Carrot Root Fly

May is nearly upon us, which means it’s nearly carrot root fly season again. Carrot fly attacks can range from merely a minor inconvenience to a full-scale disaster depending upon when they strike. Typically they strike when you’re thinning out the carrots as they are attracted by the smell. Unfortunately this is the very time when the carrot fly does the most damage to your harvest. However you don’t have to suffer, there are a number of ways of keeping the carrot flies at bay.

Companion Planting

Some gardeners swear by growing carrots and onions together, claiming that the smell of the onion deters the carrot fly and the smell of the carrots deter the onion fly. I cannot comment on how effective this is, as I’ve never attempted it. Its always seemed a little hit and miss to me.

Seasonal Timing

The female carrot flies lay their eggs around May, this batch of larvae eats its way through your carrots before then being ready to start laying more eggs in August. Therefore it is possible to sow carrots late – mid May, and avoid the first batch of the carrot root fly. Once the second batch comes around you will hopefully be in a position to start harvesting them.

Fencing them Out

Carrot root flies aren’t very good at flying, strange as it may sound. They will only fly about 18 inches (45 cm) above the ground. As a result, it is perfectly possible to fence the carrot flies out, simply by erecting a barrier that is about 2 foot tall. I tend to use polythene for this purpose, as it’s cheap and effective. However there are fine meshes that do the same job, whilst being more resilient than polythene, not to mention being better looking! Why not take a look at our range of netting and mesh suitable for keeping out carrot fly.

Root Fly Netting Cabbage and Carrot£24.95

HEAVY DUTY UV POLYTHENE 2MX6M£13.99