The Colour of Carrots

[Frana]

Can anyone tell me why some of the carrot leaves in my plot have gone a strange purply colour, but others are a healthy green!

Always grown them with success and never had this before!


Let my words, like vegetables, be tender and sweet,
for tomorrow I may have to eat them.

[gojiberry]

Try pulling up one of the ones that have a purple tinge, you may well find it has the maggots of the dreaded carrot root fly in it. Providing it isn't to bad you can still use them just cut off the bits that have been affected. However if it is the root fly then the longer you leave them the more damage the maggots will do.

Ian

[Frana]

Thanks Ian.

Will be straight down the allotment tommorrow morning to check it out - will let you know!

[Demeter]

Hey Frana - the carrots in your avatar look just like the ones on our plot

[vegmandan]

You could also have the most hillariously named but not so funny to get vegetable disease "Motley Dwarf Virus" which causes leaves to get a reddish tinge.

Not as severe as carrot fly but it reduces yield if you get it when the plants are at seedling stage.

[Frana]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

Dug some up this morning and there are no signs of maggots on them but carrots are miniscule!

The others I have growing are absolutely fine so will leave my purple ones to see what happens. (No one has ever died from the dreaded purple leaf carrot disease have they?!).

[lynda66]

(No one has ever died from the dreaded purple leaf carrot disease have they?!).

me ......i did