Beets: how to grow a good crop

Beet Growing

Among all root crops, beets are the most light-loving (1), so the site for it must be chosen light – the sun should fall on the beds all day. In the shade of trees, even a small one, there will be no good harvest.

Successful predecessors for beets are tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, onions and peas. You can not plant it after the turnip, turnip, potato and cabbage.

It prefers neutral soils, it grows very poorly on acidic soils, often gets sick, gives small, tasteless root crops that are poorly stored. To remedy the situation, before sowing, the site must be deoxidized – add 1 kg of dolomite flour per 1 sq. m. In neutral areas, it is not necessary to make dolomite flour!

It is advisable to fertilize poor soils before sowing: 1 bucket of humus, 1 tbsp. spoon of ammonium nitrate, 2 tbsp. spoons of double superphosphate and 2 teaspoons of potassium sulfate per 1 sq. m. Fertilizers should be evenly scattered over the site, and then embedded in the soil with a rake.

Fresh manure under the beets can not be made! Otherwise, root crops will not be stored.

Preparation of seeds for sowing

Beet seeds sprout more easily than carrot seeds, but they are also useful to prepare. There are many options, but the best way is soaking with hardening. This should be done 2 weeks before sowing.

Put the seeds in an enamel or glass bowl, pour 1/4 cup of room temperature water and leave for 1,5 days. Then drain the water and cover the container with a damp cloth so that it does not come into contact with the seeds. Leave for 3 days at a temperature of 15 – 20 ° C, stirring occasionally – during this time the seeds will swell. And then put them in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days.

This method will allow you to get friendly, strong shoots, and in the future – a big harvest.

Planting beets

Beets are not afraid of light spring frosts, but are very sensitive to soil temperature. Seeds germinate best when the beds at a depth of 10 cm have warmed up to 8-11 °C (2). In the middle lane, this is usually the beginning of May.

It is not worth sowing earlier – when the soil temperature is below 4 ° C, the seeds can lie for a long time without germinating. But it is also undesirable to delay, because by mid-May the soil dries up, and beets need an abundance of moisture to sprout. Under optimal conditions, seedlings appear in about 10 days.

Seeds are sown in grooves to a depth of 2 – 3 cm. Distance in a row – 8 – 10 cm. Between rows – 25 – 30 cm.

Caring for beets in the open field

All in all, beetroot is a low maintenance crop, but there are three important tasks to get done during the summer.

Thinning. Unlike other vegetable crops, beets do not have seeds, but seedlings. Therefore, 2 – 3 seedlings appear from each “glomerulus” (3). If you leave them all, they will prevent each other from growing – they will not have enough light, moisture, nutrition, and the roots will eventually turn out to be small. Therefore, it is important to thin them out in time – they do it 3 times per season:

• 5 – 10 days after germination – 2 – 3 cm are left between seedlings;
• in phase 4 – 5 true leaves – this time the distance between plants is increased to 4 – 6 cm;
• in early August – during this thinning, the largest root crops are removed, leaving 8-10 cm between the beets (4).

It is better to do this after watering, in cloudy weather.

Loosening. Beets do not like it when a dense crust forms on the surface of the soil, so the next day after each rain or watering, the beds need to be loosened.

Watering. Beets need abundant watering during seed germination, rooting of seedlings and during the formation of root crops (5). The rest of the time, it is not worth watering it often, especially when the root crops increase in mass – this makes them watery, tasteless and poorly stored. Watering is needed only in drought and no more than 3 times during the summer. Consumption rate: 0,5 liters per plant.

Harvesting beets

Beets are dug by the very first of the root crops – in early September. And sometimes at the end of August. It is important to follow the weather forecast here: root crops should not fall under frost, otherwise they will not be stored. But you shouldn’t rush either. If September is dry and warm, leave the beets in the beds: scientists have found that most of the nutrients in it accumulate in the fall.

The signal for harvesting – the tops begin to turn yellow.

It is better to clean on a warm sunny day. Varieties with rounded roots can be carefully pulled out by hand. It is better to dig up cylindrical beets with a pitchfork. If the soil is moist, the root crops must be dried, after which the dried dirt should be cleaned with your hands.

When harvesting, try to injure the beets as little as possible. You can not throw it on the ground and tap on each other.

Root crops with a diameter of 10–12 cm are best stored. Before laying them in the cellar, the tops are cut off, leaving 1 cm long petioles.

Beet storage rules

Only whole root crops are laid for storage, without signs of rot, cuts and scratches on the skin.

Beets are best stored at a temperature of 4 ° C and humidity of 90 – 95%. That is, you can send it to the cellar and to the refrigerator.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about growing beets with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.

Sources of

1. Pantielev Ya.Kh. ABC vegetable grower // M .: Kolos, 1992 – 383 p.
2. Fisenko A.N., Serpukhovitina K.A., Stolyarov A.I. Garden. Handbook // Rostov-on-Don, Rostov University Press, 1994 – 416 p.
3. Shuin K.A., Zakraevskaya N.K., Ippolitova N.Ya. Garden from spring to autumn // Minsk, Uradzhay, 1990 – 256 p.
4. Yakubovskaya L.D., Yakubovsky V.N., Rozhkova L.N. ABC of a summer resident // Minsk, OOO “Orakul”, OOO Lazurak, IPKA “Publicity”, 1994 – 415 p.
5. A group of authors, ed. Polyanskoy A.M. and Chulkova E.I. Tips for gardeners // Minsk, Harvest, 1970 – 208 p.