Kitchen Garden Forum

will the carrot root fly be active yet and if not when will it be.
Regards Brenjon

May tends to be the start of the carrot fly season - not sure how the weather will affect them though!

Hi Brenjon,
I am going to cover my carrots with enviromesh from this weekend since I was always led to believe that when the cow parsley is in flower then the carrot fly will be active ! Round here cow parsley is just beginning to show white! The first wave attacks in May/june and then again later in the year.
Hilary

I assume they are permanent - sow under mesh, grow under mesh, remove the mesh when you clear the crop.

We put the mesh on as soon as we sow and leave it on - only removing for weeding
Our method is here http://glallotments.co.uk/CarrotFly.aspxon my website

glallotments wrote:We put the mesh on as soon as we sow and leave it on - only removing for weeding

Same here, and so far I've NEVER had any fly damage. I invested in enviromesh two years ago and I find it works. The main drawback is the cost
(around £30 for two 8x4 raised beds). I have ten raised beds, and four are normally covered with enviromesh. It DOES seem as though it will last for quite some time, so as far as I'm concerned, a worthwhile investment.

Cheers...freddy.

Freddy, I use mine on frames and have just repaired the frames made in 2005 (don't ask how I managed to run into the Carrot Cage with a loaded wheelbarrow) using the same mesh.

We make a frame to and have been using the same mesh for several years now- we buy the wide option

Without sounding like a tightwad *cough*..is there any reason that good old net curtain wouldn't be just as good as enviromesh? I have some EM, but really is very expensive and I just cut it too short for my new raised beds (doh!).

If the curtain is fine enough and doesn't have large holes - I can't see why it wouldn't work!