carrot fly prevention

[vegnovice10]

I am growing several lots of carrots. I put some in a container to raise it off the ground. However saw on Gardener's world they need to be 18" off the ground to prevent the fly. I read that one should put fleece or polythene barriers round them to stop the fly as it can't go above 20".

I have put polythene round the container but I only had black stuff that you put down to stop weeds. is this ok or will it stop the light from the carrots and hinder growth?

I am growing spring onions near then but they haven't grown yet!

thanks Susan

[Jo_yful]

I've never tried the plastic barrier thing so can't really comment on that, but one thing thats worked very well for me over the past few years is to rub a garlic clove around the rim of the containers that the carrots are growing in. Carrot fly can't stand garlic (me either) so this works well.

If your growing carrots in the ground, another tip is to drop a couple garlic cloves into a 5L bottle (like the large bottles you can buy water in with the carry handles) then fill the bottle up with water and leave it for a week or two so the garlic extracts into the water. Then add some of this as a concentrate to your watering can and use this solution every few days to water your carrots. A guy on a few plots down on the allomtments uses this and swears by it and has a great sucess rate against carrot fly in the ground.
Stop watering with this solution a few days before you intend to eat the veg so no aroma is lingering.

I now grow garlic for the sole purpose of protecting my carrots! Hope this helps.

The garlic water solution can also be used to prevent other pests such as black fly, green fly, flea beetle, white fly, slugs etc but I've never used it for that purpose so can't say if its effective or not.

[Tee Gee]

However saw on Gardener's world they need to be 18" off the ground to prevent the fly. I read that one should put fleece or polythene barriers round them to stop the fly as it can't go above 20".

I find this to be a bit of an old wives tale!

OK it may be true that under normal circumstances they do fly at this height but what can often happen in practice is the fly/s are carried upward and onwards by thermal currents and this often takes them over the barrier/s.

So covering them with fleece rather than surrounding them with it is often the better option.

I have put polythene round the container but I only had black stuff that you put down to stop weeds. is this ok or will it stop the light from the carrots and hinder growth?

It will make a veritable hotbox as the black plastic will hold the heat so you have the potential to 'cook' the tops i.e. they may go limp when the sun is at its hottest! Watering will not necessarily help this in fact it might if done in excess rot the carrots!

This arrangement is a better option; http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk...protection.jpg

I also go along with Joyfuls method but not necessarily using garlic.

It is my understanding that the fly is attracted by smell and it is in this way they find your carrots among all the other veg you might grow.

The smell of garlic confuses the fly so it bypasses the carrots.

This year I am not planning on covering my carrots instead I have watered them (at an early stage) with an Armillatox mixture (it smells like Jeyes fluid) to deter the fly.

I would guess any powerful smelling 'deordorant' if you like, would do the same thing.

There endeth my thoughts on the subject.....Tg

[vegnovice10]

Many thanks for messages. I think I'll try the garlic. Susan