Beetroot Farming Techniques: A blog post about the different techniques for cultivating beetroot
Beetroot farming is a popular and rapidly expanding agricultural practice. It is mostly done through seeds. Seeds are sown at a depth of 1.5 to 2 cm and at a distance of 6 to 7 cm are kept between them. Each row should have a minimum distance of 35 cm between them. Constant watering should be done for an efficient and effective cultivation of beetroot.
Table Of Content
- Transplanting soil beetroot
- How to plant beetroot seedlings
- Beetroot watering
- Grow beetroot with some protection
- Growing harvesting baby beetroot
Transplanting soil beetsroot
Soil beets are generally an easy low maintenance crop to grow as long as you set the medium upright because if you don't you can risk the beet root itself cracking or even rotting beets are one of those annoying crops that like constant moisture but hate water logging it's the avocado tree for vegetables.
So i have to say getting the medium just right for beets is a little trickier than it is for other types of vegetables get the mix two free draining and the beets will suffer water stress but if the medium is too heavy you risk root rot and more diseases i took a bit of time over the past 12 months to create a good soil balance in this reasonably new raised garden bed that was extra free draining but also held water and nutrients.
The way i did this was to mix some heavier soil scavenged from around our property with plenty of organic matter like compost and mulch but the best ingredient was poultry manure mulch mix from our chickens and quail this stuff has lots of nutrients but still holds water without getting too sticky.
Now if you don't have a poultry mix you can use any other types of manures such as horse and cow but just be a little careful use it sparingly because it's heavier than poultry manures what i would do is use it a little bit at a time until you get that right consistency dug into the bed for beetroot you want the soil to be able to hold water for at least a few days but if it's still quite wet just underneath.
The surface after day three or four days the soil might be a little too wet so you might consider adding some organic matter to it like some extra compost and mulch sort of dug in to free that soil up even a little bit of gypsum and that way it could help with the drainage.
if you are unsure you're better off having a garden bed with soil that's a little too free draining then too heavy because all you need to do is water more often whereas heavier soils tend to create an anaerobic environment lack of oxygen around the root zone of the plants which most veggies don't like, especially beetroots hanging on, that's strange, didn't just harvest this.
How to plant beetroot seedling
Don't thin seedlings out yes i know this is controversial because most books and seed packets will tell you to sow the seeds and then prick the seedlings out once they've germinated and space them around 25 centimetres apart along your bed or row there's nothing wrong with that except i reckon the spacing of seedlings unnecessarily spreads out the growing area too much and limits the production potential plus i think it's not looking and seeing.
Nature through her eyes i mean why else would beetroot grow seeds in clusters instead of individually beats me well it doesn't beat me because obviously likes growing in clusters close together so why not let it do that in my experience letting the beets grow naturally is not only easier the plants grow.
Just as well if not better because they seem to like growing close and there's no transplant shock to set the growth back when it's trying to establish all over again that's why i prefer to say beetroot where they are to grow i'm never particular about spacing and i thin out as the plants are growing for baby beets not in the beginning for spacing out. In order to grow beets well,
You need to make sure that you are giving them the right amount of nutrients. The soil beets should be planted every 3 weeks in a row. The beets should be planted at a depth of 1.5 cm and at a distance of 6 to 7 cm. The rows should be spaced out by a minimum of 35 cm. Water should be applied regularly for an effective and efficient cultivation of beets.
Beetroot watering
Water up speaking about growing close together and also before about growing in free draining soil you might find your beets are a thirsty bunch beetroot need a lot to drink and can quickly suffer water loss due to sustaining those large leaves plus the bulb.
So keep an eye on the plants and water at the first signs of wilt especially in the morning or afternoon try to water your beats regularly inconsistent watering leads to cracking poor growth and ordinary tasting beets now don't beat yourself up if occasionally you come out and you find your beets collapse down.
This can sometimes happen quickly and it's due to a lack of water but if you don't let them suffer too long and don't neglect them too often they will recover fine without too much damage also it's quite normal for beets to wilt in the middle of a hot day just keep an eye out and give them a drink when they need it.
Grow beetroot with some protection
Most veggies don't like to grow in the shade and that's why i recommend to people if they're going to site their vegetable garden to cite it in the place where it gets the most sun however beetroot are an exception.
Well slightly beets do benefit from a cover crop to protect them from too much sun beetroot hate the midday heather through our winter now coming into springer maximum daily temperatures are around 25to 28 degrees celsius and even this moderate warmth can stress the beets out that's why we start our beet crop herein our warm subtropical climate in autumn to grow through winter and then harvesting in early spring because then you escape the hot summer sun and you grow through the coolest part of the year.
So if you're in a cold climate you would then plant as soon as possible after winter letting them grow and mature through spring harvesting in early summer wouldn't recommend growing beets in full shade or even dappled shade and although beets will grow okay in as little as four to six hours of sunlight eight to ten is better but i have found that slight protection from a cover crop like peas will reduce the heat stress enough to keep the beets happy and growing well beets will germinate.
And grow at the wrong time of year even in our hot summers but apart from the heat stress making them grow poorly they'll also suffer more from pests and disease on the other hand if you grow beets at the right time of year for your climate you really shouldn't have much trouble from pests or diseases a few chewed leaves are nothing to worry about or some fungal spots you can trim them off but overall it won't affect root development.
Growing harvesting baby beetroot
Let's get into it where do i start i think down this end harvest larger ones during the growing season as baby beets then let the rest grow on to develop larger roots because of this crowd-growing method and then being close together you still will find that there will be some beers that haven't developed very much you can either leave them if you've got time in the season or just simply pull them out and refurbish.
The bed but overall you're still going to get a good crop harvest the leaves at any time to use in salads or stir fries even out the harvesting by picking a few leaves from each plant so you don't over graze don't let them get too woody you can see this by the thick skin starting to form on the roots pick them before they get too old the best tasting beetroot size in my opinion are the ones around the size of a squash ball but it really depends on the variety and we've had plenty of really big beets that have been sweety sweet.
if you do leave them a little too long in ground and they do go woody on you can still boil the woody ones up and make a tasty puree soup beets will keep for several months in the crisper and they will continue to hold firm and hard so if you want to use them fresh on demand for roasting etc this is a great way to store them and here you have it well what a ripper i am very happy with that you know this isn't a huge variety.
So it's a it's a medium-sized variety of beet anyway so i wasn't expecting huge beeps you know but these are still good sized they're different shapes some of them are smaller than a golf ball others you know are much bigger but they'll all go very well and they'll be excellent tasting they are superb product at the moment they're not too old they're not too young but speaking of young you can see that let's put these down.
You can see that the bed has still got a lot of beetroot in it because i didn't take it all out i left the small ones in there some of them were sacrificed they came out with the pulling that doesn't matter because you know there's plenty when we first sewed them anyway and we didn't thin them out so it gave us that redundancy and now that the larger ones have been removed.
Which was a huge harvest we've still got some time in the season still cool enough over this next four weeks or so for them to grow well swell in size and we'll get another Harvesting is a particularly important step in the process of beetroot farming. When harvesting, the entire plant is removed.
The length and spacing of the rows, the distance between them, the depth and the width of the rows are important. maybe half as much again or similar maybe half as much i would say out of that plus you're eating the leaves as well so that's the way to do it when you're growing a tonne of beetroot.
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed our post on how to grow beetroot! When you are planting seeds in your garden, it is important to water them regularly. This is crucial for the successful growth of your crops. Make sure you have a plan for when you are going to water your crops, so you can be sure to plan accordingly! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at Hi Daddy Info. Thank you for reading, we would love to hear from you.!