Carrots and Parsnips - Raised bed Dilemma

[leonmc0708]

Hi (again)

Just cracking on wiht my allotment and planning to sow some carrots and parsnips in the next few weeks.

I have planned to put them into some 8ft by 4ft raised beds - which are about 18 inches off the ground.

I decided to do this to combat carrot fly - which I believe cant fly so well at that height cus htey are little weaklings !!

Anyway I have mixed shop bought MPC with topsoil and there is some well rotted manure in there towards tho bottom.

Should I add some chicken manure or bonemeal to the beds do we reckon or will they be OK as are - with all the goodness in there already.

Thankns in advance for help advice and tips.

[rustylady]

That's a myth about the carrot fly. You will need to cover your plants with fleece or enviromesh to stop them. I shouldn't think you need to add any fertiliser to your beds at this stage.

[roitelet]

The parsnips and carrots will fork if there is manure in there. Ideally they should be planted in ground that was manured for a crop in the previous season.

[roitelet]

The parsnips and carrots will fork if there is manure in the bed. Ideally they should be planted in ground that was manured for a crop in the previous year.

[leonmc0708]

Fork ?

sorry dont knwo what that means ?

[Sanjo]

Fork ?

sorry dont knwo what that means ?

It means they will be a funny shape, possibly with two or more legs, like a fork's prongs. Edible but not easy to prepare.

[zazen999]

carrot fly... cus htey are little weaklings !!

Yeah - right! course they are.

Save your compost/manure etc for crops that need it. Carrots and P*****ps are root veg so need much less nutrients than [for example] courgettes...they will grow in sand and really don't need alot more than that.

[leonmc0708]

thanks for the tips guys and gals.

Am gonna have to go with the forked carrots and use em for salads am afriad - will bear in mind about the carrot flys and definitely get them under some of the fleece that you have advised.

any links for where is best/cheapest to get this maybe ?

Thanks again

[Bigmallly]

I wouldn't know why you would want to deliberatly grow forked carrots & nips but each to their own. In answer to your question, most garden centres sell fleece, maybe your large supermarkets have some in their garden section, it can be found in Pound shops, I'm calling into Wilkos when I finish work to pick some up (but not for carrot fly). If you are just using it for carrot fly, I have read that very fine curtain is just as good.

[Sanjo]

I do shop in the £1 shop but I also get a lot of stuff from Gardening-Naturally. They have various qualities of fleece, netting etc and they sell it by the metre so you can buy according to the size of your bed.

[Bigmallly]

Called in @ Pound shop after work & bought 2 packs of fleece 1m x 6m. 1 for my plum tree and one cut in 2 for blueberry bushes .Went straight to lottie and fleeced them up for peace of mind......Bargain