Tips for getting rid of carrot fly

[Alison]

I rotate to avoid them the following year but I've seen nematodes for sale too.

[Penellype]

The way to understand how these things work is to look at the life cycle of the fly. If you start with the adult, it lays eggs in the soil near carrots. The eggs hatch into larvae and it is these which tunnel through the roots eating them. When they have grown big enough the larvae go back into teh soil and pupate. The pupae are hard to see as they are small and brown. These overwinter in the soil and hatch into adults in the spring.

Therefore if you have carrot fly in the garden and have had the maggots in carrots, the soil where you grew the carrots is likely to be infested with pupae, but soil where you didn't grow carrots is not. So you should be fine to grow carrots in other parts of the garden if you cover the plants with mesh.

[Veggiemama]

Thanks for the replies.
I am sure i have carrot fly now. There were and arent any maggots. the green tops were also very healthy..all green, no browning. Its just some of the carrots had been eaten a bit, like a brown line left on the carrot, although the whole carrot wasnt eaten.
Can any other pest do this to carrots?
Sorry, i am confusing myself now.

[Penellype]

When carrots are damaged the damaged part goes brown. Carrot fly larvae leave tunnels in the roots which are charactaristically brown, and they would be the most common cause. Sometimes you see the maggots, sometimes not. Its quite common for a carrot to have just a tiny bit of damage and for most of it to be edible. The infestation I had at my old house was probably unusual in that almost none of the crop was edible at all.

[Veggiemama]

Penellype, what rotten luck. That must have been awful.
Mine were only slightly damaged and i just cut off the damage and ate the rest.

I think, because i dont know for sure, i will make another raised bed for them this year, give that bed a rest, and get some nematodes for it...just to be safe.

i have so much to do/build that i didnt want to have to make another raised bed, but i guess i'll just have to.

Thanks again for your replies
veggiemama

[planetologist]

Veggiemama, nematodes are against slugs, not against carrot fly.

I've found that in addition to having enviromesh it helps to only weed and thin the carrots while it's raining, because the carrot fly doesn't fly then. And I go over the enviromesh every spring to repair holes.

I live in an area with a fair few carrot flies, which doesn't surprise me, because Queen Anne's lace (wild carrot) is a very common weed here.

[Aberdeenplotter]

A mystery to me is that most experts tell us that these flies can only fly 2ft in height
My veg plot has 6ft fence all around so how do they get in ?
Ladders or a tunnel any body know

these are not experts. They are so called experts!!

[Veggiemama]

Veggiemama, nematodes are against slugs, not against carrot fly.

I've found that in addition to having enviromesh it helps to only weed and thin the carrots while it's raining, because the carrot fly doesn't fly then. And I go over the enviromesh every spring to repair holes.

I live in an area with a fair few carrot flies, which doesn't surprise me, because Queen Anne's lace (wild carrot) is a very common weed here.

Oh, i found some here :-
Grow Your Own Pest Control Nematodes - Harrod Horticultural

It says it controls carrot rootfly too, so i think I'll give it a go.

Never heard of wild carrot. Is it an actual carrot?....gonna have a gurgle

[Bacchus]

Works for me.....

[Veggiemama]

Works for me.....

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Love it, may give that a try

[Veggiemama]

The Wild Carrot - Queen Annes Lace

Good article about wild carrot here.
I'll think I wont try it as I'd probably eat the wrong thing

[Penellype]

Veggiemama, nematodes are against slugs, not against carrot fly.

There are large numbers of types of nematodes, often with very specific hosts. You can buy them for various different pests, including a mixture which contains some for carrot fly, although I haven't tried those. The ones I have tried are for slugs and for vine weevil, neither of which are effectively kept out by veggiemesh as they crawl on the ground rather than fly, and can get under the mesh.

[jacob]

Bit late to the thread, but I get a nice early crop from planters in the greenhouse. Not a carrot fly there.

Outside, it's enviromesh all the way, and even then still get a few nibbled ones.