the carrot wont do you any harm.

 

I don't mind the holes

Its when you bite one and see half a maggot that I don't like

 

If you slice the carrots up first you can wash anything unwelcome off and see the the little tunnels they make. also to reduce the amount of damage I sow thinly carefully 2 or 3 seeds evry couple inches, cover the row with bent over chicken wire to keep off birds, cats etc, as they grow dont thin (no thinning =no smell=no carrot fly)

 

One of the best methods i have found to stop carrot fly is to 'cordon off' your crop. This can be done very cheaply by means of that green plastic edging found in garden centres, etc. You know the one i mean. It's about 5-6" inches wide and is rolled up, can have a wavey edge on one side. Just set this out all around the carrots - about an inch away from the plants. Carrot fly come in from quite low down, just off ground level, therefore this 'barrier' stops them in their tracks. It does work, honest.

 

Carrot only flies 15inches from the ground(I don't who worked that one out) errect a poly barrier two feet high round the bed. If the soil is clay try growing paramex which are round carrots about two inches across.