GIY Ireland, Together We Grow

Last year the carrot fly paid a visit and I lost most of the crop. I’m not taking any chances next year so will plant onions around the carrots combined with some kind of barrier. What would you recommended, Enviromesh or Micro mesh?? And is there any real difference between the two apart from the Micro mesh being heavier duty ??

     

hi Liam

I wait until later in the year to sow carrots and it seems to work better than a barrier - i wait until first week in June to sow my main crop.  Germination is also more reliable at this time of year.  I do an earlier sowing (in Feb) in the polytunnel where root fly are not generally a problem.

hope that helps.
Michael

     

Thanks Michael.
I’ve had some lovely carrots for the past few years and never had a problem with carrot fly. When sowing seed I normally take the time to pick out and space one seed at a time. It saves thinning out later on. However last year I didn’t bother with this and I may have attracted the fly by thinning. Next year I will resort back to the old way of spacing the seed and sow later as you suggested. This combined with any other measures I can take will hopefully sort it out.
Is it possible to use a garlic spray with ecover washing up liquid as a deterrent also?