[Lazy Daisy]

Hi, back again. My next is carrots. I have bought seeds called 'Early Nantes 5' (not sure what the 5 means). Intend to do about 3 or 4 rows about 9" apart and about 6' long. Do I do a full row at a time with about 2 weeks apart between each row or something totally different. Again I am in West Yorkshire on a plot 11' x 6' with 3' or 4'  of the length taken up already

[Lardman]

Sounds about right. Sow them all at once and then start eating the thinnings as you go leaving some to get bigger. I tried successional sowing stuff but couldn't get the hang of it. Now I eat small veg, medium veg and large veg and sometimes just a lot of veg 

Don't forget to protect them from carrot fly, and don't plant them where you've recently put manure otherwise they'll just fork.

[Lazy Daisy]

Thank Lardman, just put a little homemade compost on and a little growmore so not too worried about forking. Not sure about the carrot fly, have heard about it but not too sure what to do.

[Eatyourgreens]

If you are sowing direct, it often means you need to thin out overcrowded seedlings, when you do this you release smells that attract the root fly. To lesson the problem you should:

1 Tidy up any removed seedlings and water the ones left to settle the soil around them.

2 Grow companion plants that cover the smell.

3 Avoid thinning by very careful sowing in containers for example I grow 5 seeds in 8 inch pipes set in the ground so no thinning.

4 The fly are only supposed to fly low so grow in tall containers.



Bob

[Salmo]

Carefully sow the seeds about an inch apart down the row and you will not have to thin. This takes time and patience but you do not have a big plot.
An alternative is to sow in a band 3 inches wide. Cultivate the band, sprinkle on the seeds, rake the band to bury the seeds and tamp down gently with the back of the rake. It will need careful hand weeding but you get a lot of carrots in a small space.

The information pages on this site are well worth looking at for basic veg growing techniques.

[Kristen]

Does anyone "broadcast" Carrot seed?  I did that last year (4' wide raised bed) and it seemed successful - carrots reasonably spaced etc.

[lucywil]

Does anyone "broadcast" Carrot seed?  I did that last year (4' wide raised bed) and it seemed successful - carrots reasonably spaced etc.

i am going to try that today, i have sowed some in rows under a cover and i am going to broadcast sow the rest without a cover to see what happens

[Kristen]

Hard to tell weeds from Carrots at early stage perhaps, but TBH I didn't do anything about weeding for quite a while after sowing 

[KarooPaul]

Slightly veering away from the original question, I've wondered about the low flying ability of carrot fly. If true, how would they ever get over garden fences? Would raised beds pose an altitude problem for them? Or are these peskies only a problem in open spaces?

Paul

[DD.]

They wouldn't get over garden fences, if your garden was totally enclosed, but how many are.

Raised beds would need to be at least 24" high.

[Lazy Daisy]

Can't I surround the area by a plastic fence say a foot high or has it to be higher. Other than that I will have to take the cleaning up bit. Have heard pot marigold and chives work so may have a go at them also.

[senrab_nhoj]

Slightly veering away from the original question, I've wondered about the low flying ability of carrot fly. If true, how would they ever get over garden fences? Would raised beds pose an altitude problem for them? Or are these peskies only a problem in open spaces?

Paul

Its not just the low flying... its that they are not very good a manoeuvering up and down quickly....

... so if you have carrots with a 24" barrier around your carrots and not tooo wide it works, but enclosing your entire plot with a 6' barrier probably wouldnt

[Eatyourgreens]

Have heard pot marigold and chives work so may have a go at them also.

I am a Pot Marigold fan and always grow them in my garden and in the veg plot, if nothing else they attract lots of good insects , and all the Onion family are supposed to help with Carrot Root Fly.

But the careful or no thinning and keeping tidy is good practice.


Bob

PS Any salad worth it's salt is improved by a handful of Marigold petals sprinkled around especially if you want kids to eat more salad.