Your Weekly Electronic Gardening Guide
Practical Horticulture for Busy People.
Beets
About This Plant...
Family:Chenopodiaceae
Genus and species:Beta vulgaris
Growing Season:spring and fall
Indoor Sowing...
Time needed to reach transplant size:4-6 weeks
When to transplant to garden:2 weeks before last spring frost
Outdoor Sowing...
When to sow outdoors:4 weeks before to 4 weeks after last spring frost
Other Sowing Guidelines...
Approx. germination time:5-16 days
Germination temp.:50-85 degrees F.
Sowing depth:1/2 inch
Days to maturity:50-70 days
Transplanting Guidelines...
Spacing between plants:2-4 inches
Spacing between rows:12-30 inches
Growing On...
Pests:leaf miner, leafhoppers, Mexican bean beetles, wireworms, mice, and rabbits
Diseases:-
Harvest:pick after 40-50 days when root is small (about tennis ball size) for a tender crop; for beet greens, pick the entire plant when leaves are 4-6 inches long
Growing tips:each beet seed is actually a dried fruit containing several seeds; thinning will be necessary