When is carrot fly active
Growing carrots can be a very tricky thing to do. Either you have the technique or they turn out wonky! You also have to try and avoid them being attacked by the dreaded carrot fly. Here we are going to give you tips to prevent carrot fly and when is carrot fly active.
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How to tell if your carrots have been attacked by carrot fly.
The best way to tell if your carrot has been affected by the dreaded carrot fly is the tops of them will often go yellow. When you cut the carrot up you will also see tunnels in the carrot. This will have been done by maggots that will have tunnelled into the root from the eggs that the carrot fly has laid near the plants.
What do carrot fly do?
Carrot flies themselves are not dangerous themselves. The only way they are dangerous is when they lay their eggs. They usually lay them in the soil. This is when they hatch and the maggots will crawl and nibble on the roots of the new carrot. This can cause the carrots to not grow in size and can stunt the growth. When the maggots get a taste for the carrots they will start to nibble into the carrots themselves and start tunnelling through them. This can destroy the insides of the carrots. It might not necessarily kill the carrots but it could stop it from forming properly.
When is carrot fly active?
Many gardeners and books will tell you that you should not mess with your carrot plants in the day time as that is when the carrot fly is active and that you should only mess with them at night. Carrot fly is active from May through to October. Carrot fly is usually in generations this is when one batch of carrot fly is born they then grow into flies and lay another set of eggs. This can be done usually three times a year.
One way to avoid carrot fly is to plant them late May this will then avoid the first generation of carrot fly that has been laid. You will then hopefully be pulling them before the next generation is laid.
How to prevent carrot fly
Carrot fly can be a real pain to gardeners, farmers and those that have allotments. Many techniques are used to try and prevent carrot fly though. Here we will go through all the carrot fly preventive measures.
Sowing:- Sowing carrots in the Summer will miss the first lot of carrot fly that hatches in Spring
Planting:- Try planting carrots in containers or raised beds, carrot fly seem to grow straight forward so planting like this can deter the carrot fly.
Horticultural Fleece:- This can prevent the carrot fly laying the eggs on the soil around the carrots. It is a worthwhile investment.
Carrot Varieties:- Why not choose a variety of carrot that is carrot fly resistant? They may not deter them fully but could produce better carrots than others.
Carrot Companion planting:– Why not try growing carrots near onions or chives? This could put off the carrot fly from the smell of the plants.
You will now know when carrot fly are most active and preventive measures to stopping the carrot fly from attacking your produce. We hope you have found these hints and tips useful.