How to Plant and Grow Beets to Eat
Hybrid beets are root vegetables with leafy tops that may be eaten as greens. Cool-weather plants, beets grow from clusters of seed in the dried fruit of the plant and can be slow to germinate in cool weather. The plants prefer rich, moist soil and resist most pest and diseases. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Test your soil with a pH test kit. Avoid planting in soil with a pH level less than 6.0. Beets do not grow well in acidic soil.
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Sow seeds in early spring, two or four weeks before the last spring frost, into fertile sandy soil. Seeds can be sown outside several weeks before the last expected frosts. Young seedlings will tolerate mild frost. Plant seeds 1/4 inch deep in rows spaced 1 foot apart. Seeds will germinate in 17 days if soil is at 50 F, and in about 7 days if soil is above 60F.
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Water plants regularly during early development. Many plants may fail to form beets if moisture is deficient in the early stages. For maximum flavor and tenderness beets prefer regular, uniform moisture. If there is a dry spell, beets tend to stop growing. Do not crowd plants, maturing roots need space. Crowding can produce an unusual number of misshapen plants.
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Pull weeds by hand if they spring up with your beets. Tools may nick the developing roots under ground and leave them open to disease organisms.
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Twist off the foliage and leave the thin taproot intact when harvesting beets. By doing this it will keep the color from bleeding excessively while cooking. Beets can grow to the size of a baseball, but they are best harvested when they are the size of a golf ball.
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Tips & Warnings
Beets can be stored up to six months, if the tops are cut off, and the beets are covered with moist sand in a cool humid unheated basement or garage at 32 F.
Beets can also be stored up to 10 days in the refrigerator in plastic bags.
References
- Photo Credit Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
