[Azazello]

My carrot growing on the allotment has been blighted by the little nuisances. I love fresh carrots more than most of the veg I've grown and have to find a way round this problem.

So I thought I might try them in the garden this year. We live in a row of semi-detached cottages with fencing around each garden, a few hedges here and there, standard kind of height, 5-7 feet. There's a park or two nearby but no extensive cultivation. The allotment's a mile or so away.

Do you think it'll be safe to sow them uncovered in the garden or would I be better off using fleece, just to be certain?  

[JayG]

The only entirely safe way of protecting carrots from carrot fly is to grow under protective netting from start to finish (and in a patch of soil which wasn't used for growing carrots, parsnips or parsley last year as the pupae can overwinter in the soil before emerging as flies in spring.)

Enviromesh or similar is better than fleece (stronger, longer-lasting and lets more light in.)

Some people get away with companion planting to "fool" the flies, or take advantage of their poor flying ability by growing them at least 2'6" above the surrounding ground or behind a vertical barrier of the same height. Neither technique is foolproof though, so you still need some luck, which of course is impossible to quantify in advance.

[DD.]

Seconded.

[Azazello]

Thanks for the replies - I'll try some Enviromesh. I was talking to one of the gardeners at Wisley about this and he thought Enviromesh would be too big and let the flies through and recommended fleece.

If the only safe route is to cover the crop, I may as well grow them covered at the allotment. Can get loads more in then.

Thanks again.

[DD.]

Sorry to say this, the guy at Wisley is wrong!

[Azazello]

He can be as wrong as anyone else I guess. The truth is though that you can't assume that you won't get carrot fly just because you have a fenced off garden.

I have some Enviromesh as it happens and don't have to buy fleece so I'm glad he was wrong!