[plotandy]

Have just got a new allotment. Whilst being shown the site I was told that carrots don't do to well. As I'd like to grow these (family favourite), I was trying to think of ways of improving the odds of them growing. The site is south facing lots of light, and the soil look in good condition, the problem I think could be that it is very stony.

My plan is to set the seed off in toilet roll tubes, using compost. The hope is that this will at least allow me to grow carrots 4" long.

Any other tips would be welcome.

[paintedlady]

Sometimes it is wise to listen to those who have been on the site a while as they have obviously had more experience of the problem, but you can grow even better carrots if you get an old bath or big barrel and fill with a mix of sand and compost and/or some of the soil riddled to remove the stones.  Growing them above ground level will also help to reduce carrot fly infestation too  

[compostqueen]

Yes they might have "the knowledge" but have maybe done nothing to help themselves    Glad you're going to try and buck the trend    

I accidentally grew some fab carrots but not in soil at all, just lotty made compost with* a bit of general purpose fertiliser scattered in a week or so before sowing. The seed was sown on a warm day in Feb but thereafter the weather was very cold so I gave up hope of germination but eventually they began to appear, albeit very patchily but it wasn;t long before I had loads of them. Best carrots I've ever grown.   We put it down to no overwintering slugs or carrot fly larvae etc

*Into the compost mix I added rotted leaves which I sieved and some grit sand.  I put the compost into a small pallet top raised bed

[woodburner]

I gre some 'amazing' carrots at home this year . . . .  You have never seen such crazy shapes!  :shock:   Well maybe you have, if your lottie neighbours have shown you their attempts.    

I have the opposite at my lottie, I am reliably informed that I will be able to grow very good carrots, and I do believe they will be straighter than the ones I gre at home as the soil is almost stone free up there.
If it weren't for the lottie I would be trying painted lady's suggestion with a bath, as I just happen to have one lying around.  :roll:  :o  

[MoreWhisky]

Being still new to all this i often hear ppl saying about if the ground is good/or not for growing carrots. More than any other crop.

Is our humble carrot some sort of soil benchmark? or an allotment god perhaps.

[Salmo]

Why do they not grow well?

If there is a big problem with carrot fly, there often is on old allotment sites, then adopt one of the up to date ways of protecting such as 2ft plastic barriers or mesh cloches. The idea of companion planting with onions is nice, but take it from me it does not work. All this stuff about old baths, barrells etc is alright if you have plenty of time and do not mind your plot looking like Steptoes yard.

I suspect the stoney soil is the problem. Choose one of the chantenay tvpe varieties that have shorter roots, or you can get extremely short varieties that give small squat roots. Do not be in a rush to plant, wait for the soil to warm up.

[sea dog]

High I had a bad first year with carrots although the soil is light it is fairly stoney I was told to put Jeuys powder down when I weeded and Thined.
The carrots grew well but I did not get to eat many if the carrot fly did not have them the chickens of the ajacent smallholding had a feast.
 :evil:
I am going for it this year have built frames to grow  them in which I need to cover with fleece my question would be are there two types of fleece or will the one of the roll in the local garden centre do :?:

[MoreWhisky]

carrot fly seems to get mentioned alot, is this as big a problem as im now worried about?

[Yorkie]

I think carrots are slightly more fussy about the type of soil which they need to thrive in, than some other plants.

I see very few carrots on my site - we're quite clayey rather than sandy, which can lead to problems.  However, leeks do really well instead.

As for the fly, it's always been around - it's just that it gets mentioned in dispatches whenever the troubles of the carrot are raised!

Also, we've had a series of milder winters so the eggs? larvae? (you can tell that O level Biology was a while ago...) of the carrot fly haven't been killed off as much as in previous years.

If you really want to grow carrots, the best way of minimising the risk is to cover them with fleece of sufficiently fine mesh to stop them flying in - from the moment they come through the earth.  Thin them out in the evening and try to touch the foliage as little as possible, as this releases a scent which attracts the flies.

It is said that if you create a barrier of not less than 24" high around the carrots, the fly can't get over it - but this is not foolproof (or even fly-proof).  Likewise, some people swear by planting onions nearby, but I think this method is less reliable than fleece / barrier.

Essay over.  One of these days I may even try to grow carrots myself!  it's amazing what you pick up on these forums  :roll:

[Roll Roll]

I grew carrots for the first time this year. I was told by an old hand that they dont like well fertilised soil as this this makes them go very long and "wispy"forming three or four carrots off the same plant, which are far to thin or long to be of any use.
Too late I had just dug in a load of horse manure.  IS THIS RIGHT??


Morrisons were selling off a load of terracotta pots cheap. I brought a large pot, about 18" tall (sorry but i dont know how to measure pots, is it top size or bottom size) anyway I grew them in there. they were doing fantastic, untill the chickens got at them, so I dont know if I did right.
I shall be fertilising again soon, but what of the carrots ?
any advice?
Sorry i cant help you Plotandy, but while we are on the subject.

[plotandy]

Wow thanks for all the replies, wasn't expecting such a quick response, much appreciated.

The idea behind my thinking was the whole bathtub idea but without the bathtub, by putting sufficient compost around each carrot.

As for carrot fly who knows, I'll try my luck. The site is relatively new so might not be too bad. Thought about planting spring onions amongst them but sounds like this might not help too much.

Would it be worth putting a coke bottle (cloche) over each carrot? this would raise the temperature and possibly keep out the flies? Any thoughts.

[Trillium]

carrot fly seems to get mentioned alot, is this as big a problem as im now worried about?

Generally, the UK has a serious carrot fly problem but some areas have little to no problem with them, so it's definitely something to keep in mind. Best to ask local veg growers if they have fly problems and you'll know for sure. The flies go mostly by scent. Some folk have luck interplanting with chives, others find this useless. Barriers seem to work well as does raising the growing area since the flies 'cruise' under 2 ft from the ground.

We apply manure over our whole growing area and don't have 'hairy' problems to any extent. I wouldn't add commercial fertilizer as it gives carrots a very artificial taste.

[corynsboy]

Hi Plotandy.

I think what you said about improving the odds for growing carrots is your best bet.  

You could try digging a narrow trench and sieving the soil to take out stones and perhaps mix in a bit of sand and general purpose compost.  I made my trench a week or so in advance so that I could hoe off the first growth of weeds before I sowed my seeds.  That way I only thinned  carrots and didn't have to flaff about with baby weds too.

It was a good hours work of digging and sieving and I was very bored but it worked out.  I still got flies because I did not think I needed fleece.  Whoops!  Won't make that mistake again.  Two weeks later i planted another row and didn't dig and sieve the soil.  The carrots were not as good but I did get the same amount of fly!

I tried the bucket route too.  http://growingyourownveg.blogspot.com/search/label/Roots
Chanteney in buckets.  Well worth a punt!

There are some solid tips above about deterring fly, but you're going have some casualties.  Just plant more carrots!