The choice of type depends on how the vegetable will be used: for food or feeding to livestock. Having decided on the type of beet, you can select varieties.

Differences from autumn sowing

The differences between autumn sowing consist of the following factors:

• cold-resistant varieties will be required;
• there is no need to germinate the seeds;
• It is important that the seeds and soil are not wet, otherwise the seeds will germinate in the soil and freeze.

Deadlines

Landing time depends on the weather conditions of the region: for example, if in the south of Russia sowing is possible already at the end of April, then in the Urals or Siberia - only in May, or even at the beginning of June.

Find out more about when is the best time to plant beets.

For different regions Varieties have been bred to suit the climate.

For Central Russia:

• Crimson Ball;
• Egyptian flat;
• Detroit;
• Bohemia.

For the Moscow region:

• Pablo F1;
• Mona;
• Nokhovskaya.

Varieties for the Urals:

• Bicores;
• Podzimnyaya A-474;
• Lady.

For North-West:

• Matryona;
• Mulatto;
• Red ice.

For Siberia:

• Mondoro F1;
• Mashenka;
• Milady F1.

For the south of Russia:

• Bordeaux 237;
• Captain;
• Harmony;
• Kuban borscht 43.

Is it possible to go straight into the ground?

Beets grow well when sowing seeds directly into the ground. The timing of emergence of seedlings depends on the air temperature. If the air warms up to 20°, the sprouts will hatch on the fourth day. In cool weather (from 5°), you will have to wait three weeks.

Step-by-step instructions on how to sow correctly

Preparation

Inventory

Ordinary garden tools includes bayonet shovel, rakes, buckets, watering cans and he prepares for the gardening season in advance and not only for sowing beets.

It is for beets that you can use a wooden marker, similar to a rake, but intended for drawing rows for sowing seeds.

Why the marker is convenient:

• it makes it easy to adjust the depth of the rows, it depends on the force of pressure on the marker handle;
• You can change the width between rows from 80 to 100 cm by rearranging the marker teeth.

The soil

When choosing a site for growing beets, you need to take into account the fact that it light-loving plant. Even the richness of the color of root vegetables depends on good lighting.

You need to know what beets give excellent harvest on neutral soil(peat or sand). On acidic soil the leaves will become fatty and the fruits will be small and hard.

It is important that the soil temperature at sowing is no lower than 10 degrees: If the soil is not warmed up, root crops will form poorly.

To get a good harvest, the soil should be fertilized. This composition of applied fertilizers per 1 square meter is optimal. m:

• 2 kg of humus or compost;
• 14 g of potassium chloride;
• 35 g superphosphate;
• 19 g ammonium nitrate.

From the earth that is then dug up, a ridge is made with loose soil and an arable layer of 20-25 cm.

Seeds

For better seed germination, the following method is used:

1. seeds are sorted in order to select undamaged specimens;
2. then they are soaked for a day in a solution of wood ash or a growth stimulant;
3. then washed and dried.

Before sowing, the quality of the seeds can be checked and the germination percentage can be determined. To do this, they are germinated in damp tissue. The number of germinated seeds will allow you to calculate the percentage of germination.

Beet seeds usually have 80% germination rate, which lasts for a long time (for three to five years).

Another method used is vernalization. It is carried out two weeks before sowing beets.

What to do:

1. seeds soaked in half of water glass jar or enamel pan, stand for 32 hours;
2. then pour in water in such a way that the mass of water and the mass of seeds are equal;
3. leave the seeds for three to four days until they swell;
4. then place the seeds (in a layer of up to 3 cm) in the refrigerator for a week.

Sealing process

What crops will grow well after?

Beetroot is considered a demanding crop for soil fertility.. In this regard, it is important what exactly grew on the site of its future sowing.

Beets take root well and give an excellent harvest after the following crops:

• pepper;
• cucumbers;
• cabbage;
• tomatoes;
• potato;
• peas (after peas, you can grow any plants).

You can find out more about what can be planted after beets, next to the crop and what predecessors are suitable for it.

Depth

The depth of planting seeds in the soil depends on its type:

• on loose soil - three to four cm;
• on heavier ones - two to three cm.

