Growing Carrots

Don't feed carrots, this will only encourage the greenery at the expense of the carrot growth. If your soil is sandy it needs improvement with well-rotted compost or other humus material. The reason is that carrots like water and sandy soil does not hold water. Early carrots do better on sandy soil compared to maincrop varieties. The reason is that they have to tolerate less of the dry weather.

Thinning out the seedlings will release the scent of carrots, and attract the attentions of carrot fly. To avoid this, perform this activity in the evening when the carrot fly is not about. Ensure that any soil disturbed by the thinning process is firmed back down with your hand - carrot fly lay their eggs in loose soil around the carrot seedlings.

Harvesting Carrots
When the foliage begins to wilt and shrivel up, the carrots have reached maturity. Use a fork to get the roots up, driving it in a few inches to one side of the row, using it as lever to loosen the roots' grip on the soil. The carrots can then be removed by hand. If the weather is particularly dry, water the previous evening to avoid damage to the carrots.

Right - Yellowstone
Yellow and tasty

Carrots harvested before maturity will be tender and more tasty than those left in the ground longer - pull a few up and experiment to see what suits you.

If there are too many carrots to eat at any one time they can be placed in a box of slightly moist peat or sand and placed in a cool, frost free, dark place for storage. They should keep for a couple of months in these conditions.

Pests and Diseases
Carrot Fly is the only pest you are likely to encounter with carrots. It is a black fly about 1cm (half inch) long which lays its eggs in loose soil around the base of the carrot foliage. The eggs mature into yellow maggots which then attack the carrots causing serious damage. 

The main danger period is mid-May when the flies are most common. One simple solution is to postpone sowing maincrop varieties until June. In addition, pay special attention to firming back the soil after any thinning, and perform this task as late in the day as possible. The use of pelleted seed is another alternative - it will reduce the need for thinning.

Below is an extract from the GardenAction forum of a post by Mary. It sounds worthwhile trying!

"Hi all, just a little info. After reading all the advice I could find on carrots and onions, I had a plan of attack!! I planted alternate rows of carrot seeds and onion sets, leaving about 15 inches for weeding and walking between them. Once the carrots were about 2-3 inches high, I earthed both them and the onions up as I had read this can help prevent carrot and onion fly, as should the alternate rows planting thingy. I didn't touch them, not even to thin the carrots!! until they were ready for young carrots to be picked, and used this as my 'thinning' technique. I am pleased to report I have had not one single carrot or onion fly, and although the carrots are seriously overcrowded, they are delicious, and only a few are twisted together. I am now picking them every 2 days or so for the kitchen, thinning as I go, and they are now 4-5 inches long, straight, and up to 1 inch across. I will most definitely earth them up in future, and not touch during carrot fly month. I hope this info. will be useful to anyone with carrot fly problems. Also last year, I had ants farming things in the top of my carrots, not so this year with the earthing up. Good luck everyone , Mary"