Tell me your beet secrets!!!!

[catjac1975]

www.organicgardeninfo.com/greensand.html Lime is still needed if your soil is acidic. A master gardener friend of mine told me to add greensand to old tired beds-every 5 years or so. Works for me.

Thanks for the tips!

My soil tends to be acidic so maybe I need to reduce this -- will green sand do this? I usually add limestone. I planted very sparingly so I don't need much thinning so far but will keep watch.

Else, I am looking forward to pickling some, but my favorite use is roasting beets with other root crops -- turnips, carrots, rutabegas, etc. in a little olive oil and fresh rosemary. Yum!

I'd guess that beets are like turnips in that they get woody when they are older and when the heat/dry weather gets to them.

BTW, check out : http://www.reusablecanninglids.com/

I switched to Tattler reusable lids 2 years ago. It is pricey to start, but they can be used over and over again for many, many years. I have been extrememly pleased with them. Read the directions carefully so they vent, but other than care in opening the jars, they work just like regular lids. I can a lot -- and the lids were an annoying cost every year that I can now avoid.

 

[ninnymary]

When I thinned my beets, I transplanted 25 and they all took. I just couldn't bare to throw them away or eat them like Steve!

Mary

 

[Teka]

One of my go-to garden buddies here reported that his dad hilled the beets. I will be hilling them. I have two rows going, with 4 varieties represented. I am thinning one row more than the other -- I will see which varieties need more thinning. Some of the varieties are more columnar, not round. Time will tell!!!!

 

[Gnome_Czech]

I've got detroit and albino in my raised beds - you can tell which is which already and they are about 2" high. I hate thinning anything because I feel like it's a waste of seeds, sun and water.

 

[April Manier]

work ground
amend with manure
stick seed in ground
keep moist until a little established

So easy, even a caveman could...LOL
I think you are trying toooo hard. DON'T soak them. Just keep the ground moist.

I recomend the albino beet. The taste is superiour, the greens are like butter, and you can grow them very large and they don't get pithy!

 

[catjac1975]

I love beets but have had horrible luck with them. One great year -- but not sure how to replicate the success! I soak my seeds before planitng; keep the ground consistently wet through germination; double dug the bed, added extra compost.... Last year, all was well but my pole beans overshadowed the beets and they floundered -- but this year's seedlings are popping up and looking great.

Do you hill them? What are your secrets for growing beets?

Soaking the seed increased my germination to close to 100%. And of course daily watering until sprouted.

 

[desertlady]

strange !! I thought beets were so easy to grow ! I am living in desert and put them in rows like my carrots and water everyday !! they do need good sun. as for dirt, mine is a mixture of desert sand and mulch. :watering

 

[Teka]

It is too early to tell, but I can say that my beets are forming. I weeded my rows a couple of days ago and the thinnings -- not as many as I expected -- were definitely forming little bulbs. As I weeded, I munched the tiny roots and the beetiness was incredible. I have used leaves from thinnings in salads and they are great.

No glauconite/greensand in my area because, I guess, the soil is acidic.

 

[897tgigvib]

I tuckd in a few cylindra beet seeds last week. Thinned them yesterday.

 

[April Manier]

The idea of hilling beets s intriguing. We do not hill our beets per say, but once the seedlings are about 3" wide we use the cultivating tractor between the rows which throws a little dirt onto the crown of the beet. We will side dress in a month and run the cultivator again.

You can start them in flats and transplant. I do that with eh whites because they can get bigger, therefore wigh more, bring more money, and warrant teh cost of transplanting. They get big rather quick when transplanted.

Hope all goes well. A life without beets would be horrible! I have three varieties I am growing right now.