How to grow beetroot, and when to sow it here

You pull up a beetroot expecting something to roast and you get a split one, or a woody one, or one about the size of a marble with a great head of leaves on it. Beetroot is not a hard crop, but it fails in a handful of specific ways and each one has a specific cause, so it's worth going through them.

When to sow

Beetroot takes a sowing from around August through to April here, and it does its best work in the milder months at either end of that rather than in the middle of a hot summer. Heat is what pushes it to go tough and woody.

Sow direct rather than transplanting. Beetroot resents having its roots disturbed and a transplanted seedling often sulks for weeks.

The soil comes first

Beetroot isn't fussy about much, but it will not forgive compacted ground. Loose, free-draining soil gives you smooth round roots and heavy or compacted soil gives you the twisted, forked ones. If your beds are heavy clay, work compost or well-rotted manure through them before you sow anything.

Go easy on the nitrogen though. Too much and you get a magnificent head of leaves and nothing underneath it, which is the commonest beetroot disappointment there is. Potassium is what you want for a root crop.

One beetroot seed is not one seed

This is the bit most people don't know and it explains a lot.

What looks like a single knobbly beetroot seed is actually a cluster of several seeds inside a corky shell, so one seed can give you three or four seedlings all sitting on top of each other. That is why beetroot always seems to come up crowded no matter how carefully you spaced it.

Soaking the seed in warm water for a few hours before sowing softens that shell and gives you more even germination. Sow thinly and cover lightly.

Thin early, and snip rather than pull

Because of the cluster, thinning is not optional. When the seedlings are about 5cm tall, pick the strongest one in each group and snip the rest off at ground level with a pair of scissors.

Snip, don't pull. Pulling drags the roots of the one you wanted to keep, and that check is enough to set it back. Leave about 8cm between the ones you keep.

The thinnings are perfectly good in a salad, so nothing is wasted.

Water steadily, because the splitting is a watering fault

A beetroot that dries right out and then gets a heavy drink swells fast and splits its skin. That crack is not a disease, it is the watering pattern showing up in the vegetable.

Keep the soil evenly damp. A deep water every few days beats a light sprinkle daily, and a layer of mulch does more to hold that moisture steady than anything else you can do.

Pick them before they get big

Somewhere between a golf ball and a tennis ball is the size you want. Past that they turn fibrous and lose their sweetness, and a beetroot the size of a cricket ball is generally only good for the compost.

Most varieties are ready in about 8 to 10 weeks. Push the soil back with a finger and have a look before you commit to pulling one.

Storing them

Twist or cut the tops off but leave about 3cm of stalk on. Cut them flush and the beetroot bleeds out its colour and dries out much faster.

And keep the leaves. They cook up like silverbeet, which is exactly what they are, and throwing them out is throwing out half the crop.

Beetroot is one of the crops I would put in front of a beginner, because everything that goes wrong with it is fixable and none of it is subtle.

Shop related products

• D.T Brown Beetroot Forono Seed Pack. A long cylindrical beetroot that slices neatly.
• Brunnings Garden Compost with Seaweed 25L. Work it through before sowing, especially on heavy ground.
• Brunnings Potash Power 2.5kg. Feeds the root rather than the leaves.
• Neutrog Whoflungdung Mulch 20kg. Keeps the moisture steady, which is what stops the splitting.

Did you know we also carry Beetroot Detroit seed in store, along with garden lime, dolomite and soaker hose, and none of those are on the website. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 or come and have a look at the seed stand.

The garden range is on the website, and the garden centre has more in it again.

More from the garden

• Growing carrots, and when to sow them
• Growing vegetables when you have very little time
• Checking soil moisture before you water

Still learning, still leaving at least one in the ground until it is the size of my head. Candeece.

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