Outwitting the Carrot Fly
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- July
- 16
Ask the master gardeners
Q: I cannot seem to grow carrots that do not have nasty holes in them. My neighbors do not have this problem. Is it the soil?
A: Your neighbors are probably planting their carrots later than you do. The holes and tunnels are made by the larva of the carrot fly. The fly lays eggs on early planted carrots between the stem and the root. When the eggs hatch the larva eat into the carrot. By planting in June you can avoid the worst of the damage as you have bypassed the egg laying stage in the life cycle of the carrot fly.
Nancy Ross, master gardener, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester
This entry was posted
on Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 6:14 pm by Bill Cary.
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Bill Cary grew up in Louisville, Ky. His gardening was limited to growing parsley and impatiens on the windowsill of Manhattan walkups until the mid-1990s when he bought a rundown old chicken farm on 8 acres in the Hudson Valley. Now he spends his weekends chasing deer, hacking away at invasive shrubs and vines and wondering why he doesn`t have more meadow and less lawn.
