Garden And Gardener

Everything for the Gardener and their Garden

Growing carrots

Monday, November 24th, 2014

Carrots need lovely soft fine soil, on the sandy side, with no rocks or lumps of manure in it.
John Innes number three is recommended by Pete on our allotment site. Once he’s harvested carrots he then uses that bed for a crop of lettuce which do really well.
He has a purpose built cover for the carrot bed to keep the carrot fly off. This is made with fleece mesh over a structure.

You can buy products to help remove the carrot fly risk.
Carrot flies lay eggs and it’s the larvae that eat the carrots.


Nemasys ‘Grow Your Own’ Multiple Pest Killer
 £8.99
A unique mix of nematodes to target a broad range of pests including carrot root fly, cabbage root fly, leatherjackets, cut worms, onion fly, ants, sciarid fly, caterpillars, gooseberry sawfly, thrips and codling moth. Just follow the application programmes, which targets the pests when they are active, from April to October. 60msquared pack (or 16 trees).Pack contains living organism, and should be kept refrigerated on arrival, and used before the expiry date, approximately 3 to 4 weeks from date of despatch. Please allow 7-10 days for delivery. (Please note: This product is not available in Eire.)

Carrot Patio Planters
 £14.99
Carrots aren’t a traditional choice for patio growing, as most containers aren’t deep enough to allow roots to develop properly. But now, with these specially designed planters, you can grow a bumper crop on your back doorstep. Made from tough polypropylene, in an attractive orange-red carrot colour, with drainage holes to prevent waterlogging, they can be reused year after year. Complete with handy growing guide. Planters measure 30cm (12) x 45cm (18) x 30cm (12) high.BUY 2 GET A 3RD FREE – on any of the following items:581757 Vegetable Planters581585 Short Balcony Planters586464 Strawberry Planters582709 Carrot Patio Planters582719 Cane Patio Planter580990 Easy-harvest Patio Potato Planters

Carrot Patio Planters plus FREE SEEDS
 £26.98
Grow a bumper crop of carrots on your back doorstep! Unlike most containers, these are deep enough to allow roots to develop properly. Made from tough polyethylene, with drainage holes, they can be reused year after year. Complete with growing guide and a FREE packet of seeds of delicious and easy-to-grow carrots. Planters measure 30cm (12) x 45cm (18) x 30cm (12) high. 4 Planters Plus FREE seeds.

Easy Micromesh Tunnel
 £19.99
The galvanised wire hoops are built into the cover, and the tunnels fold away concertina-style for easy storage. Drawstring feature enables open or closed ends for ventilation or maximum protection. Length 3m (10′), width 45cm (18), height 30cm (12). Micromesh Tunnel – Ultra-fine 0.6mm mesh, which is small enough to keep out cabbage rootfly, carrot fly, white fly, onion fly, flea beetle, vine weevil, aphids and others, while allowing air and water through.Buy any 2 of the Easy Tunnels – Polythene, Fleece, Net, Micromesh – and get a third FREE!

Enviromesh
 £17.99
Acts as a barrier to most garden pests including carrot and cabbage root flies, caterpillars, birds, rabbits, as well as weather damage but also retains heat to give some frost protection. Because it is a ‘mesh’ it allows air and water to freely circulate. Size 4.5m (15′) x 2.1m (7′).

Enviromesh
 £31.98
Acts as a barrier to most garden pests including carrot and cabbage root flies, caterpillars, birds, rabbits, as well as weather damage but also retains heat to give some frost protection. Because it is a ‘mesh’ it allows air and water to freely circulate. Size 4.5m (15′) x 2.1m (7′).

Giant Micromesh Growing Tunnel
 £27.99
The ultimate insect barrier for fruit and vegetables! It has an ultra-fine mesh size of 0.6mm x 0.6mm, which is small enough to keep out Cabbage Root Fly, Carrot Fly, White Fly, Onion Fly, Flea Beetle, Vine Weevil, aphids and others, while at the same time allowing air and water to pass through easily. Made from U.V. stablished, 90gsm mono-filament woven polyethylene with a soft green tint that retains warmth and prevents scorching. Its drawstring ends can be left open or closed. And, with rust proof galvanised steel hoops built in, the tunnel folds away quickly and neatly. Length 3m (10′), width 60cm (2′), height 45cm (18).

