Root crops like beets are fun to grow. Share your photos and observations of your growing season. What colors of beet root do you prefer? Remember to save some seeds from a few plants to send in for next seasons mix. I harvested most of mine to eat and pickle. The few i left for seed were devoured by a gopher who would pull the entire plant down into the burrow. Dang gophers!
Just planted the seeds today. Hoping for the best. After they grow, can I dig up the entire plant, root and all, cut off a piece of the root to taste it, then if it tastes good replant it to let it go to seed? Or will that disrupt the seed making process?
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Taking a bite or a slice is how it seems people check their root veg. Then replant or keep in storage til replant in the ground.
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For me, beets alll taste good unless your starting with an unknown cultivar. I would just eat one of each color, if you get different colors of roots. I would dig one to taste and replant. I’d just await for the seeds. Do you like beets and eat them regularly? To me, fresh beets are tastier than store bought.
Starting anew with an interesting grex i received. Why? I’m not happy with my small beets. Because for some years i mixed beets and just saved seeds from them. Just trying to get as many beets seeds i could get. Now i think there might be a connection between small beet roots and many seeds. As in, like the ones with small root systems invested energy into many seeds.
Don’t make this mistake people.
Check your beets size and save seeds only from bigger ones.
It might also have to do with the Swiss chard i’m growing not far apart. Same family…
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Good to know and consider for the seed saving activities. Do you find any variation in flavor? Besides insect pressure by eating the leaves, are there any diseases that affect your beets? What color roots do you observe?
I can confirm: chard will cross with beets and dramatically decrease root size and flavor. Most sources say to isolate several hundred feet.
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Oh, dang, yikes Ill have to grow them a season apart, I dont have that space to isolate from each other. Or, ill have to eat all of the chard before it goes to seed. ..or wichever goes to seed first will be the winner of whose seeds get collected. Or just collect from large roots each season. I really enjoy eating both for the greens, chard and beets.
Yep it’s problematic for chaos gardeners. I’m thinking of doing a grow out away from Swiss chard. Anybody an idea about upstarts in pots to maximize seed increase?
I have noticed a leaf mining insect this year in the polytunnel i hadn’t seen before.
I grew them there for seed increase. Away from snail pressure. They have self seeded like crazy. But i’m not too happy about the small size roots. Some where white as well, i guess a cross from Chiogga. I just eliminated them because i can’t be sure what it is, white root could be a swiss chard sneaking in… Growing beets is tricky i find.
But it’s always good eating the most healthy bit, the leafs. So good, inside a stir fry with eggs!
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chaos gardener! Ah, that’s the description! And dang here too, I now get it what has been going wrong… 
Let’s see how I get out of this tangle, I’ve now sown them even in the same bed…
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I grow the 2 plants every year for consumption and every two years I make beet seeds or chards seeds.
As the seeds have a long life this could be further spaced out once the landrace be finalized.
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Beet starts have to be in deeper trays, or get them planted before they are rootbound, or you wont get nice beetroot but a tangled monster. I prefer direct seed for nice beetroot.
Have you tried companion planting with complimentary herbs? I put mint in everywhere, basil, hyssop, yarrow, nettles, nasturtium, marigold, and dill with fennel all over. Once I determined the insect pests to keep away, I chose herbs to help. Its also nice for dehydrated tea and spices for harvesting. My beets were planted at different times to the chards and didnt spike with the same timing.
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I have put some in deeper trays and will grow them away from Swiss Chards. It’s a reasonably pest free plant so far in my experience. But i plant a lot of herbal friends around anyway, because i don’t like bare soil and grass and other competitors keep pulling in. I just pulled some beets that i do find small, but they did have white mycelium connections and smell of it as well. They have been grown over winter and had very little water. Maybe for survival they had to do something with the soil biome, make some exchange for sugars.
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Nice beets!