Kitchen Garden Forum

I've been growing carrots in my garden for the last ten years but have always been plagued by carrot fly. I've tried various methods to combat the dreaded pest -companion planting and covering the crop with fleece. However earlier this year my dad met a vegetable grower who gave him this method-
Take a bucket full of nettles and fill with water, cover and leave for three weeks. Dilute the nettle liqued with quite a large amount of water and spray regularly on to the carrots. It acts not only as a deterrant but also as a feed. I have to say that I was a little sceptical that somthing so simple would work but I've started pulling lovely 8" carrots and not a sign of root fly! My father who also tried it has not seen a sgn of the pest either.
Has anyone else tried this? Or do you think it's a fluke! The nettle mixture smells absolutely foul so presumabely the flys hate the smell!
Regards Gracie

Gracie,
That seems a lot of trouble to go to when if you were to use environmesh and make sure that it is properly secured you are home and dry.
JB.

Perhaps the horrible smell of the nettle tea completely masks the smell of the carrot tops so the flies can't find them. I think that is the idea of planting them alongside onions and other smelly plants, but your nettle brew sounds to be more effective.

How often did you spray the carrots? I wondered because it's been such a wet summer. I think I'll try it next year. I only seem to get pest free carrots by encasing the whole bed in enviromesh.

Hi Plumpudding I think I've sprayed them every couple of weeks since they were about 6" high. but it wasn't alot of work I just kept a bottle of spray next to the carrot row.
I do agree Johnboy that it seems alot to do when you can cover the row with enviromesh but I always seem to get alot of chickweed under my fleece and which takes over from the carrots, then when I try and weed them I end up pulling out all the carrots, this year I was able to keep on top of the weeds abit more easily without the cover on.
Regards Gracie

Gracie - hope you pick this up as it is some time since the last post. My hiusband spent some time searching through back numbers of Kitchen Garden for the info on carrot fly. Although he has been a subscriber for several years this is the first time I've visited the forum. Could you give me some idea of what 'quite a lot of water' means? 5 - 1? Half a cup to a watering can? It would be helpful to get some idea.
Many thanks.

Rusty

Hi Gracie,

That's a great tip thanks. i know about enviromesh but when your plot is also your (very small) garden where we regularly entertain its nice for the place to look tidy and nice and enviromesh always seems to take up a lot of space. I don't have any nettles here but there is a large area of waste ground not too far away where they thrive, i'm sure if i took a few nettles from there it wouldn't be a problem.

hi smurfy,we used envoiremesh a couple of times and while it worked weeds and thinning out was a problem so the other half built me a couple of raised beds as apparently the little darlings only fly to a certain height,i don't know how they know when they're high enough perhaps they carry a ruler in their back pocket Anyway result is lovely carrots and the beds look rather fetching.Macmac

Thanks Macman - i've bought some tall containers this year so will try in them. Thanks for your advice

Hi MM,
It's a bit of a myth that Carrot Root Flies always fly low down. I'm afraid that they are the same as all the other flies and fly and several different heights. Having said that when the CRF is looking to lay its eggs then it will lay its eggs right on top of the soil alongside a Carrot so this is where the low flying myth occurs.
As for the person troubled with Chick weed well here is probably the best tip ever to be posted on this forum.
Prepare your seed bed for Carrots and then use a gas gun or blow lamp on the surface which will kill of those annual weed seeds that are ready to invade your row of Carrot seeds and then cover with enviromesh.
You cannot expect to have a complete kill but certainly it would decrease the Chickweed by a goodly amount.
JB.

Johnboy, I'm glad you have said it's a myth about carrot fly only being low flying.
My garden is on a slope(approx.45 degrees), so I have never been sure how to combat lowflying flies. If they come from the top of the garden, they would be higher than any raised container I chose !
So far I haven't bothered and "touch wood" have had no problems.

Is it beyond the wit of man to invent something which will attract carrot and cabbage root fly to their doom before reaching their target.
Arthur

Dear WestHamRon, since your plot is on a 45degree incline, and you have not been troubled, maybe then they cannot fly at that angle to get to the top of the high ground, to be able to fly back down again.

Just a thought.

oldherbaceous wrote:Dear WestHamRon, since your plot is on a 45degree incline, and you have not been troubled, maybe then they cannot fly at that angle to get to the top of the high ground, to be able to fly back down again.

Just a thought.

As strange as it sounds, OH, that is the probably the reason why I have been lucky. At the top end of my garden is a paddock and then the South Downs. As far as I know no-one is growing carrots up there, so there would be no reason for the flies to be up there.
Or am I being simple ?
I'm not very good with sarcasm on t'internet.

Dear WestHamRon, it sounds a lovely place to be.

Hi WHR,
Carrot Root Flies also attack members of the Wild Carrot Family.
The Carrot in an Umbellifer and this is the Cow Parsley Family and I am sure that you have many of these growing within shouting distance of your place. Certainly they may be a ground hugging fly but this doesn't mean that when the need arises they can fly as high and as far as any other fly.
JB.