Beetroot problems

[bretty666]

hi all, iv tried to find how to post a thread on beets as i have a problem with them but couldnt find out where to do this, so i will ask in here, my beets have done fine up until the leaves are between 5 and 10 cntimeters roughly then they just stall? neither the leaves or the root seem to grow? iv had some in for about 3 months now, since end of april maybe? it is a bit warmer here in france but not that much, is this weather related? soil? our soil is about 6/6.5 we have a well in the garden so free and generous watering? the detroit beets are a bit better than the golden ones, and the stripey ones have only been in a few weeks (they seem to be ok but will they suffer the same problem?)as i decided to have a go at planting more due to the failure of the previous crop, our garden is south facing and the rows are east to west? any help would be much appreciated, i have also gave them a feed of some general fertiliser? is this a commen problem? thank you

[Mikey]

Hi bretty, are you thinning out the beetroot at all. If left as tight knit seeds you don't get a lot of rootball. they recommend spacing every 4 inches or so if you want large roots. I tend to lift some of the seedlings and make a new row with them.

I started my first batch off under cover back at the beginning of March, even with the extreme cold they have gone on to do well.

[rustylady]

hi all, iv tried to find how to post a thread on beets as i have a problem with them but couldnt find out where to do this

Bretty, to post a new thread choose the forum you want to post in from the list at the very bottom of the page. Click on the title of the sub-forum (e.g. Vegging Out". This will open the category and at the top left-hand side you will find "start new thread". Click on that and away you go.

[zazen999]

I've split this into it's own thread Bretty

[lottie dolly]

I have been growing beetroots for a few years,with no bother,last year would not grow,down to weather,this year mine are as you describe,first lot was done as usual in modules,when the tops started to grow,but no roots,next they started throwing up seed heads ,next lot are really really slow,sown another few middle of last week,looks like it gonna be another year of no beets,it has to be down to the weather yet again,first to cold,now to hot,the poor seeds are confused,what i have noticed is,the leaves are not as green on the second lot,they look like old going over autumn colors,plus it's NOT just beets,

[Tripmeup]

My beetroot are poor this year too... normally just throw seed in the ground and leave them to it with a bit of odd thinning...

[Two_Sheds]

My beets have just stayed small, them immediately bolted in last week's hot weather. It's been incredibly dry here all year

[rustylady]

I harvested 3 lovely ones yesterday - mind you they are down the shady end of the lotty.

[lottie dolly]

I harvested 3 lovely ones yesterday - mind you they are down the shady end of the lotty.

you might have hit on something there RL,could this mean yet more covering to provide shade for the beets,would be worth a try

[bretty666]

thank you zazen999, i didnt have a clue what you meant at first then i saw you are a forum moderater and i understood, , so this could be weather related then? the rows in question were spaced out as according to the packet, every 15cm or so? rusty lady, you might be on to something with the shade issue, i planted out raddish in a few different areas of the garden and the last lot in the shaded area seemed to be taking a long time to get big leaves, whereas all the others had grown quite well with big leaves and pretty good roots, (although i found out that if you leave them in too long they go really fibrous and chewy) so yesterday out of curiosity i dug one up and the root was a nice size, so the leaves stayed small due to the shading but put energy into the root?

[carly]

hmmm I'm in Oxfordshire and mine have loved this hit weather.... they are really coming on

[MrsCordial]

Oh dear, doesn't sound good for my beets then. This is the first year I've grown them. I bought a tray of seedlings and some have gone great guns but others are a bit titchy. They're in full sun, so if I don't get great results this year I'll put them in along the hedge next year, the only shady area my veg patch has.

[Stan79]

I had to sow three lots just to get some to germinate!

They seem to be growing well now though!

[leonmc0708]

Beetroots always been the easy one for me- like someone said earlier throw some seeds in, keep weeds down unti lestablished then they fly.

I have noted however that I did a few drills all over in gaps (cant get enough of them and the lad loves pink wee wee so he will eat this veg instead of chicken blinkin nuggets) and I have found those in full sun all day are a littel smaller than those that have some shade throughout the day.

Tehre must be soemhtign in this.

[hollychap]

i dug these up last night and had some nice golden beetroot last week , i have been more keen with the watering this year and keep giving them a feed with tomato food the ones i dug up last night had very long tap roots 12 , 18 " long