How to Grow Beets In Your Garden

Growing Beets – How to grow Beets

Beets as it is shortly called, Beetroot, is one of the most nutritious root vegetable. Beetroot is the common name for Beta Vulgaris. Beets is the tap root of the beetroot plant. Beetroot belongs to the family amaranthaceae. Spinach, Chard and Amaranth are all related!  If you are wondering how to grow beets, let me tell you this, growing beets is as easy as growing spinach. The best part about growing beets is that you can consume the leaves as well as the root. The whole plant is edible. You can’t beet that! (pun intended).

How to grow beets in your garden

When it comes to growing beets in the garden, Soil plays an important role.  Beets need lose soil that is rich in organic matter and well drained. Beets or any root vegetable for that matter do not like hard or clay soils. Soils that are hard, don’t allow beetroot to grow. Add organic compost to enrich the soil and give it a good texture.

When to plant beets in your garden

When it comes to growing and planting beet, we know that beets love cool weather. So, for your question When to plant beets?. The ideal time would be during the cool weather.

Start planting beets when the winter approaches, if you are in tropics. For temperate weather conditions, refer to your local sowing schedule. The soil temperature should be at least 10-12 deg C. So now you know when to plant beets.

Growing Beets from seeds

Beets like most other vegetables are grown from seeds. Growing beets from seeds is also very easy.  When growing beets, plant the seeds 2-3 inches apart in a row. Beetroot seeds are actually a cluster of seeds in a shell. These are called Nutlets. Sow the seeds and gently cover them with top soil or potting soil.  The beet seeds germinate in about 5 – 7 days. After they germinate, you can thin them to leave just one plant in a hole.  After thinning, growing beets will happen much faster.  In about 2 months time ( eight to nine weeks), the beets will be ready for harvest.

When to pick Beets from your garden

Harvesting beets is very easy. When beets mature, you can see the root if you dig up gently an inch of top soil. When the beets have reached a desired size, you can dig up the beetroot from the soil. Harvesting the beet when it is young and tender, gives you the best tasting beets.

Also, As I mentioned before, the best part about growing beets is that the leaves are also edible. You can harvest the leaves while growing beets and use them like you would use spinach leaves. So what are you wait for ? Just beet it!

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