Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Digger Tom on May 04, 2010, 12:41
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I have read a lot about Carrots & the problem with carrot root fly. It seems the little blighters have trouble flying above 2 foot high so I have had a think.
Here is my new super duper all improved carrot growing mechanism, also known as my Carrot Table. It is just 5 old pallets stacked on top of one another with some old recycling tubs on top which hold 70 litres of compost each. I figure that they should be well above the fly's flight path but just to make sure I am going to fleece them tommorow.
This is probably not a new idea but I am kinda proud of it.
(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b357/tomfgd/Image026-1.jpg)
Modify - the back left tub has my leeks in it at the moment.
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Great idea, although being a compulsive experimenter I'd be leaving one of the containers unprotected to see if it actually works (the only carrots I grow are in a 2'6" chimney pot and the technique almost works perfectly!)
(Glad to see I'm not the only one whose leeks look more like grass seedlings at the moment!) ::)
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Are they just storage boxes with holes drilled? You must keep us posted to see if it works because even I could stack a few pallets..........surely??? ???
I've just sowed my carrots in a 2 foot bed and will wrap some fleece up around the sides and cross my fingers.
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Glad to see the Sheffield council tax payer is willing to supply boxes. At least you will be able to re-cycle the old compost and carrot tops afterwards.
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Glad to see the Sheffield council tax payer is willing to supply boxes. At least you will be able to re-cycle the old compost and carrot tops afterwards.
Think it's Harlow council Salmo (no such generosity from Sheffield City Council - not yet anyway!) ::)
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Glad to see the Sheffield council tax payer is willing to supply boxes. At least you will be able to re-cycle the old compost and carrot tops afterwards.
Think it's Harlow council Salmo (no such generosity from Sheffield City Council - not yet anyway!) ::)
Correct. The box's are what we used to have before we wheere forced to use wheelie bins. I just went round the neighbours & asked if they had spares.
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Great idea, although being a compulsive experimenter I'd be leaving one of the containers unprotected to see if it actually works
Not a bad idea that, think I may try it.
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What if they can read :lol: . change the labels to onions wink wink.
sorry its the beer!
otherwise great idea. Although I cant buy the fact that carrot fly cant fly over 2 feet. But cant they climb over 2 feet?
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Looks fab!
I'm going to see what recycling boxes I can purloin. I'm sure we've got 3 ourselves as we kept adding to them before we realised what we really needed was a blue bin!
We don't get bins forced on us... but the boxes were never big enough so I ended up buying another box, another box and eventually caved in and paid out another £15 for the blue bin...
:)
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Ok, I have fleeced two box's & left one au-natural as a control.
Fingers crossed.
(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b357/tomfgd/Image028-1.jpg)
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Ok here is an update on the experiment.
All the carrots are growing although the ones under fleece seem to be fairing a bit better than the undovered ones. Probably becuase the fleece is keeping them a tiny bit warmer.