Yesterday I lifted my first carrots of the season. As you can see from the
photos, they are looking a bit sad. Something's been eating the Autumn
Kings:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2431.jpg
All carrots so far are undersized with a max length of 100mm / 4 ins. The
James Scarlett are prone to forking:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2432.jpg

The soil is neutral ph, gritty and well drained. The seeds were sown
sparsely so no thinning required. At seedling stage, the soil was firmed in
nicely. All the allotment had cow manure in December and a granular general
fertilizer (twice) throughout the growing season. I can see why non of the
other allotments bother with carrots, but I don't like to give up on this
one. Any thoughts, remedies etc. Thanks
Bertie

On 03/10/2011 18:04, Bertie Doe wrote:
Yesterday I lifted my first carrots of the season. As you can see from
the photos, they are looking a bit sad. Something's been eating the
Autumn Kings:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2431.jpg
All carrots so far are undersized with a max length of 100mm / 4 ins.
The James Scarlett are prone to forking:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2432.jpg

The soil is neutral ph, gritty and well drained. The seeds were sown
sparsely so no thinning required. At seedling stage, the soil was firmed
in nicely. All the allotment had cow manure in December and a granular
general fertilizer (twice) throughout the growing season. I can see why
non of the other allotments bother with carrots, but I don't like to
give up on this one. Any thoughts, remedies etc. Thanks
Bertie
Looks like carrot fly to me, the bane of all carrot growers, I am on the
point of giving up. How do professional farmers manage?

--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire

Moonraker wrote in :

On 03/10/2011 18:04, Bertie Doe wrote:
Yesterday I lifted my first carrots of the season. As you can see from
the photos, they are looking a bit sad. Something's been eating the
Autumn Kings:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2431.jpg
All carrots so far are undersized with a max length of 100mm / 4 ins.
The James Scarlett are prone to forking:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2432.jpg

The soil is neutral ph, gritty and well drained. The seeds were sown
sparsely so no thinning required. At seedling stage, the soil was firmed
in nicely. All the allotment had cow manure in December and a granular
general fertilizer (twice) throughout the growing season. I can see why
non of the other allotments bother with carrots, but I don't like to
give up on this one. Any thoughts, remedies etc. Thanks
Bertie
Looks like carrot fly to me, the bane of all carrot growers, I am on the
point of giving up. How do professional farmers manage?


Yes, in one of the pics the fly is there.

Baz

Moonraker wrote in :

How do professional farmers manage?


Moonraker,

I have coppied this from an earlier post of mine:-

2 was the same and it nearly put me off growing the things.
Year 3(last year) I made a timber frame and covered it with pvc around, not
the top as water will not get through. I had no fly and someone here
suggested that it might be because the fly and its larvae died during
winter. I tested this year. I sowed seeds in the frame and a few in open
ground.

The carrots in the frame are perfect whereas the ones in open ground are
riddled with the thing.

To me this is case proven though when I first heard of the barrier method I
was very sceptical.(Isuppose some wiseass is going to make a joke about
barrier method)

It's a faff and expensive making the frame but a carrot fresh out of the
ground is something to write home about, and the frame will last a few
years?

Baz

"Baz" wrote in message
...
Moonraker wrote in :

How do professional farmers manage?


Moonraker,

I have coppied this from an earlier post of mine:-

2 was the same and it nearly put me off growing the things.
Year 3(last year) I made a timber frame and covered it with pvc around,
not
the top as water will not get through. I had no fly and someone here
suggested that it might be because the fly and its larvae died during
winter. I tested this year. I sowed seeds in the frame and a few in open
ground.

The carrots in the frame are perfect whereas the ones in open ground are
riddled with the thing.

To me this is case proven though when I first heard of the barrier method
I
was very sceptical.(Isuppose some wiseass is going to make a joke about
barrier method)

It's a faff and expensive making the frame but a carrot fresh out of the
ground is something to write home about, and the frame will last a few
years?

Baz
No faff or expense. I've posted this before.....surround the carrot bed with
'pea sticks', the green kind from shops. Get a roll of ordinary kitchen
cling film and run it several times around the sticks. Use some gaffer tape
to stop it slipping down the sticks. Also acts as a good windbreak when you
have a lot of top growth.
Pete C

"Pete C" wrote in
:


"Baz" wrote in message
...
Moonraker wrote in
:

How do professional farmers manage?


