Growing carrots - successes and Failures

Growing Carrots – the failures and more importantly, the successes

Well, I’ve been trying to grow carrots for many years, always on totally unsuitable soil and it really isn’t my favourite vegetable! However, I do love a challenge and I can learn to love the vegetable which is a rarity – yes I know I can buy them in the supermarket for a couple of pounds a kilo but, that is not the same as growing them successfully and enjoying the produce from my allotment.

My ground is heavy clay though, the advantage is that there are few stones in this clay. One year, when we had appropriate weather in every month throughout the growing season [yes! it really did happen one year!], I spent hours digging a suitable trench using a small Chillington hoe [like a mattock !] breaking up the ground across my plot and wide enough to sow two rows of carrots – if I remember rightly it was a fairly reliable variety – Autumn King.

My crop was a brilliant success and I enjoyed this flavoursome variety for several weeks with no carrot root fly attacks until I had finished the crop – I was impressed with my success.

The following year – the weather was okay, allowing me to till the ground thoroughly at the right time and I tried again with the same variety as well as a couple of varieties suggested by my daughter who likes to explore new and different varieties [I tried white carrots – Blanc a Colet Vert and purple carrots – Purple Haze]. The maincrop variety – Autumn King was ripped apart by carrot root fly and the crop was totally useless although I had prepared the ground thoroughly to encourage good germination, establishment and growth. The purple carrots had not been attacked so badly and the white carrots – not at all.

The white carrots were able to stay in the ground over several months, into winter and grew to about 25 – 30 cm [10 -12 inches] in length with little carrot fly damage. I found that as the winter progressed the roots became tougher and woodier and in frosty weather were difficult to dig up with some slug damage in the early spring.

The story goes that carrot root fly don’t fly above 30cm [12 inches]. Well, I’m here to tell you that carrot root fly have not read the manual!

A friend – who did love his carrots – built me a ‘carrot box’ on legs, which sits a metre [39 inches] above ground [of course, if we believe what the experts tell us, this will really beat them. The box is 1 metre wide and 1½ metres long. I filled it with new, good quality compost and sowed a couple of varieties of carrots – 5 rows in total. The germination was excellent, I thinned carefully and harvested when the carrots were at their best – but! they were full of carrot root fly larvae! Since then [I use the ‘carrot box’ as a seedbed for brassicas or lettuces].

Over successive years, I have prepared my seedbeds carefully, covered with environmesh, covered with netting [last year the pigeons ate the tops off my emerging crops!], sown fly resistant varieties, protected from slugs but, all

with variable success.

I continue, undaunted! And of course, the carrots become more useful and more delicious as a consequence.

My friend and colleague, Pete, told me he grows his carrots successfully in his poly tunnel [although his poly-tunnel is very much larger than mine – therein lies a problem – crops in greenhouses and poly-tunnels must be watered and on most allotments, that means carrying the water – the larger the greenhouse/poly-tunnel the more watering must be done on a very regular basis].

This year, I have grown a couple of rows of carrots in my poly tunnel – Early Nantes. They have been brilliant, providing me with a crop as I was planting my tomato crops into the same ground as the carrots were harvested and the tomatoes were planted. This worked well [well, this year anyway!] and I was able to harvest thinnings; early carrots; and really chunky but, tender roots while the tomato plants were developing. This was a good system except for the fact that I leave the door of my poly-tunnel open as soon as the risk of frost has passed and carrot root fly has attacked the roots closest to the doorway.

I assume they will now be aware of my poly-tunnel and will attack all crops there.

I have sown white carrots on my plot – Crème de Lite – which have been attacked aggesssively by pests leaving 2mm holes in the roots – is this really a super carrot root fly or something else?

This year, I sowed a couple of large tubs of mixed carrots – Purple Haze and Ideal Red [which is amazingly orange coloured] in my back garden. They have been brilliant – tender, delicious and flavoursome. I could almost be persuaded to think of carrots as my new best vegetable! Perhaps carrot root fly have not yet discovered this part of Bristol!

However, while the ground conditions might not defeat me, it is possible that carrot root fly will succeed. Any and all advice would be really appreciated.

