Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris
Beetroot
Common names: Red beet, Table beet
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 10 cm, rows 30 cm
- Lifespan
- Biennial
- Sowing
- Apr–Jun
- Harvest
- Jul–Oct
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below −3 °C
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: Quadell · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Description
Beetroot supplies deep red, earthy-sweet roots that can be used raw, cooked or pickled, and the young leaves are edible too as a chard substitute. It is easy to care for and keeps all winter in a sand cellar or clamp.
Care instructions
Sow directly into the bed from April to June; every seed is a cluster of several seedlings, so thin them to about 10 cm. Keep the soil evenly moist so the roots do not turn woody, and harvest from July before the first hard frosts. When cleaning, twist the leaves off instead of cutting them so the roots do not bleed.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingApr–Jun
HarvestJul–Oct
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 5 °C, ideally 20 °C
- Days to sprout
- 7 to 14 days
- Light
- Sprouts in light or dark
- Sowing depth
- 2 cm
- How to start
- Sow straight into the bed
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
humus-rich, well-drained, loamy, nutrient-rich
Beetroot likes deep, humus-rich, well-drained soils without waterlogging, ideally loose loam in which the root can grow unhindered. The optimal pH is 6.0 to 7.0; on acidic soils (below 6) it reacts with deficiency symptoms, and above 7.5 the uptake of iron and boron gets worse. So give lime only in measured amounts, and ideally in autumn after a soil test.
Goosefoot family plants (beetroot, chard, spinach) are moderate feeders. A break of around 3 years is enough; avoid direct succession within the group.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Mar–Apr
In spring before sowing, work mature compost shallowly into the soil; on lower-nutrient soils, also mix in horn shavings as a slow-acting nitrogen source. Feed sparingly, because too much nitrogen drives leaf growth rather than root and raises the nitrate content. Do not use fresh, unrotted manure.
Overwintering
Harvest the roots before the first hard frosts and store them unwashed in damp sand in a box so that only the leaf crown peeks out, cool in the cellar or shed at a few degrees above zero. Alternatively, leave individual roots with their foliage in the bed and cover them thickly with straw or brushwood; this only works in mild locations, though, as in continuous frost they freeze through in the ground.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
You propagate beetroot exclusively from seed; other methods are not practicable for this species. There are two ways: direct sowing outdoors or starting under cover indoors.
Direct sowing (recommended): Sow from mid-April to early July, as soon as the soil is approx. 8 °C. Place the seeds 2 to 3 cm deep in drills, row spacing 25 to 30 cm. Soak the seeds beforehand for about 12 hours in lukewarm water, which noticeably speeds up germination. Germination time: 8 to 20 days with even moisture. Since most varieties are multigerm (seed clusters with 2 to 6 seedlings per spot), thin to 10 to 15 cm spacing as soon as the little plants are approx. 5 cm tall. You can eat the thinnings as a salad addition.
Starting under cover: From March indoors in module trays or individual pots (not a shallow seed tray, because beetroot very quickly forms deep taproots). From April, plant the pricked-out young plants outdoors after the last risk of frost.
Saving your own seed (only worthwhile with open-pollinated varieties, because seeds from F1 hybrids split in the next generation and are not true to type): Beetroot only flowers in its second year. In autumn, carefully dig up the overwintering roots, trim the foliage to a few centimetres and store them frost-free (cellar, 0 to 5 °C) in a mix of damp sand and wood shavings. Plant them out again in spring. Beetroot is cross-pollinated and wind-pollinated: keep at least 300 m to 1 km distance from other Beta vulgaris varieties (chard, sugar beet), otherwise the varieties cross. The fine pollen cannot be reliably screened off with bags. For true-to-type seed, let at least 10 mother plants flower. Harvest the seeds in summer when the stems are brown and dry, and leave them to dry further in an airy place.
Companion planting
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
For your garden
Grow Beetroot yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
Free, no time limit
Varieties
5 varieties‘Boldor’
A golden yellow variety with an orange‑red skin and bright yellow flesh that does not bleed when cooked and keeps your hands and cutting board clean.
‘Cylindra’
Instead of round balls, ‚Cylindra’ forms 15 to 20 cm long, cylindrical roots that grow half above ground.
‘Pablo F1’
A modern F1 hybrid with very even, smooth-skinned roots and strong dark red flesh with almost no pale rings.
‘Rote Kugel 2’
The dependable home-garden classic with evenly round, deep red roots and thin skin.
‘Tonda di Chioggia’
An old Italian variety from the lagoon of Chioggia whose charm lies in the cut surface: flesh ringed in red and white like a target.
Notes from real gardens
What other gardeners have written down about this variety, anonymous and voluntary.
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From the magazine
Beetroot: from the seed cluster in the bed to the sand box in the cellar
Why several plants come up from one seed, why you should eat the leaves, and how to store beetroot in damp sand until spring.
Storing potatoes and root vegetables: cold, dark, kept apart
Why potatoes and apples never belong in the same room, why the cellar should sit neither below 4 nor above 10 degrees, and how carrots and beetroot stay crisp in damp sand right into spring. With wound healing, the solanine rules, rot diagnosis and the weekly check.
Edging your lawn cleanly: less follow-up work
Two gardens, the same lawn, a completely different impression: the difference is the last five centimetres at the edge. How to cut the edge with a half moon iron or a spade, what shears and trimmers do in between, and why a mowing edge laid flush with the lawn abolishes the trimming altogether. With prices and service life for metal, plastic, pavers, brick and timber.