Moonraker,

I have coppied this from an earlier post of mine:-

2 was the same and it nearly put me off growing the things.
Year 3(last year) I made a timber frame and covered it with pvc
around, not
the top as water will not get through. I had no fly and someone here
suggested that it might be because the fly and its larvae died during
winter. I tested this year. I sowed seeds in the frame and a few in
open ground.

The carrots in the frame are perfect whereas the ones in open ground
are riddled with the thing.

To me this is case proven though when I first heard of the barrier
method I
was very sceptical.(Isuppose some wiseass is going to make a joke
about barrier method)

It's a faff and expensive making the frame but a carrot fresh out of
the ground is something to write home about, and the frame will last
a few years?

Baz
No faff or expense. I've posted this before.....surround the carrot
bed with 'pea sticks', the green kind from shops. Get a roll of
ordinary kitchen cling film and run it several times around the
sticks. Use some gaffer tape to stop it slipping down the sticks. Also
acts as a good windbreak when you have a lot of top growth.
Pete C




Yes, OK
Sounds like a better idea than mine.

Baz

"Pete C" wrote in message ...


"Baz" wrote in message
...
Moonraker wrote in :

How do professional farmers manage?


Moonraker,

I have coppied this from an earlier post of mine:-

2 was the same and it nearly put me off growing the things.
Year 3(last year) I made a timber frame and covered it with pvc around,
not
the top as water will not get through. I had no fly and someone here
suggested that it might be because the fly and its larvae died during
winter. I tested this year. I sowed seeds in the frame and a few in open
ground.

The carrots in the frame are perfect whereas the ones in open ground are
riddled with the thing.

To me this is case proven though when I first heard of the barrier method
I
was very sceptical.(Isuppose some wiseass is going to make a joke about
barrier method)

It's a faff and expensive making the frame but a carrot fresh out of the
ground is something to write home about, and the frame will last a few
years?

Baz
No faff or expense. I've posted this before.....surround the carrot bed
with 'pea sticks', the green kind from shops. Get a roll of ordinary
kitchen cling film and run it several times around the sticks. Use some
gaffer tape to stop it slipping down the sticks. Also acts as a good
windbreak when you have a lot of top growth.
Pete C

Thanks Pete, Baz and Moonraker. Late this afternoon I showed the carrots to
one of the allotmenteers and he confirmed carrot fly pupae damage in the
Autumn Kings. He said this land was susceptible to KF and most folk have
been discouraged. I'll give it one more chance next year on some fresh land,
without manure.

The barrier method I like. Fortunately the allotment is split midway by a
compost heap, which is retained by two fences of galvanised.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ntEgg007-1.jpg
I could erect another fence of cling and sticks, as suggested.

With bad weather forecast for later this week, I'll burn all the
combustibles tomorrow, along with Autumn Kings.
Fingers crossed for '012.

"Bertie Doe" wrote in message
...

Thanks Pete, Baz and Moonraker. Late this afternoon I showed the carrots
to one of the allotmenteers and he confirmed carrot fly pupae damage in
the Autumn Kings. He said this land was susceptible to KF and most folk
have been discouraged. I'll give it one more chance next year on some
fresh land, without manure.

The barrier method I like. Fortunately the allotment is split midway by a
compost heap, which is retained by two fences of galvanised.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ntEgg007-1.jpg
I could erect another fence of cling and sticks, as suggested.

With bad weather forecast for later this week, I'll burn all the
combustibles tomorrow, along with Autumn Kings.
Fingers crossed for '012.

Bertie, I,ve used this for two years and it's appeared to have worked.
--
Pete C
London meet Sat June 9th 2012

Thanks Pete, Baz and Moonraker. Late this afternoon I showed the carrots to
one of the allotmenteers and he confirmed carrot fly pupae damage in the
Autumn Kings. He said this land was susceptible to KF and most folk have
been discouraged. I'll give it one more chance next year on some fresh land,
without manure.