It should be remembered that both shallow and deep embedding are equally undesirable. In the first case, the seeds may dry out, and in the other, their germination may slow down.

Scheme

Beet seeds are usually sown in furrows. Considering that root vegetables are big size, the distance between the grooves is best done up to half a meter. In extreme cases, at least 25 cm.

The distance between sprouts should be at least 15 cm, but it is better if at least 25 cm.

Furrows should not be made to the very edge of the ridge so that the rain does not wash away the seeds.

Sown seeds can be covered with covering material or film overnight.

Sprout care

Care consists of the following activities:

1. Watering. When seedlings appear, they need to be watered once a week. But if the summer is hot, you can water the sprouts every other day. During the growth period, abundant watering is required. It is important to pour water not on the leaves, but under the roots. Three weeks before harvest, watering stops.
2. Weeding. Weeds must be removed, but only when the sprouts have become stronger, so as not to damage the beet roots.
3. Thinning. Beet seeds sown in furrows produce dense shoots and thinning is necessary. The procedure is carried out three times:
   • after the appearance of two or three full-fledged leaves, leaving a gap of 2-3 cm between plants;
   • when five to seven leaves are formed, leaving 4-6 cm between sprouts;
   • in mid-August - at intervals of 6-8 cm.
4. Top dressing. To form root crops and obtain a good harvest, plant nutrition is necessary. Nitrogen-containing fertilizers are applied when leaves begin to form. Potassium chloride and superphosphate are required during the formation of root crops. Lack of boron leads to the formation of voids and rotting of fruits.

Possible problems and difficulties

Problems when growing beets are the most common diseases - phomosis and cercospora of fruits, as well as pests:

• beetles;
• mole cricket;
• nematode;
• beet fly;
• beet bug;
• mining moth.

Disease and pest control measures include:

1. compliance with crop rotation;
2. deep autumn digging of the soil;
3. the use of seeds resistant to diseases characteristic of beets;
4. timely and thorough disposal of weeds and plant debris;
5. spraying plants with copper containing preparations.

When cultivating any garden crops, including beets, it is important to follow all the rules for preparation, sowing and care. By knowing and following them, you can be guaranteed to get an excellent harvest.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

To grow table beets that are sweet and healthy and suitable for long-term storage, you need to know the intricacies of agricultural technology for this vegetable. Anyone who masters this science is guaranteed a varied vitamin menu throughout the winter.

Beets are unpretentious and ready to grow in all latitudes, with the exception of permafrost. You can opt for regionalized local varieties or experiment with new hybrids with increased hardiness.

The ripening period of beets depends on the variety and ranges from 80 to 130 days. You can adjust the ripening time by planting beets under a greenhouse or seedlings, first germinating the seeds.

The most popular varieties suitable for growing in any climatic conditions:

Valenta– an early ripening variety with sweet, dark red flesh, cold-resistant, shelf-stable, disease-resistant.

Ataman– medium late variety, cylindrical fruits weighing 300 g, burgundy, sweet with homogeneous pulp, very well stored.

Cylinder– a medium-late variety with an elongated bright red fruit, weighing up to 500 g, strong immunity and good keeping quality.

Podzimnyaya- a mid-early cold-resistant variety, resistant to most diseases, round fruits weighing 200 - 400 g with burgundy pulp.

Red hero– mid-early high-yielding variety, cylindrical dark red fruits with thin skin and uniform pulp weighing 200–550 g.

Red ice– mid-early variety, the fruits are bright red, with structured pulp, light weight - 200–300 g, well stored.

Bicores– mid-season, high-yielding variety, bright red fruits weighing 200-350 g, long-lasting.

If you plan to eat beets from your garden all year round, then you need to plant both early and late varieties beets.

Landing dates

More often, beets are planted in the spring, when the air warms up to 15-18 C. You can do this a little earlier, in April by planting ungerminated seeds under a greenhouse.

If the spring is too cold, you can move the planting date to a later time, choosing beets early date maturation.

Winter beets are sown with dry seeds before the onset of frost. Only specially oriented varieties are selected for this purpose. The crop areas are covered. They start to grow in early spring and provide summer harvest beets. Summer-ripened root crops cannot be stored for long periods of time.

