Maine Garden Ideas
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        • 4 Best Tomatoes for Short Seasons - Early Tomatoes
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        • How to Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes at Home
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How to Grow and Care for Beets

Picture
Growing beets in the home garden provides you with fresh beet greens for steaming or adding to green salads in late spring. If allowed to mature, tender red beets form under the ground and are ready to eat by mid summer or you can let them grow to make into delicious pickled beets in the fall. These easy-to-grow vegetables need little care making them ideal for the beginner's garden. 

Planting Beets

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Sunlight for Beets

Beets perfom best in full sun for at least 6 hours a day, but will grow in a partially shaded area. Beets growing in shaded areas may not produce large beet roots, but the foliage typically grows well. If your primary reason for growing beets is for beet greens, go ahead and plant them in shady areas of your garden. However, if you goal is to grow large beets, make sure your beets receive 6 hours of direct sunlight a day.

Soil for Beets

Beets prefer rich, well-drained soil with a pH between 6.5 and 7.0. To prepare the soil add a 2- to 4-inch layer of well-rotted manure or compost and work it into the soil to improve aeration and promote drainage. Apply 5-10-10 or 10-10-10 fertilizer following the recommended application rate on the container. Work it into the top 6 inches of soil. 

Planting and Spacing Beets

Sow beet seeds to a depth of ¼ inch, spaced 2 to 4 inches apart in rows - if you intend to allow them to mature. For beet greens, create a raised row in the garden approximately eight inches wide. Broadcast the seeds over the area to create a wide row of beets. Cover the seeds with soil and firm down lightly to secure the seeds.

Fertilizing Beets

Apply 5-10-10 or 10-10-10 fertilizer following the recommended application rate on the container when planting your beets. Work it into the top 6 inches of soil. Apply water-soluble fertilizer designed for garden vegetables once or twice a month, particularly if you are growing your beets in a raised bed or container. Beets grown in raised beds or containers require supplemental feeding as the nutrients often leach from the soil with repeated watering.

Use caution with high nitrogen fertilizers as too much nitrogen can cause the tops to grow large, but the beet roots will be small. Always use the health of your beet plants as a guide when deciding if they need supplemental feeding during the summer.
​

Weeding Beets

 Keep weeds under control by hand picking or cutting them at the base with a sharp hoe. For beets grown in a long row, mulching with organic mulch is an option for weed control.

Harvesting Beet Greens and Beets

Harvest beet greens when the leaves are 4 to 6 inches high. As the beets mature the leaves and stems become tough and stringy losing their characteristic sweet flavor. Many prefer to pull every other beet plant for greens while allowing others to grow to maturity. Harvesting just the outer leaves for beet greens is also an option. Harvest mature beet roots in late summer or fall.
Copyright © 2014 Nannette Richford



  • Home
  • Garden Thyme Blog
  • Themes
    • Butterfly Gardens
    • Moon Gardens
    • Sensory Gardens
    • All About Fairies
  • Flowers
    • Annual Flowers >
      • Alyssum
      • Cosmos
      • Geraniums
      • Marigolds
      • Morning Glories
      • Nasturtiums
      • Petunias >
        • Reviving Petunias
      • Snapdragons
      • Sunflowers
      • Sweet Peas
      • Zinnias
    • Perennial Flowers >
      • Golden Glow (Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Hortensia’)
      • Lupines
      • Purple Coneflower (Echinacea Purpurea)
    • Maine Wildflowers
  • Veggies
    • Warm Season Vegetables >
      • About Beans >
        • Growing Beans
        • Growing Pole Beans
        • How to Make a Teepee Trellis
      • About Corn >
        • Growing Corn
        • What is Baby Corn, anyway?
        • Can you grow corn in containers?
      • Cucumbers >
        • Grow a cucumber in a bottle
        • Growing Pickling Cucumbers
        • Growing cucamelons (Mexican Gherkin)
        • Why do cucumbers blossom but fail to set fruit?
        • Trellising Cucumbers
        • Making Cucumber Relish
        • Powdery Mildew on Cucumbers
      • Melons
      • Peppers >
        • Growing Peppers
      • Squash >
        • Growing Zucchini
        • Spaghetti Squash
      • Tomatoes >
        • How to Harden Off Tomato Plants
        • How (and when) to Prune Tomatoes
        • Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt) for Tomatoes
        • Blossom End Rot in Tomatoes
        • Growing Cherry Tomatoes in Hanging Baskets
        • 4 Best Tomatoes for Short Seasons - Early Tomatoes
        • 5 Early Maturing Tomatoes for Short Season Gardening
        • How to Ripen Green Tomatoes
        • How to Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes at Home
        • How to Grow a Pomato Plant
    • Cool Season Vegetables >
      • Cole Crops
      • Greens >
        • How to Grow Spinach
        • How to Grow Malabar Spinach
        • How to Grow Swiss Chard
        • Harvesting and Cooking Beet Greens
        • How to Grow Microgreens
      • Onions & Garlic >
        • How to Grow Garlic
        • How to Grow Onions
      • Peas >
        • Growing Garden (shelling) Peas
        • Growing Sugar Snap Peas
      • Potatoes >
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Containers
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Hay Bales
      • Root Crops >
        • Growing Beets
        • How to Grow Carrots
        • Turnips vs Rutabagas
  • Herbs
    • Growing Basil
    • Growing Chives
    • Growing Lavender
    • Herbal Tea Garden
    • How to Grow a Culinary Herb Garden
    • How to Grow Herbs in Sponges
    • Colonial Herb Garden - Classroom Project
    • Herbed Butter
    • Making Herbed Oils
  • Gardening Basics
    • Seed Starting Basics
    • Grafting Basics
    • Soil >
      • Starting a New Garden
      • How to Prepare Soil
      • How to Test Soil Drainage
      • What Type of Soil Do You Have
      • Soil Mix Recipe for Containers
      • How to Make Compost Tea
      • How to Use Mulch
  • Garden Pests
    • How to Control Japanese Beetles
    • How to Control Blister Beetles
    • How to Get Rid of Colorado Potato Beetles
  • Birds
    • Hummingbirds >
      • DIY Hummingbird Feeders from Recycled Bottles
      • Annuals for Hummingbird Gardens
      • Perennials for Hummingbird Gardens
    • About Birdseed
    • Choosing a Birdfeeder
  • Fiddleheads and Fairies
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • How to Marinate Roasted Vegetables