[GrannieAnnie]

Yeah, just grow A carrot, like Babe then!  Her carrot is called Terence!!!!

You've definitely got to grow some carrots.  This was my first good year for decent carrots after 4 years!  But they are beautiful!  I dug the last lot up just after Christmas and put them in dry sand in a box near the beetroot.  We are just coming to the end of them.

but if you've only got a small veg garden, then like some of the others say, grow some in pots or other containers.  A growbag would be a bit shallow, and too near the ground, but at least try.  It'll be worth it!!!!!

[Swee'pea]

or use the growbag on it's side which gives more root depth which would be perfeck for carrots n parsnips etc

[compostqueen]

If you buy carrots from the shops regularly then it's worth growing your own

They aren't a hassle at all and are well worth growing cos they're simply delish

[sharky]

or use the growbag on it's side which gives more root depth which would be perfeck for carrots n parsnips etc

Yep, will be growing them in grow bags turned vertical, also got a good place to put them, they will be about five foot off the ground.

[GrannieAnnie]

That'll fool the carrot fly okay!!!!

[Ann]

Carrots in the ground last year didn't do very well but the ones in containers did so this year I will just sow in containers.  You can't beat the taste of homegrown carrots

[Cazzy]

Home grown carrots take a lot of beating, sow your carrots thinly in between the rows of onions to confuse the fly, Thinly sown they need less thinning so the smell when you thin won't attract the fly, also just been told by a friend his dad puts blue plastic down between his carrot rows to confuse the fly. The idea is that it sees blue and thinks its the sky 'n goes straight by the carrots :?  anyone tried it?

I watched a youtube documentary/lecture style vid the other night about growing veg and the guy said that reflective material seems to do the trick with carrot fly, as you say, it confuses it by making it think its sky.

[muntjac]

the reason you dont get carrot fly in tubs is because,the carrot fly only flies about at about 24 to 30 inches from the ground ,so growing them higher defeats them .no head for hieghts them blighters

[Scribbler]

You must go for carrots, because the difference between home-grown and shop-bought is simply mind-blowing. You won't regret it.

[GrannieAnnie]

Carrots in the ground last year didn't do very well but the ones in containers did so this year I will just sow in containers.  You can't beat the taste of homegrown carrots

Strangely enugh Ann, the carrots I grew in the old bathtub, didn't do as well as the ones in the ground!!!

[londongardener]

I grow my carrots in water butts that have no bottom. I fill the containers leaving about 10 inches at the top and then sow my carrots, had no bother with carrot fly so far as they can't fly that high

Are they decent water butts that you have converted ?  Or damaged ones you have got hold off ?  If the later where from ?

[mkhenry]

Carrots in the ground last year didn't do very well but the ones in containers did so this year I will just sow in containers.  You can't beat the taste of homegrown carrots

Strangely enugh Ann, the carrots I grew in the old bathtub, didn't do as well as the ones in the ground!!!

The most likely reason for carrots not doing so well in a bath tub is down to them being a little cold in a cold wet season.  I always stack some straw around a steel or iron container so that when the sun warms up the soil it stays warm at night,  otherwise it gets even colder and never quite warms enough during the sunless days.

If in doubt as you go by feel the side of the container then do it again in the evening,  if its cold it needs some insulation.  

[gobs]

Can we conclude that all sorts of stress can cause forking in carrots, Grandpa?

[mkhenry]

Can we conclude that all sorts of stress can cause forking in carrots, Grandpa?

Yeb.