Beetroot not so easy to grow ?

[Betty123]

Ive been watering my beetroots but I’ve only had 3 smaller than a golf ball beets!
It was Boltardy variety and they went in April.
The rest of them are tiny may 1/4 to 1/2 inch in size ....
I’m thinking time to pull them up as a lost cause...
Any advice please ?

[bikermike]

It's the weather I think - I've had no luck this year.

Watering frequently is the key I think. I'm also finding out the ground being hard isn't helping, they are growing above ground

[Miss Mousetrousers]

Mine started out being small then eventually grew to a usable size. They weren't watered a lot so maybe the roots grew bigger by growing downwards to find some moisture?

[nickdub]

a lost cause for this year, though the leaves are edible so maybe you could get a stir-fry out of those.
For another time beetroot need warm weather, but also moisture in the soil. Work as much humus laden material in as you can over Autumn and Winter then either wait to late in the season to sow them or start in modules and transplant. Basically they need to be grown quickly under good conditions if they aren't going to turn up stringy.

[Greenleaves]

Sometimes over feeding is the issue, especially high nitrogen feeds. You end up with all leaf and no beet.

Beetroot dont like hard soil either, you need a good 4" of decent topsoil for maximum return.

[burnie]

I reckon that there's another 6 weeks growing time left, not given up on mine yet.

[Penellype]

I find Boltardy very slow. I've had a great crop of beetroot (some Boltardy, Boldor and Albina Vereduna) at the allotment this year, but I have no idea why. Attempts to grow it at home last year resulted in the same sort of sizes as the op has got. Leaving them over winter resulted in bolting in spring without any increase in size. The ones I tried in the soil did marginally better than those in buckets of compost, but not much. I didn't bother this year.

At my friend's I can sometimes grow beetroot, but this year I am really struggling. They are in the same place as last year's good crop, in a hotbed (therefore different compost), so plenty of organic matter, and watered with a hosepipe every day.

The ones at the allotment are growing ridiculously fast and I am struggling to eat them all as they do me 2 meals or more each. It doesn't seem to matter if I grow them in a hotbed, a raised bed or the soil in the tunnel, they like it. I haven't over watered these, although they have had some water most days.

The difference is a complete mystery to me.

[annie8]

I got a great crop in my raised bed from bolthardy last year. This year they are struggling. Hoping they will get a bit bigger over next month or two but certainly not the easy crop I had last year. I’d thought it was partly because the bed they are in was the sunniest and they didn’t like the heat so much but maybe not.

[self-contained]

Mine aren't as big or quick growing as last year, but I pulled quite a few of decent size yesterday.

[Earthgirl Jen]

Perseverence Betty123 ...

I'll post you a pic at the state of mine!... The sparrows love the leaves and I will admit since I started watering them more often since the end of June they have grown in size! I'm harvesting lots of different sizes and currently 'sharing' them with the mice/voles that like to gnaw at it and that sparrows that love the leaves!!!

[Betty123]

Thanks all....
I’ve been watering every day and they are in a raised bed with a fine mesh bug net over the over the whole race bed. I think the net increase the heat so mayb is they were too hot.
I think I’ll pull then and put spring cabbage in lol forever the optimist!

[Greenleaves]

Have you manured the bed or used chicken pellets Betty123? You should avoid using them within 6 months of sowing and feed with BFB

[ESBkevin]

Our Beet suffered in the heat and we lost some to birds and a mole disturbing the young plants. Eventually got some usable beets though. Parsnips on the other hand are not looking very good, plenty of leaf but the thin roots are trying to climb out of the soft mulch no dig bed.

I'm going to try one last planting of beetroot this week and see how ther fare.

[bario1]

they are in a raised bed with a fine mesh bug net over the over the whole race bed. I think the net increase the heat so mayb is they were too hot.

This is something I've noticed as well - beetroot grown in my carrot bed (under enviromesh) wilted in the hot weather while the same plants in the un-netted bed next door were fine. My carrots did horribly this year too. I guess the air inside gets trapped and heats up.

[Penellype]

Most of mine are netted, mainly to deter the birds and cat from digging up the beds, but also because the early sowing got leaf miner really badly.

I've come to the conclusion that growing beetroot is really hard to photograph, but here goes:



Boltardy, sown early February, direct into the hotbed. Some of these have now bolted, including one enormous one.



Boldor (yellow), sown in modules in early April and grown under debris netting. I've pulled the one that is visible in the centre of the picture to eat for lunch:



In my opinion these are the nicest tasting of the 3 varieties.



Albina Vereduna (white) sown in modules in late April, planted in the tunnel.