I think my beetroot is on strike!

[glut]

The tops seem to have grown fine, are big and healthy and green but so far no sign of swelling below at all. They are boltardy and tasty trio. Is this usual or are they in trouble?

[amandaandherveg]

Mine obviously belong to the same union as they're on strike too. I was looking at them this morning and they look, erm, pathetic.

[veggielover]

mine on strike too..........

[Incy]

none of mine even bothered to come up..... or maybe the cats ate them while they were digging in my beds

[jacob]

I had to resow after only three came up at the first time of asking. Still no sign of a beetroot...

[glut]

well I feel a bit more cheery about it. I do have lots of healthy looking plants and even if they are not producing any beetroot I'm getting some yummy leaves for my salads.

[lottie dolly]

mine are of to a very slow start,but did notice after the rain a little spurt of growth,and 1 of the cylindra is a good 1/2in wide,i hope it's just a matter of a slow start to the season,and may it continue into early autumn,it seems most thing are of to a slow start,bar the weeds

[gojiberry]

All the rain over the week-end will make a difference to the root veg and hopefully the roots will start swelling now.

Ian

[coreopsis]

Mine as well-sown about 6 weeks ago,germinated fine but still nothing except seed leaves.WHY??????????

[terrier]

Germination this year - NIL. I've sown more in pots to plant out in a few days. I've never had a total failure before, it must be something about the weather . In past years, I've had loads of leaves but the bulbs swell much later. Make sure they are thinned out to the required distance.

[greengas]

Hi newbie here, my confusion lies with the thinning out bit? I do not know if i am doing it right, I am pulling up the leaves as they are over crowded I am presuming but there seems to be no swelling of the roots. I am concerned I am not getting it right with my root veg any advice on thinning would be apprieciated.

[salilah]

I've a fair number planted out (sown in modules) but no sign of the roots swelling yet...

Its very frustrating - all the books say beetroot are really easy to grow - but they never seem to get there for me!
<sigh>

[jacob]

I think we're all being a bit impatient here! Beetroot takes a good four months from sowing to cropping and the swelling takes place at the end. If you've got a set of healthy plant eventually beetroot will appear.

btw, I've never bothered thinning beetroot -- it always seems to sort itself out. Although this year I'm also experimenting with some module germinated ones planted out with loads of space. If I get tasty monsters I might change my attitude.

[drdoug]

sorry to jump onto this thread but I am browing Beetroot for the first time this year and didnt know you coudl harvest some beatroot leaves for salad as the plant grows. My question is how many leave do you take off each plant ? 2 ?

Thanks

[Sanjo]

Hi newbie here, my confusion lies with the thinning out bit? I do not know if i am doing it right, I am pulling up the leaves as they are over crowded I am presuming but there seems to be no swelling of the roots. I am concerned I am not getting it right with my root veg any advice on thinning would be apprieciated.

Greengas, don't panic! Thinning is just literally pulling up the younger seedlings.
If you are pulling beetroots then the thin pinky/red bit at the bottom is the beetroot.
If you loosen the soil a little before you pull you lessen the risk of damage and you may be able to transplant the thinnings to another part of the bed, and therefore give yourself a head start on another row.
Otherwise, eat the leaves of the thinnings if they are big enough.
Thinning just means that you remove some of the seedlings where they are too close to each other. Lettuce is a good example. Either eat them as small salad leaves or transplant them somewhere else.
Most transplanted thinnings will look a bit wilty when they first go in but they should pick up.