Preparing the soil for beets

The soil is dug up in the fall after careful harvesting of the previous harvest. Organic components (compost or manure) are applied as deeply as possible - 30-35 centimeters. It is possible to organize something similar warm bed, but with a thin layer of organic matter so that it has time to decompose by the time the beet root grows to it.

The acidity of the earth is reduced by scattering dolomite flour, ground eggshells or wood ash.

It is better to apply mineral additives - superphosphate and potassium sulfate - in the fall so that they have time to dissolve in the soil. They are scattered dry over the bed before digging at a rate of no more than 0.3 kg. by one square meter land.

The root crop develops better in loose soil. In the spring, it is good to dig up the bed again and mulch it with peat or rotted sawdust.

Site selection, crop rotation

Rules for choosing a place for beets:

1. beets love space; the sparser the root crops are planted from each other, the more space they have for growing rounded barrels;
2. if there is no need for large plantations of this root crop, beets can be planted in a border method next to potatoes, cucumbers, beans, next to greens or onions;
3. beets need frequent irrigation, but stagnation of water will lead to rotting, which means the bed must be laid out next to the watering source in a well-drained area;
4. Beets are not planted twice in a row in the same place; crop rotation is observed very carefully;
5. the preceding plants for this vegetable are onions, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, carrots, zucchini;
6. It is undesirable to plant beets after cabbage and for the second year in a row in one place.

If you have to displace any crops in the garden by planting them on poor soil, then you can safely do this with beets. Its growth can be ensured by good loosening of the soil, timely watering and fertilizer.

Seed preparation

Beet seeds before planting:

• check for germination - pour into a glass of salted water, mix and remove any that float;
• hardened by alternation hot water and cold, withstanding in every temperature conditions for several hours;
• disinfected by keeping for 12 hours in a weak solution of potassium permanganate;
• stimulated by soaking in a growth stimulator.
• germinate if the seeds are prepared for growing beet seedlings.

For pre-winter planting, you need to limit yourself only to checking for germination and disinfection - excessively swollen seeds can germinate in the winter and die.

Planting beets in open ground

Beet seeds are large compared to most garden crops. Sowing will not be difficult.

Sow beets in furrows 3-5 centimeters deep with a distance of 5 centimeters from each other and 20 centimeters between rows.

Winter crops are buried 10 centimeters so that the seeds do not die.

When planting beets in open ground seedlings, the interval is set to at least 20 centimeters.

Beet care

The process of growing beets includes watering, fertilizing, loosening and mandatory thinning.

Beets do not require close attention at all if they grow in good soil and with proper watering. But if the plant lacks nutrition, it will have a bad effect on taste or lead to diseases.

1. Phomosis of beet fruits and leaves develops with a lack of boron and is expressed in the appearance of lightened spots on the foliage; it is also fraught with curvature and the appearance of cavities in the root crop.
2. Cercospora blight is caused by excessive moisture in the beds.
3. Excess nitrogen in the soil will cause the beets to taste bitter and earthy.

Watering and fertilizing

After germination, beets need to be watered frequently - once every two to three days, alternating watering with shallow loosening so as not to damage the roots. There is no need to hill this root crop. But it is good to form a hog between the rows of beets, along which water will flow. In case of soil erosion, top up with thin layer humus.

Loosening can be replaced by mulching. A layer of crushed dried grass placed between the rows will help conserve moisture.

A one-time application of mineral fertilizers before planting is sufficient for beets. It makes sense to carry out additional fertilizing only if the plants are noticeably stunted in growth.

Periodic watering of beets with diluted herbal infusions or yeast fertilizers is suitable as preventive fertilizing.

Two or three times a season you can water the beets with salted water at the rate of one tablespoon per 10 liters of water. Or use complex fertilizers according to the instructions, for example, Makbor.

Root crops accumulate nitrates more actively than other crops. When growing beets, it is better to opt for natural fertilizers.

Optimal planting density

Important point in caring for beets - thinning. It is carried out in several stages so that the owner has the opportunity to evaluate the growing roots and select the best of them. Before each thinning, it is necessary to fill the beets well.

