On 26/03/2016 14:35, Nick Maclaren wrote:
My garden suffers badly from carrot fly, so I have to net. I failed
badly with parsnips some decades back, but am trying again. I should
be interested to know whether anyone who has a bad carrot fly problem
(i.e. ALL maincrop carrots burrowed unusably by the new year) also
grows parsnips, and what their experience is.

I have tried clamping, but it doesn't help, as you can't clamp until
after the late summer flies have laid their eggs. All that happens
is that the burrowed carrots rot, and even less is usable than for
the unclamped ones.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I suffer from carrot fly, but they have never affected my parsnips. I
always follow the same procedure. Fist I make a hole with a pointed
stick, as deep as the top soil. I then fill this with with a stone free
compost, sow 3 or 4 seeds on top then cover. This works for me.