Many gardeners are interested in how to protect carrots from carrot flies, because the larvae of this unpleasant insect are the main danger to the roots in your garden. How to recognize and get rid of this pest, we will tell in this article.
Did you know? Carrot fly prefers places with high humidity and moderate temperature, causing the greatest harm where they do not pay enough attention to crop rotation and agricultural technology, and long summer rains only contribute to the maximum severity of the insect.
Carrot fly: what a pest looks like
Information about how a carrot fly looks is the first step towards ensuring the safety of your site. 
The body length of this pest is only 4.5 mm. It is shiny, black, has a gentle, whitish down. The head is red-yellow in color, and the legs and tentacles are yellow. Transparent wings, on which brownish-yellow veins are visible, are longer than the belly and lie horizontally. Carrot fly lays milky-white, oval eggs.
The larva of the pest reaches 5 mm in length. It is brilliant, pale yellow. Legs and head on a worm-like, round, front tapering body are absent. The posterior end is rounded and there are two short, black processes with spiracles.
This is the form of carrot flies, which causes the greatest damage to both your carrot and other garden crops, which means that you will have to fight with it. In the pupal phase, the insect is light brown and has an outer segmentation.
Features of the life cycle of carrot flies
The first years of this fly are in early spring, and at the end of May and for 50 days it lays eggs at the root neck of plants.
After 5-7 days after laying, the larvae are planted in the roots, and after three weeks of growth, they leave the plants and move to the ground, where they pupate.
Under favorable conditions, the second generation of carrot flies will appear in July, the cycle will be repeated, and each of them (if not securing the site) will have to somehow be fought.
In the autumn, individuals that have pupated in time overwinter in the ground, while the rest, along with the root crops, enter the storage and feed on the sap of vegetables there, continuing to damage them.
Important! Hot weather helps reduce the carrot fly population. Half of all laid eggs can die. They also die in the fast-drying soil, and abundant watering contributes to the successful appearance of the larvae.
Signs of a carrot fly in the area
As soon as you notice that carrots or other root vegetables (parsnips, celery, parsley) acquired a violet-red hue and become deformed, and this is all accompanied by the appearance of an unpleasant smell and taste, especially if the tops are drying and turning yellow (the root neck can also have many moves) - Start to fight with a carrot fly, because judging by the signs, this particular pest has settled on your garden bed.
How to deal with carrot fly in the garden
This insect, unfortunately, is not destroyed as easily as we would like. But no matter how unpleasant and insidious the pest is a carrot fly, it can also be successfully fought with it. Three methods are common: agrotechnical, chemical and folk. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Did you know? Not so long ago, an alternative method of fighting a carrot fly appeared in the garden, which has already proven its effectiveness. It is based on the inability of this insect to rise high in the air. The beds, on which roots are planted attractive for the pest, should be fenced with a special mesh grid design, the height of which will not exceed 0.5 m. The fruits will grow tasty, healthy and clean.
Agrotechnical method
The complex of agrotechnical measures will serve as an excellent protection of carrots from carrot flies. It includes the following actions:
- Do not use fresh manure to fertilize the beds. After making organic matter in the ground, you must wait a year before sowing carrots in this place.
- Cover the bed with some covering material (agril, lutrasil, spunbond, etc.).
- Use factors that are unattractive for carrot flies, for example, she does not like the smell of onions, because plant next to this culture.
- Periodically loosen the aisles, without exposing the roots.
- Water plants rarely and moderately, regularly removing weeds. Spend a thorough weeding no later than the plants will have 2 true leaves.
- These pests are attracted by carrot smell, therefore, performing weeding and thinning, do not leave weeded plants in between rows.
- Remove wild umbrella crops from the site.
- As a protection against carrot flies, crop rotation is also used, sowing carrots at a distance of 500-1000 m from the previous place of growth and returning to the previous one only after 2-3 years, since the fly is not able to overcome this distance, this will help to get rid of it.
- Sow root crops initially not densely (the shaded areas will become the source of insects) and in time to thin out and mulch with peat.
- Autumn deep digging, turning over large layers of soil. Due to this, during the winter the insects will freeze out.
Use of chemicals
With a frequency of infection above 1 larva per 20 plants, it is recommended to use carrot fly chemicals. This refers to various insecticides. They are mainly used during the mass summer pests. When processing, be sure to follow the safety rules and adhere to the dosage indicated in the instructions or on the packaging.
Be sure to handle not only the planting of root crops, but also the weeds nearby. A single use of such funds is usually sufficient. Before sowing, it is necessary to treat carrot seeds with soil rot agents that can be effective against carrot flies.
Important! The fruits of the treated plants can be eaten only after 3 weeks. During this time, chemicals are decomposed into safe ingredients.
Folk methods of dealing with carrot fly
Popular methods are also considered effective. There are many of them, but we will now describe only a few.
- During the laying of eggs, treat the rows between plants with mustard powder, tobacco dust, black or red ground pepper.
- The fight against carrot fly in the summer is also possible folk remedies. Suitable spraying onion or garlic tinctures. To prepare, take 300 g of onion / garlic, finely chop, pour 2 liters of boiling water and leave for a day, then add to the concentrate 10 liters of water and 30 ml of liquid soap.
- Helps and decoction of the tops of tomatoes. For him you will need to grind 4 kg of such tops and pour 10 liters of water. Boil for half an hour and infuse for 4-5 hours. Strain and add 50 ml of liquid laundry soap. Dilute every 3-5 liters of the resulting infusion with 10 liters of water.
- A good remedy for carrot flies is also considered an infusion of wormwood. To make it, chop fresh wormwood and tune it with 10 liters of boiling water, let it infuse, then strain and divide into 3 parts. To each part, add 8 liters of water and water the beds. The remains of wormwood can lay out between the rows. After this treatment, the flies will not appear for about 4 weeks.
How to protect plants from carrot flies, preventive measures
- As a preventive measure, select for planting the best varieties of carrots that are resistant to carrot flies. The higher the sugar content in fruits, the less attractive they are for these pests. For example, pay attention to the varieties "Vitamin 5", "Flaccus", "Calgeri F1", "Perfection".
- As a preventive measure, you can also pre-seed seed treatment. Soak them (adhering to the instructions) in any growth preparation, then mix with sand and float on a wet bed.
- Another answer to the question "How to get rid of carrot flies on carrots and other umbellate ones?", Provides for planting calendula or taghetses (marigolds) on the beds because these plants are attractive to natural enemies of carrot flies - ihnevmonid.
- 10 days before planting, soak the seeds for 2 hours in warm (40 ° C) water. Then put them on a wet cloth, preferably linen and put in a bag with holes.
- Bulk years of carrot flies, as stated above, occur in the spring, respectively, with early sowing, by this time the roots will become quite strong and dense and the flies will cause them little damage.
- For planting, choose an elevated, wind-blown place with good lighting and light soil.