When the first pair of leaves appears, the weakest plants are removed. In the future, when thinning, diseased specimens are removed; good roots that are too thick can be transplanted to a new place or used for food as greens.

From the initial distance between plants of 5 centimeters, you eventually need to reach an interval of 15-20 centimeters.

Harvest and storage

Beets are harvested in the fall before the onset of cold weather, when the leaves on the plant wither. When harvesting, you must act carefully, using a shovel to pry up large layers of soil and remove the root crops one at a time.

The soil is carefully shaken off the fruit, and it is better not to cut off the remaining corolla of leaves - just remove the wilted stems.

Store medium-sized root vegetables with intact skin in a dry room at a temperature of 2 to 5 C.

Beet diseases and pests

The main pests of any root crops are moles, mole crickets and rodents. Beet flea beetles, wireworms and slugs are also dangerous. In addition, plants are affected by various rots and nematodes.

To combat these troubles, one must first of all maintain hygiene. personal plot– high-quality cleaning, careful deep digging and preventive treatment of plantings with natural disinfectants – wood ash, tobacco dust, hot pepper powder.

These root vegetables are famous for their unpretentiousness and consistency. They are well stored in basements and vegetable pits, saving useful material until spring. Be sure to find a place on your plot for beets.

Beetroot was brought to Rus' from Byzantium back in the 10th century. In ancient times this plant was highly valued for its healing properties, for example, Hippocrates used it to treat infectious and skin diseases. Currently, beets are firmly established in our diet, in addition, there are many recipes traditional medicine, in which this useful root vegetable has found application.

It is difficult to find a summer resident who does not grow table beets on his plot, and there is a simple explanation for this. Not only is it very healthy vegetable, as mentioned above, so, among other things, it is easy to grow, since it is extremely unpretentious plant. But despite this, in order to get an excellent harvest, you must follow some rules. Let's figure out how to plant beets (sowing, seedlings, features, care), we will try to tell you about all this in this article.

Sowing time

First, let's decide when to sow beets in open ground. This healthy vegetable can be sown in the spring, or before winter.

For getting early harvest sowing is carried out in the fall, at the beginning of November, or under film at the end of April, and those beets that are intended for long-term storage are sown in May, after the 10th, but no later than May 20th. If you sow seeds too early, in cold soil, the roots may not grow, instead flower stalks form. After the first shoots appear, the film can be removed (beet seedlings tolerate frosts down to -2 o C).

Choosing a landing site

It is best to prepare the bed for planting in the fall. First of all, it should be dug up on the bayonet of a shovel and thoroughly loosened. It is advisable to add half a bucket per m2 of rotted compost or humus to the soil ( fresh manure It is not recommended to enter). If it is large, it is recommended to add lime or chalk when digging at the rate of 1 cup per m2 (you cannot add it in the spring, this can cause a disease of root crops such as scab). Before sowing, you should fertilize the soil; the following mixture is suitable: 10-12 teaspoons boric acid, 1 teaspoon of magnesium sulfate, about 2 cups of ash and a tablet of trace elements (all this per m2). You should not apply chlorine-containing fertilizers to plantings, but magnesium really likes it. Growing beets in open ground sandy soil requires the addition of peat, turf soil and humus to the site (1 bucket per m2). IN clay soil add a full bucket of peat and coarse river sand with the addition of two liters of old sawdust, which should first be treated with a urea solution.

Seed preparation

How to plant beets with seeds in open ground, you ask? So, before sowing, the seeds should first be prepared for planting. To do this, it is advisable to soak them in a solution of baking soda or ash (half a teaspoon per 0.5 liter of water) for a day, then rinse, wrap in a damp cloth and keep in this form at a temperature not lower than 25 0 C for two days. This technique allows you to get vigorous shoots a week after sowing.

Sowing

How and when to plant beets? Planting is carried out, as mentioned above, in the spring or autumn. So, if you plant beets in the fall, then the seeding rate will be 3g per m2, the seeds are planted to a depth of about 4 cm, and covered with mulch on top.