The damage is caused by the carrot root fly larvae, not the pupae
see http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/carrotrf.htm

"Bertie Doe" wrote in
:

Yesterday I lifted my first carrots of the season. As you can see from
the photos, they are looking a bit sad. Something's been eating the
Autumn Kings:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2431.jpg
All carrots so far are undersized with a max length of 100mm / 4 ins.
The James Scarlett are prone to forking:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2432.jpg

The soil is neutral ph, gritty and well drained. The seeds were sown
sparsely so no thinning required. At seedling stage, the soil was
firmed in nicely. All the allotment had cow manure in December and a
granular general fertilizer (twice) throughout the growing season. I
can see why non of the other allotments bother with carrots, but I
don't like to give up on this one. Any thoughts, remedies etc. Thanks
Bertie



I think it is the manure!

Next year grow them in an unfed bed.

I don't know why, but carrots 'fork' like that when feed or compost has
been applied.

You are lucky anyway not to have the fly.

Apart from the forking yours look very nice.

Baz

"Bertie Doe" wrote ...

Yesterday I lifted my first carrots of the season. As you can see from the
photos, they are looking a bit sad. Something's been eating the Autumn
Kings:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2431.jpg
All carrots so far are undersized with a max length of 100mm / 4 ins. The
James Scarlett are prone to forking:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2432.jpg

The soil is neutral ph, gritty and well drained. The seeds were sown
sparsely so no thinning required. At seedling stage, the soil was firmed in
nicely. All the allotment had cow manure in December and a granular general
fertilizer (twice) throughout the growing season. I can see why non of the
other allotments bother with carrots, but I don't like to give up on this
one. Any thoughts, remedies etc. Thanks


Yes, root Fly. We grow ours in an old 50 gal water tank, this does the same
as the barrier method, the flies don't like flying upwards and keep near the
ground, but was cheaper as we had the old tank and it can be used
permanently. Despite this we have had a bit of root fly on occasion when the
tank was near other stuff but this year when out on it's own none at all. We
also only planted "Flyaway" and Resistafly", so a double barrelled approach
this year that worked.
Decided to give up growing my own seed Chertsey Carrots.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message ...

"Bertie Doe" wrote ...

Yesterday I lifted my first carrots of the season. As you can see from the
photos, they are looking a bit sad. Something's been eating the Autumn
Kings:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2431.jpg
All carrots so far are undersized with a max length of 100mm / 4 ins. The
James Scarlett are prone to forking:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2432.jpg

The soil is neutral ph, gritty and well drained. The seeds were sown
sparsely so no thinning required. At seedling stage, the soil was firmed
in nicely. All the allotment had cow manure in December and a granular
general fertilizer (twice) throughout the growing season. I can see why
non of the other allotments bother with carrots, but I don't like to give
up on this one. Any thoughts, remedies etc. Thanks


Yes, root Fly. We grow ours in an old 50 gal water tank, this does the same
as the barrier method, the flies don't like flying upwards and keep near
the ground, but was cheaper as we had the old tank and it can be used
permanently. Despite this we have had a bit of root fly on occasion when
the tank was near other stuff but this year when out on it's own none at
all. We also only planted "Flyaway" and Resistafly", so a double barrelled
approach this year that worked.
Decided to give up growing my own seed Chertsey Carrots.
--

One fence of galvanized will provide a 2' high barrier, so I'll duplicate
another fence of cling, to the same height. This should do the trick. As
Moonraker pointed out, it's a bit of a mystery how farmers manage?? They
must be producing in vast quantities, because Morrison's were selling a
small bag, for just 50p. Perhaps the taste isn't as good as home-grown, but
I can understand why the neighbours can't be bothered.
I'll make a note to purchase the 2 varieties you mentioned.
Bertie

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
"Bertie Doe" wrote ...

Yesterday I lifted my first carrots of the season. As you can see from the
photos, they are looking a bit sad. Something's been eating the Autumn
Kings:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2431.jpg
All carrots so far are undersized with a max length of 100mm / 4 ins. The
James Scarlett are prone to forking:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2432.jpg

The soil is neutral ph, gritty and well drained. The seeds were sown
sparsely so no thinning required. At seedling stage, the soil was firmed
in nicely. All the allotment had cow manure in December and a granular
general fertilizer (twice) throughout the growing season. I can see why
non of the other allotments bother with carrots, but I don't like to give
up on this one. Any thoughts, remedies etc. Thanks


Yes, root Fly. We grow ours in an old 50 gal water tank, this does the
same as the barrier method, the flies don't like flying upwards and keep
near the ground, but was cheaper as we had the old tank and it can be used
permanently. Despite this we have had a bit of root fly on occasion when
the tank was near other stuff but this year when out on it's own none at
all. We also only planted "Flyaway" and Resistafly", so a double barrelled
approach this year that worked.
Decided to give up growing my own seed Chertsey Carrots.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK .

A large "Country" house near brecon grow veg. for sale to local restaurants
The owner planted a "barrier plant" round her carrot plot for the very
purpose of stopping carrot fly getting at her carrots. This was the first
time I'd heard of such a thing.

I'm not sure what the barrier comprised.

Bill

On Oct 4, 2:32*pm, "Bill Grey" wrote:
"Bob Hobden" wrote in message

...





"Bertie Doe" *wrote *...

Yesterday I lifted my first carrots of the season. As you can see from the
photos, they are looking a bit sad. Something's been eating the Autumn
Kings:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2431.jpg
All carrots so far are undersized with a max length of 100mm / 4 ins. The
James Scarlett are prone to forking:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2432.jpg

The soil is neutral ph, gritty and well drained. The seeds were sown
sparsely so no thinning required. At seedling stage, the soil was firmed
in nicely. All the allotment had cow manure in December and a granular
general fertilizer (twice) throughout the growing season. I can see why
non of the other allotments bother with carrots, but I don't like to give
up on this one. Any thoughts, remedies etc. Thanks

Yes, root Fly. We grow ours in an old 50 gal water tank, this does the
same as the barrier method, the flies don't like flying upwards and keep
near the ground, but was cheaper as we had the old tank and it can be used
permanently. Despite this we have had a bit of root fly on occasion when
the tank was near other stuff but this year when out on it's own none at
all. We also only planted "Flyaway" and Resistafly", so a double barrelled
approach this year that worked.
Decided to give up growing my own seed Chertsey Carrots.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK .

A large "Country" house near brecon grow veg. for sale to local restaurants
The owner planted a "barrier plant" round her carrot plot for the very
purpose of stopping carrot fly getting at her carrots. *This was the first
time I'd heard of such a thing.

I'm not sure what the barrier comprised.
-

Tagetes. A sort of marigold I think. Dunno how well it works.

"harry" wrote in message
...
On Oct 4, 2:32 pm, "Bill Grey" wrote:
"Bob Hobden" wrote in message

...





"Bertie Doe" wrote ...

Yesterday I lifted my first carrots of the season. As you can see from
the
photos, they are looking a bit sad. Something's been eating the Autumn
Kings:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2431.jpg
All carrots so far are undersized with a max length of 100mm / 4 ins.
The
James Scarlett are prone to forking:-
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/IMG_2432.jpg

The soil is neutral ph, gritty and well drained. The seeds were sown
sparsely so no thinning required. At seedling stage, the soil was firmed
in nicely. All the allotment had cow manure in December and a granular
general fertilizer (twice) throughout the growing season. I can see why
non of the other allotments bother with carrots, but I don't like to
give
up on this one. Any thoughts, remedies etc. Thanks

Yes, root Fly. We grow ours in an old 50 gal water tank, this does the
same as the barrier method, the flies don't like flying upwards and keep
near the ground, but was cheaper as we had the old tank and it can be
used
permanently. Despite this we have had a bit of root fly on occasion when
the tank was near other stuff but this year when out on it's own none at
all. We also only planted "Flyaway" and Resistafly", so a double
barrelled
approach this year that worked.
Decided to give up growing my own seed Chertsey Carrots.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK .

A large "Country" house near brecon grow veg. for sale to local
restaurants
The owner planted a "barrier plant" round her carrot plot for the very
purpose of stopping carrot fly getting at her carrots. This was the first
time I'd heard of such a thing.

I'm not sure what the barrier comprised.
-

Tagetes. A sort of marigold I think. Dunno how well it works.

I've grown Tagettes ijn the past, but I don't think it was those. Maybe
Tagettes would do the job. I don't know, but the reason for the planting was
to keep the Carrot Fly away form the carrots.

Bill