Sowing Carrots and Poisonous Spring Bulbs

I shall start with the spring bulbs. They are beautiful and cheerful and make us feel good on a spring day no matter what the weather. What stunning colours they present. However, I have just had a text message from my cousin telling me he is in hospital. He has poisoned himself. He has eaten a daffodil bulb mistakenly thinking it was an onion. And, he is an adult. But, in the case of daffodils, it is an easy mistake to make, they do look similar. It is important to know that all or almost all spring flower bulbs are poisonous. Some, like the daffodil can even poison other flowers - try putting tulips or hyacinths in a vase with daffodils and see what happen to them. Some very strongly scented spring bulb flowers, like hyacinths can also give some people a headache if brought into the house. Please make sure young children don't mistake the bulbs for something edible. And, please don't eat any plant unless you know what it is and know that it is safe.

At this time of year I feel torn between waiting until the weather has warmed up a bit, and feeling that I'm running out of time - I must 'get on with it'. That said, it is a time for digging and, as that takes so much time on my very heavy ground that I really just have to keep working through the planting and 'chores'. I have now planted all my early and 2nd early potatoes. I have even planted two ridges of maincrops. British Queen (which I haven't grown before) and Mayan Gold ( I think they are maincrop. I also haven't grown them before but, have read such wonderful reports of them that I just had to try them). Actually the Mayan Gold didn't chit well. Although set out at the same time as the other potatoes, they have become slightly 'wizened'. I don't know if this will affect their growth, it hasn't happened to me before. I will report back on the success (or otherwise) of them later in the year.
It's worth noting that the potatoes I had planted in my polytunnel on 9th February are now well up above the ridges - excellent! But, I have also noted that some of the leaves have clearly been 'touched' by frost - not so excellent, (presumably on one of the very cold nights we've had lately). Although I have put fleece on my outdoor potatoes, I didn't think it necessary to do so in the tunnel. I don't think it will have done too much harm - I hope!

And, so to carrots. I didn't like them much when I was younger but, I have definitely acquired a taste for them. It upsets me somewhat that my ground is so unsuitable for growing them. Those that do grow, especially those wonderful, chunky, crispy, carroty-flavoured Autumn King, are also loved by carrot root fly. I did have a great crop from them two years ago when I sowed them early ( March/early April). A later crop, even interplanted with marigolds was destroyed. As I said in an earlier BLOG, the carrots I sowed in a carrot box (1 metre off the ground) were also attacked by carrot root fly - except for the white carrots (Blanc a Colet Vert - from The Real Seed Catalogue - wonderful, crunchy, flavoursome carrots). So much for the belief that carrot root fly can't fly above 30cm!
My daughter, who is lucky enough to have an allotment in London ( much different type of soil from mine. Hers is a beautiful, fine sandy tilth - very suitable for growing carrots) has also had problems with carrot root fly. This year we are each trying out different types to see what grows best on our land and resists carrot root fly. She has left a comment on a previous BLOG which I feel is worth adding here:-

- Having only just lifted the last of my 2010 carrots (oops! probably should have lifted them by now), I would love to add to the comments on carrot root fly. I sowed 'rainbow mix' last year as I love the different colours and flavours that you get. When I lifted the last of them 2 weeks ago I expected to dig up what was left after the carrot root flies had had their fill (not a pleasant sight as I am sure you all know). This was the case of the purple variety (cosmic purple) but the yellow variety were not only huge but almost untouched(one carrot has one rusty line through the top) - variety solar yellow. I couldn't believe it. Brilliant - didnt even know carrots would over winter.- ( Cliodhna - 21st March 2011)

So far this spring, in spite of Cliodhna's comments about purple carrots - well I had already bought the seeds, I have sown Purple Haze ( Dobies); Amsterdam Forcing ( Dobies); F1 Maestro ( Dobies). The latter two were sown in a raised bed and, as they have been developed for early sowing, I'm hoping they will be early enough to avoid the little blighters. I have also sown some seed which have been developed to be fly resistent - in this case Mr Fothergill's F1 Flyaway. More later, and I hope Cliodhna will also give me a list of what she is growing.

I have noticed that my asparagus is showing above ground - even it thinks it is spring. I had noticed it a couple of weeks ago and thought it was too early so, I earthed it up a bit. But, now I will just let it grow.