How to plant beets with seeds in the ground and seedlings in the spring? Seeds are sown in rows at a distance of 30-40 cm from each other, in grooves to a depth of 2.5-3 cm. The prepared grooves are watered hot water, place the seeds in them at a distance of 2-3 cm from one another, then lightly press them into the ground and mulch. Most beet seeds are multi-sprouting, that is, 2-4 sprouts appear from one seed, so 5-6 days after the seedlings appear, the first thinning is carried out, in which the plants are left at a distance of 3-4 cm from one another. The second thinning is done after the formation of 5-6 leaves, leaving a distance between root crops of 8-10 cm.

We looked at how to plant beets with seeds in open ground, but in the spring some gardeners prefer to plant this vegetable as seedlings, so let's talk about how to do it correctly.

A month before planting beets on permanent place Seedlings are sown in a specially prepared substrate according to a 4 x 4 cm pattern. This method of growing allows you to get a harvest 3 weeks earlier than usual. It is not necessary to dive seedlings before planting them in the ground. The required temperature for cultivation is 15-20 o C. It is best to grow beets with oval root crops as seedlings. Transplanting it to a permanent place begins when the plant forms 3-4 leaves. Before this, the container with the seedlings is thoroughly spilled with water, after which the plant is dug out with a special spatula. In order for the beets to take root better, the root of the sprout is shortened by about 1/4 before planting. After this, the seedlings are thoroughly watered. Plants are planted at a distance of 8-10 cm from one another.

Further care of beets consists of timely loosening, weeding, fertilizing and watering.

Care

So, we figured out when to sow beets in open ground, now let's talk about how to care for them.

Beet seeds, as mentioned above, germinate slowly, therefore, approximately 3-4 days after sowing, it is recommended to slightly loosen the soil on the ridge with a spring rake, this will ensure smooth germination. Real deep loosening is carried out for the first time 4 days after friendly shoots have appeared. In general, beets are very responsive to loosening, so do not forget to loosen the soil after rain or watering, but after the leaves have closed, loosening should be stopped.

This vegetable does not like darkening, so do not forget to weed the weeds in time, this is especially true in the phase of setting root crops. By the way, in August, beets require another thinning; when weeding, remove excess roots, the distance between plants should be 15-20 cm. After weeding and thinning, be sure to hill up the plants and mulch the soil.

Many summer residents pick off the leaves on beets to prepare summer soups and salads. Doing this is strictly prohibited; the yield will be significantly lower. Do not forget to water the beets in a timely manner; with a lack of moisture, the root crops become woody. For better ripening, watering is stopped 4-5 weeks before

Beet diseases

An excess of nitrogen in the soil can lead to voids forming inside the root crops; with a lack of boron, heart rot can develop. Appearance yellow spots on the leaves indicates a lack of potassium, redness of the tops indicates a lack of sodium and increased acidity of the soil.

Beetroot is affected by diseases such as false rust, blight, and leaf spot. Pests of this root crop are root beetle, beet aphid, nematode, flea beetle, fly, root aphid, smooth dead beetle. Folk remedies that have been proven for centuries will help you cope with these diseases and pests.

Harvesting and storing beets

Beet harvesting begins before the onset of frost, that is, no later than mid-September; in general, the growing season of the root crop (depending on the variety) ranges from 50 to 80 days. Before storage, the leaves should be cut off at a distance of approximately 3 cm from the root crop. Store beets in boxes, sprinkled with sand, at a temperature of 1-3 0 C.

"Bordo 237", "Pablo", "Podzimnyaya A-474", "Cold-resistant", "Renova", "Griboedovskaya flat A-473", "Egyptian flat", "Pushkinskaya flat K-18", "Incomparable A-46 ", "Single-germ".

Well, that’s all, you now know when to sow beets in open ground, which seeds to prefer, how to care for them and how to store them.

Have a good harvest!

In this article we will discuss how to plant beets, and also analyze basic requirements to get a good harvest.

Beet varieties for growing in open ground

The choice of variety depends on the purpose of use. Everyone chooses the type they need. The table variety is excellent for use for culinary purposes. You can also plant a sugar group for food consumption. If the root crop is planted for further feeding of livestock, then fodder beet is suitable for this purpose.

The following mid-season varieties of table root vegetables have the best culinary properties:

• "Bordeaux 237";
• "Bordeaux single-seeded";
• "Single-germ";
• "Gribovskaya";
• "Incomparable A-46";
• "Pablo";
• "Podzimnyaya A-474";
• "Renova".

