Sign up now for your FREE Newsletter. You will receive a Newsletter twice a month providing tips, techniques, and fun projects for your garden. Sign up now
Sign up now.
Beets are sweet (you know), nutritious (you've heard), beautiful (you can see) and easy to grow (you're about to find out) in just about any conditions.
Selecting plants Beet cultivars offer roots of different colors and shapes: red, purple, gold, or white; round, oval, or cylindrical. If your weather is severe, look for cultivars that tolerate extreme temperatures. To stock your root cellar, look for beets with good keeping qualities.
Select small-rooted cultivars for canning or pickling whole. Cylindrical cultivars such as 'Formanova' provide lots of uniform- size slices for cooking and processing with little waste. Where leaf spot has been a problem, grow disease-tolerant cultivars.
Site Beets perform best in full sun but tolerate partial shade.
Soil Light, sandy loam permits rapid, uninterrupted growth for tender roots. Moist, fertile, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.0-6.8 is ideal.
Test the soil and amend as necessary. Work in 15-20 pounds of compost for every 100 square feet of soil. Loosen the soil thoroughly to a depth of at least 1 foot. Prepare traditional flat rows or wide rows. In heavy or poorly drained soils, prepare 6 to 8 inch high raised beds instead.
How much to plant Grow 5 to 10 feet of fresh beets per person. For canning, sow a 10 to 2 foot row for each beet eater.
Spacing Space plants 2 to 4 inches apart; allow 12 to 20 inches between rows. When plants are 2 to 3 inches tall, thin them to 4 to 6 inches apart.
Days to maturity Harvest beet roots 56 to 70 days after sowing seeds. Baby beets are ready sooner. Beet greens are ready to harvest in just 30 to 45 days.
