carrot harvest
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
YOu should be so lucky. 
Hardly any of our carrots came up this year and the ones that did got carrot root fly. I heard someone recently saying that they put their carrots in boxes of layered DRY compost and kept them in the garage where it was frost free, and it worked very well.
Hardly any of our carrots came up this year and the ones that did got carrot root fly. I heard someone recently saying that they put their carrots in boxes of layered DRY compost and kept them in the garage where it was frost free, and it worked very well.We keep ours in the ground till they are needed. We always lose some to slugs but overall but still get plenty to eat. I know it's too late for you, legraph, but Autumn King seems to keep best of all in the ground.
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Colin_M
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There's a separate thread with people asking almost the same questions (try a search to find it).
In this, one or two said they leave their's in the ground. Others felt very strongly that doing so could be a recipe for:
a) Much greater losses due to slug damage etc
b) Greater risk of Carrot fly problems next year if any of yours get attacked this year.
A few people pick theirs and either just store unwashed in a shed, or (if you can be bothered) in peat.
In this, one or two said they leave their's in the ground. Others felt very strongly that doing so could be a recipe for:
a) Much greater losses due to slug damage etc
b) Greater risk of Carrot fly problems next year if any of yours get attacked this year.
A few people pick theirs and either just store unwashed in a shed, or (if you can be bothered) in peat.
Hi Legraph,
To follow up on Colin's thread about increased problems from Carrot Root Fly.
Unless your crop has been fully protected against CRF very few Carrot crops escape this dreaded little varmint and if you leave your crop in the ground not only do you attract keeled slugs what is even worse is that you give the CRF maggots time to completely fulfil their life cycle and these maggots will pupate in the soil where your Carrots are and are then ready to hatch out the following year to cause their general mayhem to next years crop.
This is why you should rotate carrots and other root vegetables. Imagine growing Carrots on the same infected site next year. This would leave the CRF only a couple of inches away from your new crop.
I protect mine fully and do not suffer from CRF but there is no way that I would leave then in the ground for use as I need them. Mine are lifted and stored in boxes of dry peat. They then last me a complete season.
BTW Early Nantes should really have been eaten by now as it is not the perfect specimen for storage.
I grow Nantes 2 and Autumn King 2 and I store them
both but use the Nantes up first. Generally there are very few Nantes left for storing as these have generally been eaten by that time.
Autumn King will be quite happy in storage until at least next June by which time the new season Carrots are to the fore.
JB.
To follow up on Colin's thread about increased problems from Carrot Root Fly.
Unless your crop has been fully protected against CRF very few Carrot crops escape this dreaded little varmint and if you leave your crop in the ground not only do you attract keeled slugs what is even worse is that you give the CRF maggots time to completely fulfil their life cycle and these maggots will pupate in the soil where your Carrots are and are then ready to hatch out the following year to cause their general mayhem to next years crop.
This is why you should rotate carrots and other root vegetables. Imagine growing Carrots on the same infected site next year. This would leave the CRF only a couple of inches away from your new crop.
I protect mine fully and do not suffer from CRF but there is no way that I would leave then in the ground for use as I need them. Mine are lifted and stored in boxes of dry peat. They then last me a complete season.
BTW Early Nantes should really have been eaten by now as it is not the perfect specimen for storage.
I grow Nantes 2 and Autumn King 2 and I store them
both but use the Nantes up first. Generally there are very few Nantes left for storing as these have generally been eaten by that time.
Autumn King will be quite happy in storage until at least next June by which time the new season Carrots are to the fore.
JB.