Carrot idea

[Dorothy rouse]

Well I'm still,thinking, but if i do give it ago and they do attempt to climb up 4 floors I could see them coming and whack them, before they reach the carrots. What do they look like? Carrot fly I mean?

I've grown reasonable carrots, for the last couple of years, surrounded by onions, but not in large enough quantities. In a raised bed with added sand. No fleece or covering.

[Sheneval]

I grew mine for the first time last year in a small raised bed 9-10 inches topped with a fleece covering which I left in place watching it rise and rise- a good crop - very happy with it and will repeat the process this coming year though neighbour recommends growing in barrels

[AllotmentAnt]

Hi all, Is it true that if you grow onions with your carrots that stops carrot fly as they don't like the smell of the onion.. Or is that a myth!

Ant


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[Chippy Minton]

Hi all, Is it true that if you grow onions with your carrots that stops carrot fly as they don't like the smell of the onion.. Or is that a myth!

Didn't work for me, planted the carrots with a wall of Silverskin onions, lost the lot. However one example is not a scientific study....

[Dorothy rouse]

Well it does seem to help, I also had lavender growing v near to them, and that is also strong smell. I think it's when the carrots get disturbed, either by weeding or transplanting that the carrot fly seem to catch their smell.

[Ananke]

I thought it was the smell that attacted them too and it got me thinking about sacrificial, decoy carrots. A few chopped, cheap supermarket carrots, placed away from the ones I'm growing. That might just bring it's own set of problems though.

[Alison]

I think that growing garlic and onions near by does help but the best thing to do is to totally cover the carrots with fine mesh (enviromesh type) and only take off briefly for minimal thinning and weeding. I've tried barriers and they really don't work and are more difficult to support than simply covering anyway.

[AllotmentAnt]

So definitely worth covering them, then you know it gives you the best possible chance of a good crop! is it worth planting the onions in with them and covering the whole lot as they also come under attack by flies?


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[Alison]

I don't have any problems with onion pests at all on my plot but I know that this isn't the same for everybody. I tend to plant some garlic at the end of the bed and only cover the carrots, I find that if I muddle things together too much I end up damaging things when I harvest the earlier crop (I do tend to plant rather on the close side) but other people get on well with a mix up so it's a bit trial and error to see what suits you.

[ancee]

A friend of mine had so much trouble with trying to plant them in the ground is his allotment, carrot fly got them every time.
Then he got a couple of old bath tubs, planted them in those (not covered up) and has had brilliant carrots every since!
So, bath tubs might be your answer - not sure how they'd look on your balcony though lol - very urban chic. You could put an old sofa and mattress out too - to complete the look