Grow Your Own Magazine

ive just read that if you sow carrot seed you should distribute a layer of ground coffee. this not only helps to make them grow straight but helps to prevent carrot fly.

has anyone tried this?

No but it may be worth a try and the coffee will help improve the soil

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ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

Put some ground up Kit Kat in as well...........we all love a Kit Kat with our coffee, unless you're a carrot fly of course!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

very funny not

Try a fly resistant variety like Flyaway or Resistafly both from T&M.

Had great sucess with both, much easier than growing them under nets

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Gardening requires a lot of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. Lou Erickson, critic and poet

I just can't get carrots to grow, period. Nets or not. No carrots.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

I didnt have any problem with carrot fly - maybe I was just experiencing beginners luck? They were all either planted in buckets or in the plot near to some marigolds which maybe helped disguise the smell? Be interested to hear how the coffee goes though if anyone tries it next year?

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Life may not be the party we hoped for but since we're here we might as well dance

Hi Two Sheds,
I also was having dreadful problems germinating carrots so this year I have grown them in guttering in the greenhouse until they were 3 inches high then slid them out into a guttering shaped trench in the veg plot, covered them with a cheap net cloche and they are great. Yum

Good idea. Tried it with peas and it worked. I would think it might depend on the type of carrot. I usually grow a stump-rooted variety to avoid forking against the stones but they should be ok with this method.

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated November 30th - Mr Stinky's Excellent Adventure (and a Christmas Cake)

I have never had any joy growing carrots until I discovered enviromesh! This year grew them, and am still growing them, under cover for their full life. Foliage is lush even now, and carrots are as clean as a whistle. I am leaving the enviromesh on throughout the winter and intend pulling fresh carrots all winter long if everything goes to plan!

And NO I don't have any connection to enviromesh manufactures!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

I've always grown my onions / leeks / spring onions / garlic alongside my carrots and have never been bothered with carrot fly. This year my carrots were grown in drills in between my onion drills and again no carrot fly. Carrots are still growing great guns although slugs are moving in gradually.

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Rat

British by birth
Scottish by the Grace of God

Blog updated Wednesday November 13th

I sow my first carrots in April in the tunnel (still pulling them now!) and the next lot in the garden in July for a winter harvest. I have never been bothered (dare I say it!) with carrot fly.

.......... and it is definately as far north as here!

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Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway.
~ Mary Kay Ash

All that polythene over there heads, may have a titsy bitsy bit to do with it!

Just had a mental vision of squadrons of carrot fly kami kasying into taut polythene!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

We tried growing our early carrots in blocks between the onions and garlic, and they got tunnelled to bits by carrot fly, so deffo didnt work for us this year!

The late carrots have been much better, tho whether thats because we planted resistafly and autumn king together I'm not sure!

Next year we are deffo going to be using resistant varieties AND growing under fleece!

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Blessings
Suzanne (aka Mrs Dobby)

'Garden naked - get some colour in your cheeks'!

The Dobby's Pumpkin Patch - a blogspot work in progress!
Last updated 26th November2008 - more new piccies!

Didn't have any issues with Carrot Fly this year but had to pull all my carrots last weekend as the slugs were moving onto them.

I grew Autumn King also.

Anything that has a scent will help to put the carrot fly off, but not tried coffee.

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An onion can make people cry but there's never been a vegetable that can make people laugh.
Will Rogers

i have had my carrots under home made poly tunnel from seed and there going very well.

Hi all
the great Carrot Fly debate
My only non-Cf success has been to interplant coriander and trim it every few days to keep the scent alive. Anything else just doesn't work for me. Most successful carrot has been the purple ones, they don't fork or anything.
I will definitely try the coffee grounds, I have been using them for years on onions but will try with carrots when i next sow a batch - won't be for ages now as we have loads on the go and will be carrot-rich this winter.

i read about carrot fly in an old gardening book
apparently they come when they smell the scent of the broken carrot leaves
easiest protection is not to break the carrot leaves
other gardening books say to mix radish seeds with carrot seeds to thin the carrots out and mark the lines of the drills - the radishes grow quickly and will be pulled without getting in the way of the carrots - BUT try pulling radishes out without breaking the leaves off the carrots!
i'll give the seed mixing a miss next year

Iv grown all my carrots in old baths i got from the local tip, had no problems with c/f, might have somthing to do with the hight.?

This was my second successful year of growing carrots in the bath.

Circumstances dictate that many of them will be staying there to take their chances against the slugs this week but I've had no problem up til now with carrot fly.

New compost and fleece overcoat + height seems to do the job.

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Catch up with my daily doings at http://kaypeesplot.blogspot.com/ and http://kaypeeslottie.blogspot.com/

Growing carrots in an old bath now that sounds like a good idea to me and successful too! I have an old bath that has now been earmarked for carrots for next season. Many thanks for that suggestion.

We are going to try growing them in the tubs we have our spuds in this year in the back garden, about 55l and 2' tall, so should do the job! The early carrots we planted on the plot were really bad with carrot root fly, and also rabbits eating the tops, whereas the later ones we planted have done ok, but not as big as we'd have liked due to wabbits eating the greens again, but at least no carrot root fly!

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Blessings
Suzanne (aka Mrs Dobby)

'Garden naked - get some colour in your cheeks'!

The Dobby's Pumpkin Patch - a blogspot work in progress!
Last updated 26th November2008 - more new piccies!

I sow early and late in the season which tends to help. My main method is to sow 4-8 seeds at 4" intervals and dont thin them out. I just pull ones that are of a reasonable size when I need to. By not thinning, I dont damage the leaves and release the scent which attracts the dreaded fly.

As an added bonus you get succession too.

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Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

I wonder