freshly pulled carrots
Just went up to my allotment to pull a few carrots for tea and I was quite happy with the size and colour and was looking forward to eating them later. On closer inspection one has been attacked by the dreaded carrot fly.
Well that’s not strictly true, as it’s not the carrot fly that attacks carrots but the grub of the carrot fly. The adult carrot fly lays its eggs in the soil adjacent to the growing carrots. As the grub develops it burrows into the carrot leaving the scarring and tunnelling you can see in the image below. thus making the carrot inedible. So lesson learnt next season I’ll be doing what I should have done when I sowed these seeds back in July.
Apparently the carrot fly cannot fly any higher than two foot (60cms) so I will have to put a fence around my carrots next season. This can be of wood or plastic sheeting or even net curtain, it should cover the whole sides but leave the top clear so water and light can get to the crop. So no excuses next season, just need to nick some of my wife’s net curtains.
damage by carrot fly