Come On Carrot Flies - Do Your Worst!

[Creemteez]

Sorry if I seem a bit "photo-happy". I'm breaking in a new computermabob!

[scarletrunner]

Have done the same.

[chris]

lol

that bark must have cost you a pretty penny!

[Creemteez]

It's not bark, Chris, it's Mescanthus - It's a sort of "heavy duty" chopped grass - like the ones councils are fond of decorating municipal roundabouts with. It's marketed as an animal bedding and is about a third of the price of bark. So far it's doing a wonderful job. - Nice to walk/kneel on, smells like hay, drains well.

[BigShot]

A neighbour did something similar last year. Completely enclosed the carrots he had in the ground, the ones in a bathtub and (if I remember this right) the ones in a barrel too.
The fleece ripped in a storm so he lost a few but after years of trying he finally got a crop.
Keep an eye out for that though.

Strangely, my carrots were in just 20 feet from his and completely unprotected with no trouble.

I had them mixed in with onions (as opposed to bunging in a couple of magic onions like many do) and a few other things and didn't need to thin at all though... so that may have done it.

[Bramble_killer]

It's not bark, Chris, it's Mescanthus - It's a sort of "heavy duty" chopped grass - like the ones councils are fond of decorating municipal roundabouts with. It's marketed as an animal bedding and is about a third of the price of bark. So far it's doing a wonderful job. - Nice to walk/kneel on, smells like hay, drains well.

where can I get it?

[Creemteez]

I get it from a local feed store. I don't know how widely it's available - might be worth Googling. I buy it in bales - like woodchip or sawdust. I've got some of the plastic from the last bale and I'll check to see if there is a supply address and get back to you!

[Two_Sheds]

lol, how tall are your carrots going to get? (good job though)

[Kristen]

lol, how tall are your carrots going to get? (good job though)

I was going to ask that question too, but I'm more shy than you

[vicky]

You just need to do the same for all the other crops now to protect them from the various nasties.....

[Creemteez]

:

lol, how tall are your carrots going to get? (good job though)

I judged the required height by the growth my carrots made last year - honestly, they were very tall -, then added a bit on so they wouldn't be squashed!

[Ouya Mellsa]

I just grow mine in florists buckets placed in the greenhouse!

[cptncrackoff]

It always amazes me... they say carrot root fly only flies one or two foot off the ground.
My garden is totally enclosed with 6ft fences, and had no vegetables grown for 8 years before i moved in, they still came to say hello the first time i tried carrots!!

Your system looks like the answer.

[Jono]

Your plot looks really neat and tidy.

One of my neighbouring plots do a similar thing. Can always see what look like good carrots through the covering.

[dave_norm_smith]

Do you think you could use Mescanthus instead of bark chippings around shrubs etc? Seems to cost a fortune in bark.

Dave