Bolters in my carrots

[Medbury Gardens]

A 3x1 metre bed full is about 200 carrots, if 1/4 of these where good quality then could be replanted in a 2x1 m bed ,which i think is quite small.A pollen net plus Franks idea of using a paint brush and theres no reason why you cant grow good quality seed. Should give you enough seed for three years at least.

Lobberichter I grew this about 10 years ago and never again as the taste was rather poor,but i`m sure that cows aren`t as fussy as i am.

[Tomaat]

Thanks for the info...will have to prepare some growing site first, will let you know how it go.

No wonder, they advertise Lobberichter as an animal feed, it does taste that bad .

I will try my best with the Black spanish,MG.

[orflo]

I never grew Lobberichter myself , but I did hear the same taste experiences from other people...Zweefvliegen are some specific sort of flies and they're very good pollinators (comparable to mason bees or others), and they love apiaceae. I don't know if they're in New Zealand though...

[Tomaat]

Frank,

MG told me, his area has several types of local flies which work perfect as pollinator...

Lobberichter is out for me, thanks guys !

[Medbury Gardens]

Last summer i counted 12 different flies on the carrots and parsnip flowers,Dont know about zweefvilegen,would have a different name here,Any more info on it Frank

[orflo]

Well, I did find something, they are probably called hoverflies, I placed a Flemmish link, if you scroll down the page, you can see some of the specimens of the syrphidae family... Many people think they are wasps, because of their mimicry, but the drawing on the wings is different. I'm sure if you google syrphidae NZ you might find something, if they are present over there...
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zweefvliegen_(dieren)

[Medbury Gardens]

What we here are a different coloured species to what shown in that link,the ones here are all black.The main pollinater on my carrots is a little fly of about 3 mm long, called "midgee fly", do see a few of the hover flies but not a lot

[Tomaat]

Yesss, they have been pollinating my carrot too (along with flies) which I thought were wasps. Thanks Frank !

[Medbury Gardens]

Tomaat Upon harvesting a few carrots within the bed that we have been discussing over the last week or so, i today pulled the carrot(in photo) that is a Black Spanish,and a non bolter, finding this confirms it that there is a strong tendency within this variety to bolt and that there are some within the same sowing wont. I believe its no different to any other biannual carrot and that its more of an issue of being stringent in selecting the following years breeding stock.

[Tomaat]

MG, the carrot in your picture is orange, the Black Spanish should have very dark peel (deep purple)...could it be your other carrot which you planted next to it ?

I only sow BS during late summer, during that time it is pretty cool and moist in my area and I have not seen bolter yet but they all will flower as the next spring arrive!

Perhaps cool is the key! As you told us, NZ can be pretty warm during summer, could it be the bolting trigger for the BS ?
It is fascinatingly interesting to know one carrot and the other react so differently to temperature.
I only have very small amount of BS seeds left for next year sowing but if you would like to select breed them, you may have them.

[Medbury Gardens]

Tomaat Both the Spanish Purple and the Manchester Table seed were mixed together before i planted into the 1x3m bed.The carrot in that photo is not the orange colour of the M T and is more red than purple......odd, you may well be right b`c the purple bolters that i`m still pulling out are purple, not red.

Are you able to grow a few of the S P for seed in your coming season, as i already have Akaroa Gold in now booked in for flowering for the (09-10) season,would like to grow it the season after that,if that suits you?then again i could do it now, i would just have get hands on a pollen net for next season when both are flowering at the same time.

[Tomaat]

MG, I should have some space for them the coming late summer/autumn. The one I have now is only around 15 to 20 plants which is way too less for seeds productions (just for table use). Next year... .

MG, how do you clean the carrot hairy seeds ? and how long should I hang the seeds to dry properly as we have wet summer ? thanks !
My previously saved BS seeds were all molded due to damp .

[Medbury Gardens]

Yes your damp climate could make it more difficult.
When the seeds look to be of good size, cut off and hang up somewhere with good air flow, like for example in your horse stables.Problem with places like that is though,birds,i would use bird netting that still allows air circulation.Good air circulation is the key,even damp humid air will still dry in time,just takes longer.

If the seed for yourself Nevi i wouldn`t worry about the spikes/hairs on the carrot seed,still grows the same

[Tomaat]

Part of my mistake was letting the seeds too long on the rainy wet summer (I was thinking of giving them more time to properly ripen up) and I presume that is why they all molded in their paper sac.
Next year I will use netted sac as you suggested instead of paper sac as it should give them even better ventilations.

Oh,errrmmm... the clean carrot seeds (non hairy) should be easier to sow plus not as bulky in storage (plus look nicer) but apart from that I am ok with it. I know the hairy seeds should not effect the germination at all (in comparison with cleaned seeds) but I must admit, they look rather scary, like bugs .

[Medbury Gardens]

Do you like your men to be like your carrot seed Nevi, non hairy