Seeds from Organic Gardening

[ameno]

Is it possible you are feeding them too well mothhawk ? I get the occasional stick root but mostly they are fine, I do have to watch them in wet weather as they really don't like being soggy and I have claggy clay and they do need space between them but I'm sure you know that. Hey ho, such is gardening eh? Took 6 years before I could get the carrot thing sorted, my Dad always said gardening was about patience - he should have added not to develop a fear of failure as well

Funnily enough, I find the opposite.
My soil is clay, and they seem to really flourish in it. I just add some poultry manure at the beginning of the year, water them in dry spells, and they grow really large and sit all winter. I basically don't thin them, either, unless there's a really dense clump. The roots all just push each other apart and still grow to a good size. Although I will add that, probably due to the heavy soil, the beetroot don't so much grow in the soil as on it. I had a couple this year which had the entire globe above the soil surface, with only the tap root growing into the soil. Doesn't seem to do them any harm.

I would agree that lack of fertiliser is probably mothhawk's problem, though. Beetroot are a hungry crop, especially for nitrogen.
Variety choice is another possibility. I grew Chioggia a couple years ago and had half good roots and half matchsticks, whereas the variety I usually grow is Pablo, which gives an excellent crop.

[NannyGreen]

I just re-read my post mothhawk and ameno and realised I should have said "Is it possible you aren't feeding them too well?" Thank you for picking that up Been having issues with the site and sometimes getting logged off in the middle of a post so not proof reading as often as I would.

They certainly seem to like my clay ameno but not the torrential rain I had last year, they got a bit bogged down. I stick with Boltardy as they are reliable in my garden but it is always worth trying other varieties isn't it? Not all types suit all gardens.

Hope this post has no typos as I have had 3 error messages whilst typing it so going to post now.

[NannyGreen]

On the original subject of the seeds from Organic Gardening - phoned them this morning. They were as puzzled as I was at the lack of a packing date, helpful lady checked their system and the seeds were apparently packed 31/07/2019 so I am guessing they were acquired for me sometime last year and it was too late to to do anything with them, or more likely, had no space by then.

They have offered to replace them if my germination rate is rubbish so we shall see what happens.