[rowlandwells]

apart from peas I'm not having much success with growing carrots this season  i like to grow pelleted seed because it makes sowings easy and not so much gapping is needed I have two  problems one being the carrot fly and the other stones

i know some gardeners used to sow there carrots in a ridge maybe that could be worth trying next season I've have seen commercial growers lifting there carrot crops and apart from size there perfect no carrot fly and no carrot fly nets in sight and they also winter harvest carrots

how do you grow your carrots do you have good results or is it hit and miss

[mumofstig]

The only time I've ever grown good carrots, was years ago  
I sowed Autumn King in a bed, newly filled with bagged compost 6 inches deep, on top of the garden soil and covered with enviromesh 
I've never managed to repeat that success, either in the garden or on the plot....

Farmers use chemicals to stop weeds and pests   https://www.fwi.co.uk/arable/whats-involved-growing-successful-carrot-crop

[Plot94]

I always find carrots a bit hit and miss. This year i planted two large containers up (approx 18 inches deep) with a mix of soil, compost and leaf mold, sowed the carrot seed in February and kept the pots in the polytunnel until March. The carrots have been amazing, even without thinning them out. I have been harvesting 6-8 decent sized carrots out of each container for the last 2 months and still have about half as many again. Will definitely be doing this again. Both lots of seed from Premier seeds direct, Solar Yellow and Deep Purple. The Deep Purple and bigger than the yellow but both tasty.

[Growster...]

Like Plot 94, we now grow them in buckets, about 2'6" off the ground, in a watering tray.

No fly as yet, one or two boltings, but fingers crossed for a bumper yield on just three buckets of home compost and some nice new stuff...

Might develop this next year, and do five buckets, but need to re-organise the space we have now...

[Blackpool rocket]

How can you tell when they're ready to lift. Is it just a case of scraping away some soil to see if there's a carrot formed?
The foliage is very lush but knowing my luck there won't be any carrot 

[Mr Dog]

How can you tell when they're ready to lift. Is it just a case of scraping away some soil to see if there's a carrot formed?
The foliage is very lush but knowing my luck there won't be any carrot 

Yes, a good old furtle is the best way to see how they're doing without actually pulling one.

For anyone growing things (not just carrots) in buckets or pots there are some useful sowing templates here https://abarothsworld.com/Garden/GardenTemplates.htm For carrots in buckets I just scatter sow as thinly as possible and leave them to get on with it!

[alancas]

ost of my carrots have had the leaves eaten by rats or mice they are covered with a scaffold netting cage .anyone else had this problem?i have never had it before.

[Blackpool rocket]

Yes, a good old furtle is the best way to see how they're doing without actually pulling one.

For anyone growing things (not just carrots) in buckets or pots there are some useful sowing templates here https://abarothsworld.com/Garden/GardenTemplates.htm For carrots in buckets I just scatter sow as thinly as possible and leave them to get on with it!

Thanks, that's useful.

ost of my carrots have had the leaves eaten by rats or mice they are covered with a scaffold netting cage .anyone else had this problem?i have never had it before.

My first tubs were dug up by badgers, or foxes, twice. 
They are now residing inside the cage I built to protect our cherries from squirrel nutkin. The cherries have finished, nutkin didn't get any  but I've left the cage up for the carrots.
This is my third sowing 

[Nobbie]

I found growing in half barrels at home avoided the fly, but growing in similar at the plot still got fly. Maybe due to the much higher prevalence of mature carrot fly on an allotment site. I’ve resorted to sowing inside enviromesh netting alongside my brassica this year and so far, so good

[rowlandwells]

that makes interesting reading Mum and it seems most gardeners are turning to growing carrots in drums or boxes my wife had better results than me growing her carrots in a plastic drum

but not to beaten and having read the the farmer weekly info you sent Mum  I'm thinking about trying something new for growing my carrots next year in ridges yes ridges cultivate the ground rake to a fine tilth then ridge up the ground like one would ridge up ones potatoes

make a hole in the top of ridge fill it with compost or peat sowing 1 or 2 pelleted seed per station then cover the ridges with veggiemesh i know its going to take a little more time to do this method but i mite even get a crop of carrots you never know its either that or buy a bag of horse carrots 

[Growster...]

That's an interesting call, Rowland...

I've actually watched a carrot fly try and get through some mesh, and it doesn't give up easily!

If a farmer relies on this method, then who can query such a chap whose livelihood depends on a decent crop, so 'goferit', and let us know how you get on!

As we've often mentioned here, carrots in buckets high up are pretty good, but never fool-proof, as gusts of wind etc can easily lift the blighters up a few inches more than they want to jump, and they're away!

Touch wood and whistle (peeep), our buckets are OK so far...

[CHRISDONOHUE]

Carrots should not be hit or miss.   Growing good carrots from seed requires finely raked, well-dug soil with all stones removed and following germination, weeds removed carefully without disrupting the tiny carrot plants, regular watering and covering with a fine mesh if you wish to prevent the dreaded carrot root fly from causing its traditional damage.   Carrot fly is probably endemic in many allotments and the required quality of mesh is fairly expensive, but you have to make a judgment as to whether you think it worthwhile or are willing to take a "calculated" risk.   Lidl has very cheap, reliable seed at around 20p a packet so the seed element is extremely cheap which may counter the expensive capital cost of the mesh.    Farms produce massive yields of carrots probably with the excessive use of superphosphate fertiliser.

[CSChris89]

I’ve grown carrots for the first time this year both at the allotment and in containers at home with decent success.

The carrots I’ve grown at home were called Romance are in containers well above ground level so no worries with carrot root fly. I pulled one of these this morning and they’re looking good (pic attached). I mixed some superphosphate, fish blood and bone and grow more with the compost before planting.

At the allotment I was wary of carrot root fly so used a resistant variety (Flyaway) and covered with horticultural fleece to be double sure. I’ve covered all of my beds in membrane to suppress the weeds (as my allotment was basically a meadow last year when I got it) and have burned nice round holes in the plastic for planting with a template and a blowtorch. In order to deal with the possibility of the carrots encountering a stone in the soil, I drove a metal bar about 3 feet deep into the soil in each hole in the membrane and wiggled it around until I had a nice conical shaped hole. I then back filled each hole with compost mixed with superphosphate and fish blood and bone and then planted my carrot seeds. I did the same (with much deeper holes) for my parsnips.

I pulled a carrot from the allotment on Saturday to have a look and I’m really happy with the results. I’ve got perfect shaped carrots there with no root fly damage, but the flavour isn’t as good as the ones I’ve got a home. However this may be due to the variety I think being root fly resistant.

[rowlandwells]

i hold my hand  up to you CSChris89 you've done so well and what results you've had with your carrot crop I keep telling myself to use an iron bar because so many gardeners have told me to try that way and  i never gave using membrane a thought but its in my gardening dairy to try that method next season for both parsnips and carrot crops also using veggiemesh as a ground cover

not forgetting to use  plenty of superphosphate and compost that should really do the trick as i said in will be using pelleted seed and I've already been looking at a nates variety called Mercurio which is said to have a high level of bolting tolerance its commercial growers choice for bunching

very good reply and well worth trying many thanks for that info RW

[MrsPea]

I'm glad i'm not the only one who's carrots haven't come up, i've sown 3 pkts  the last pkt i have a few coming
now, next year i shall give it a miss the first year was great.