Beetroot is best sown in spring, but can also be re-sown later. Find out everything about sowing beetroot and how to grow delicious beetroot seedlings below.
When and how should you sow beetroot?
Beetroot should be sown after the Ice Saints in late May to June. Choose a sunny to partially shaded location with loose, nutrient-rich soil. Sow the seeds in rows 30cm apart and 10cm apart, 1-2cm deep. The germination period is 12-14 days.
When to sow beetroot?
Young beetroot is sensitive to frost, which is why the he althy vegetable should only be sown after the Ice Saints at the end of May. Since the vegetable is often eaten in winter and stores well, experienced gardeners only grow their beets in June. The beets have a development time of around three months. This means that if you sow the beetroot at the end of May, you can harvest it at the end of August, if you sow it at the end of June, the harvest time shifts to the end of September.
Tip
If you want to harvest beetroot even earlier, you can do it at home in February. You can find out how to do this here.
Where to sow beetroot?
Beetroot prefers a warm and sunny location; In an emergency, it is also happy with partial shade. It prefers loose soil that it can easily penetrate with its roots, which are up to one and a half meters deep. The beetroot is a medium-feeder, which means that it is happy to receive fertilizer with compost and is planted according to the crop rotation according to heavy feeders.
How to sow beetroot
Like most vegetables, beetroot is a dark germinator, which means that its seeds must be covered with soil. When sowing, proceed as follows:
- Find out which plant neighbors the beetroot gets along well with and make a planting plan.
- Use sticks and thread to create straight rows of plants with a row spacing of about 30cm.
- Push two to three seeds together every ten centimeters about one to two centimeters deep into the soil.
- Cover the seeds with soil and water them well.
- If you have a lot of bird visits in your garden, you should protect the seedlings from predators with nets (€3.00 on Amazon) or scarecrows.
Everything important at a glance
- Sowing date: After the Ice Saints
- Location: sunny to partially shaded
- Soil: loose and nutrient-rich
- Nutrient requirements: medium
- Row spacing: approx. 30cm
- Planting distance: 10cm
- Sowing depth: 1 to 2 cm
- Germination time: 12 to 14 days
Pricking beetroot
The first seedlings can be seen after about 14 days. Wait until the plants are about two centimeters tall and then pluck out the smaller seedlings so that there is only one strong, larger beetroot plant every ten centimeters in the bed. Here you will find step-by-step instructions for pricking beetroot.
Tip
If you want to save yourself pricking out, you can grow your beets in seed trays, as already mentioned above.
