Growing Beetroot: A Step-By-Step Guide

Growing Beetroot: A Step-By-Step Guide

Choosing Your Beetroot Variety

Let’s start with a simple truth: not all beetroot is created equal. The variety you plant shapes everything from flavor to color to how well it handles your particular climate.

For sweeter roots, I’ve had marvelous results with ‘Detroit Dark Red’, a reliable classic. If you’re feeling experimental, try ‘Chioggia’. Its candy-striped flesh always stuns in salads and is almost too beautiful to eat. Almost.

Don’t forget the golden beets (‘Golden Boy’ or ‘Boldor’), which aren’t as “earthy” in flavor. Perfect for skeptical beet eaters in your home.

Timing Is Everything

Beetroot favors cooler weather, so you’ll want to plant it in early spring or late summer. Soil temperature should hover between 50-85°F. Warmer than that? The roots will bolt faster than a squirrel in your strawberry patch.

For a continuous harvest, use succession sowing every two weeks. There’s nothing more satisfying than pulling fresh beets for salads in the dead of summer.

Soil Preparation Done Right

Beetroot loves soil that’s as loose as a good conversation over wine. Compact soil will leave you with runty, misshapen roots that no amount of roasting can save.

Work in plenty of organic matter like compost or well-rotted manure; aim for a soil pH of 6.0 to 7.0. Avoid fresh manure, though—it’s like serving up a nitrogen bomb, which beets absolutely hate.

Pro tip: Remove rocks, sticks, and clumps like you’re prepping soil for carrots. You’re growing roots, and they need a clear path downward.

Planting Beet Seeds

Beet seeds are tricksters—they’re technically clusters of seeds. That means one seed could sprout three plants, so thinning is a *must*.

Sow seeds about ½ inch deep and 12 inches apart in rows. If you’re pressed for space, don’t stress. Beets thrive in containers as long as they’re at least 12 inches deep.

Thinning Seedlings

Once seedlings are two inches tall, thin them ruthlessly. Crowded roots will never reach their potential. Snip, don’t pull, the extras. This avoids disturbing the roots of their neighbors.

And those baby greens you snipped? Toss them into a salad or sauté them with garlic. Nothing goes to waste in a good garden.

Watering and Feeding

Beets are thirsty but hate to sit in soggy soil. Keep things even—never too dry, never drenched. Uneven watering creates woody, cracked roots.

I feed my beetroot a mild liquid fertilizer once every three weeks. Anything too rich makes for great leaves but sad, neglected roots.

“The trick to growing sweet beetroot is balance: water evenly, feed sparingly, and never let the soil dry out completely.”

Pest and Disease Control

Honestly, beetroots are low drama. Flea beetles might nibble the leaves, but they rarely touch the roots. Slugs occasionally appear for a midnight snack, but a sprinkle of crushed eggshells takes care of that.

If you're seeing yellow, wilting foliage, you might be dealing with damping-off or fungal issues. Rotate crops and don’t plant in the same spot for at least three years.

Harvesting: When To Pull Them

Yank them once they’re the size of a golf ball up to a tennis ball. Anything larger risks turning woody.

Here’s the trick: twist off the tops instead of cutting. Cutting too high up can cause your beetroot to “bleed,” which shouldn’t happen unless you’re roasting or pickling.

Store them with the tops removed in a cool, dry spot. But honestly, fresh beets rarely last long in my kitchen—usually straight from soil to salad bowl.

Beet Greens Are Gold

If you’ve never eaten beet greens, you’re missing half the thrill of growing beetroot. These leafy tops are tender and taste like Swiss chard’s sassier cousin.

I toss mine in olive oil and lemon juice for a quick side dish. Or, wilt them into hot pasta with Parmesan. It’s garden-to-table perfection.

A Final Note About Experimentation

If you’re like me, you’ll find beetroot to be one of those crops that surprises you. Each pull from the soil feels like unearthing treasure. Whether it’s their humble beauty or culinary versatility, beets reward patience and care.

Every season, I grow something a little different—sometimes it’s a new variety, other times I’ll try seeding in unconventional spots. The results always keep me grounded, and that’s what this is all about, isn’t it?

Beetroot is a highly nutritious vegetable with a range of health benefits. It is an excellent source of folate and manganese, and is a good source of copper, dietary fiber, magnesium and phosphorus. Beetroot is also rich in antioxidants and helps with lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Beetroot juice in particular has been found to improve athletic performance, making it popular among athletes. Beetroot is a versatile vegetable, easy to grow and great for adding flavor and nutrition to any meal.