Micromesh Carrot Fly and Pest Barrier
 £22.99
Protect your carrot, parsnip, celery and parsley crops from carrot-fly (which do not fly at greater altitudes than the height of the screen) whilst simultaneously protecting them from wind damage, flea beetles, rabbits and cats. The Micromesh fabric is the finest gauge mesh available (0.6mm), and is used by millions of gardeners worldwide. Each pack contains two sheets of fabric, each measuring 4m (13′) long x 90cm (3′) high and including 5 integral 90cm (3′) bamboo canes.

Micromesh Carrot Fly/Pest Barrier
 £41.98
Protect your carrot, parsnip, celery and parsley crops from carrot-fly (which do not fly at greater altitudes than the height of the screen) whilst simultaneously protecting them from wind damage, flea beetles, rabbits and cats. The Micromesh fabric is the finest gauge mesh available (0.6mm), and is used by millions of gardeners worldwide. Each pack contains two sheets of fabric, each measuring 4m (13′) long x 90cm (3′) high and including 5 integral 90cm (3′) bamboo canes.

Nemasys ‘Grow Your Own’ Multiple Pest Killer
 £13.98
A unique mix of nematodes to target a broad range of pests including carrot root fly, cabbage root fly, leatherjackets, cut worms, onion fly, ants, sciarid fly, caterpillars, gooseberry sawfly, thrips and codling moth. Just follow the application programmes, which targets the pests when they are active, from April to October. 60msquared pack (or 16 trees).Pack contains living organism, and should be kept refrigerated on arrival, and used before the expiry date, approximately 3 to 4 weeks from date of despatch. Please allow 7-10 days for delivery. (Please note: This product is not available in Eire.)

Cold nights in May

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Two leaf seedling stage of carrotIt’s nights like these your plants will appreciate a fleece cover if they’re delicate! Or a greenhouse heater!
It’s probably going to be frosty tonight across the UK so I hope your plants are all ok. I’ve got nothing outside that’s particularly fragile but I have got a lot of tomato plants in the greenhouse.

Have been investigating the price of paraffin and comparing it to electric heating. It seems mad almost to heat such an uninsulated space – and I suppose many people do actually use bubble wrap in their greenhouses – but at the cost of light.

Today’s picture is of carrot seedlings just coming through! Just goes to show that they look just like lots of other plants seedlings even though they grow up to have completely different leaves! We’re growing two types of carrots – some Early Nantes and some Chantenay carrots.

Carrots in tubs

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

We didn’t put our carrots in tubs. But maybe we should have done. It appears an awful lot of people on our allotment site plant their carrots in containers. There’s someone with three huge dustbins packed full of them. I’m not sure how big they get – but I’m going to be there when he pulls them up!

Here’s some in a washing up bowl! It’s not a hugely deep container – but they’ve certainly done better than our carrots which seem to be buried in the chickweed!

carrots

At least I think they’re carrots! They certainly look like them to me!  If they’re not – then please get in touch and tell me what they are!

Allotment was damp and cold this morning but busy. Our weeds are causing a nusiance and my other half has finally ordered a petrol strimmer which should be here on Wednesday – so he’ll be reviewing it then! And I’ll also show you some photos hopefully of our tidier plot!

We’ve got plenty of pea flowers, broad beans flowering nicely and the runner beans have started budding their pretty red flowers too!

The tomatoes are swelling gently in the relative warmth of the greenhouse and they got fed again today.

The basil is looking more promising and I have stuck some vine stems in a pot of soil in the hope of getting some to root so I can inflict them on friends and family!

The butternut squash at the allotment looks suitable blown about, but the ones at home are looking much better – they’ve been a bit more sheltered from the last days weather and were a bit bigger too. June should be ok for putting everything out, but it’s a bit cold and bleak today.

The onions look great – will definately be doing some different types next year, so maybe two beds of them!

onion

Looking green and healthy – and we weeded this entire bed before we came home – we could sense the rain was coming in and we did get back just in time.

So much chickweed this year it’s quite shocking. Even the tray of plants a friend gave me had some in! So it’s not confined to the allotment plot! I was given some chinese vegetables which I put in the bed with the broadbeans, leeks and a new row of carrots. It’s a very mixed bed – which might or might not be a bad idea yet.