When to sow beetroot

Sow beetroot outdoors from late March or April, once the soil has warmed up, until early July. The earliest sowings are the riskiest: young plants that go through cold spells tend to bolt, so for March and early April use a bolt-resistant variety such as 'Boltardy'.

In cold areas you can sow in modules indoors in March and plant the little clumps out a few weeks later.

Sow a short row every few weeks for a steady supply of tender young roots. The last sowings, in June and early July, give the beets you store for winter.

A beetroot 'seed' is really a knobbly cluster of several seeds, so more than one seedlings come up from each one. Sow the clusters 0.8–1.2 in deep and about 4 in apart in rows 12 in apart, then thin to the strongest seedling once the first true leaves appear. Monogerm varieties have single seeds and need less thinning.

If you prefer to grow them in small clumps, leave three or four seedlings together every 6 in. The roots push each other apart and stay smaller.

A 120 × 80 cm raised bed holds three rows of twelve, about 36 beetroot.

Beetroot likes sun and deep, humus-rich soil that drains well. It copes with poorer soil too, but not with waterlogging.

Keep the bed weed-free and the soil evenly moist. Uneven watering, a long dry spell followed by a downpour, makes the roots split; lots of water and nitrogen give big leaves and small roots. In dry weather, water thoroughly now and then rather than a little every day.

Beetroot is a medium feeder. Compost dug in before sowing is usually enough. Go easy on nitrogen, which raises nitrate levels in the roots and shortens their storage life.

The first roots can be pulled about eight weeks after sowing. Most are at their best between golf-ball and cricket-ball size, about 1.6–2.8 in across. Beets for storage stay in the ground for four to five months. All in all, you can harvest from mid-June until late November.

Twist or cut the leaves off a little above the root without cutting into it. Leaves from young plants are good as salad or cooked like spinach; take only a few from each growing plant.

Lift storage beets before hard frost. In the fridge, wrapped in a damp cloth, they keep for several weeks. In a box of slightly moist sand in a cool cellar or shed they last two to five months.

Besides the classic round red beet there are pink, yellow, white and red-and-white striped varieties.

For early sowings pick a bolt-resistant variety such as 'Boltardy' or 'Wodan'. Monogerm varieties save you most of the thinning.

Beetroot is generally trouble-free. The pest you're most likely to meet is beet leaf miner: larvae tunnel inside the leaves and leave pale blotches that turn brown, with two or three generations between April and September. Pick off mined leaves or cover young plants with fine mesh.

Aphids, downy and powdery mildew and leaf spots turn up now and then but rarely need action. Split roots almost always come from uneven watering.

Beetroot belongs to the amaranth family with chard and spinach. Leave four years before any of them grows in the same bed again.

Mixed-planting tables pair beetroot with lettuce, cucumbers, beans or kohlrabi. We found no solid evidence behind these pairings; they are tradition, and quick crops like lettuce do fit well between the rows while the beets are small.

The rule with a real reason is rotation: keep beetroot apart from chard and spinach over the years.