Beets

[Gardening with Rabbits]

My friend in Kansas got about 150 pounds of beets from one packet of seed. Her DH dug a furrow and planted them about 1/2 inch apart and DID NOT thin them. He just let them grow and then dug them up. I planted beets last year and thinned them and even transplanted the ones I thinned and I got a lot of beets, but not as many as my friend did. I just planted some today and I am not going to do any thinning. Does anybody else do it this way?

 

[MontyJ]

I always thin beets. I find that they overcrowd and grow together if I don't.

 

[hoodat]

Beet seeds are unique in that each "seed" is actually a cluster of seeds so they will sprout in small bunches; that's why they are normally thinned out to the strongest one or two in each cluster. Some thin them right away but personally I like to wait till they have one or two true leaves. Beets have very few spreading roots so the roots of adjacent plants won't be disturbed much when they are pulled.

 

[897tgigvib]

GWR, there is at least one variety of Beet that is mono-seeded. What Hoodat said is absolutely true for most Beets and Chards, but there is at least one variety that is mono seeded, one seed per "seed". I wonder if your friend who grows his Beets without thinning grows that mono seeded variety.

I suppose another way to not thin would be to plant the seeds almost too deep. I don't know, maybe 2 inches deep to limit the number of seedlings that can emerge. I guess experience could tell a gardener how deep to plant them to get just the right number of emerging seedlings.

Or, maybe your friend is real good at growing them and doesn't mind odd shaped beets.

Anyhow, your beet growing friend sounds like a great resource of knowledge about growing beets!

 

[897tgigvib]

http://www.seedsofchange.com/quickfacts.aspx?c=10245&cat=133#ad-image-ProductDetail1_aFirstImage

Alvro Mono Beet

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I am going to try to find out what kind he planted tomorrow. As for him having a thought about the shape of the beets he could care less. He just sort of does what his DW tells him. She told him here, go plant these beets. The package said 2 inches apart and he told me he put them 1/2 apart in a furrow and covered them up. That was sometime back in May or so. I just looked at the link you have and his do not look like that. The mono have smooth skin and his are all shapes, sizes and not smooth skinned. If his were planted first of May and if they are 60 days, they would have been ready the end of June, so he left them in the ground and did not do anything with them. He just saw one that looked big and pulled it up and took it in to show his wife and she told him they were ready to dig up. Some were bigger than a cereal bowl and some like a soft ball, and a lot just good sized beets. My friend said they taste really good. They have been eating them, freezing and pickling some.

 

[Just-Moxie]

Since we are talking about beets.....I pulled up a row of mine the other day, roasted them, and peeled them. They were NOT sweet and beet tasting. Kind of watered down. Do you think it might be due to the overabundance of rain we have been getting here?
They were;
Bulls Blood (?)
Heritage I think
Zone 7 or 8..South Carolina
Planted in clay soil that is being amended

Now, I have grown beets before, last year too, that tasted very sweet and rich.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I have only grown them a couple of times and they were planted early in the spring. I am not sure if the temperature has anything to do with the taste. The ones my friend had looked anything but sweet. I would not think the big ones would be good, but they say they are, so I don't know. I know strawberries get a watered down taste from rain.

 

[ducks4you]

I am getting a TON of beets this year. I didn't thin them except to harvest bigger beets growing next to smaller ones to open up the spaces. The whole bed is a sea of beet tops! Before planting this 3' x 12' raised bed I mixed in 2 big wheelbarrows full of ashes and they really liked that. I've put up about 12 quarts of pickled beets and had 3 meals with them, so far. Even if I can't find time to get the parts for my old but heavy pressure canner, I intend to pickle the rest. Even my huge beets have been tender and tasty. This year I planted cylindras, goldens and Detroit Reds. I also planted a cherry tomato plant at each corner. Only one beet came in tough and I gave that to my hens.