The highest yields are varieties such as “Lola”, “Modana”, “Diy”, “Mona”.

Did you know? Aftermany years of researchscientists did interesting discovery: the most shelf-stable (high-quality) vegetables are obtained from those beet varieties whose growing season is less than 150 days.

Landing dates

When to plant beets in open ground with seeds, the soil temperature will tell you. Sowing seeds too early in unheated soil can lead to the formation of flower stalks, which causes significant damage to root crops.
The required soil temperature for growing this crop is this is 8–12 °C. Sweet root seeds germinate when 4–5 °C. It is customary to begin sowing work in mid-May.

Choosing a place in the garden

When choosing a sowing site, take into account two important conditions: the absence of shade and protection from drafts. The presence of these negative factors leads to rotting of the roots.

Lighting

The most important condition for growing sweet root is to provide maximum light. The place for the root crop should be well illuminated by the sun.
Otherwise the root vegetable stops developing. In addition, light promotes more intense coloring of the sweet root.

The best place for sowing is an open area protected from the wind. Avoid places under trees, in holes or on hills.

What kind of soil does beets like?

Beets require fertile soil enriched with mineral or organic nutrients. The soil for beet usually consists of medium loamy chernozems and peat bogs.

The acidity of the soil should be neutral or slightly alkaline (pH 5–8). If the acidity level does not correspond to the above indicators, root vegetables will be vulnerable to various diseases.
To help the young root system take root, the soil should be light, loose and deep.

Important! The use of fresh manure as fertilizer for beets is unacceptable.

Sowing root crops in open ground

Let's move on to a direct consideration of the features of growing table beets.

Soil preparation

The soil for root crops is prepared in the spring (early May). Before sowing, the soil is moistened and enriched with mineral and organic fertilizers (humus, compost). Then the soil is loosened to a depth of 5 cm. On the day of sowing, funnels 3–4 cm deep are made in the beds. The distance between the funnels should be about 20 cm, and between the rows - 40 cm.

Seed preparation

Beet seeds are sown both dry and after the soaking procedure. Thanks to moisture, sprouts will appear much faster. Solutions of growth stimulants are used for soaking.

The procedure should last no more than a day. Then the seeds are rinsed warm water, transfer to a cloth and dry carefully. It is also acceptable to use ordinary ash.

Monitor the temperature in the room where the seeds are located. Temperature shouldn't be too low, otherwise your seeds will not germinate.

Planting process

The root crop planting pattern resembles a trellis. Seeds are sown in rows followed by thinning of the sprouts. Pre-prepared funnels are filled with water.
You should wait a bit until the water is absorbed. Sowing beet seeds is carried out individually. To make the future thinning process easier, it is recommended to plant seeds less frequently. After sowing, the grooves are covered with earth. Then the soil needs to be weeded and loosened.

Did you know?Worried that seedlings may not appear, many often put several seeds into one funnel at once. But since beet seeds are quite large, more than one plant sprouts from one seed. That is why gardeners recommend placing seeds in funnels only individually.

Rules of care

Beet- unpretentious frost-resistant crop. Care consists of moderate feeding, regular, timely loosening and proper thinning.

Top dressing

The soil begins to be fed when the first shoots appear. It is important not to overdo it with the amount of fertilizer.

This vegetable crop prefers organic matter, and minerals can cause cracks and voids in the pulp of vegetables.

It must be remembered that the use chemical substances harms, first of all, humans.
On distance 5 cm Make grooves from the sprouts and fill them with a solution of nitrogen fertilizers. When the tops on the rows come together, this indicates that the time has come to apply potassium fertilizing.

Proper watering

Beetroot is a moisture-loving crop. On average, per season, the irrigation rate per 1 m² is 15–20 liters (2–3 buckets). The time to water comes when it dries out. upper layer soil.
The need for moisture is especially high in a young plant, as well as during the period of thickening of root crops. The best way irrigation - sprinkling. This method helps to wash and refresh the leaves of the plant. It is advisable to carry out work in the evening.

Excessively abundant and frequent irrigation of the soil leads to fungal diseases, and a month before harvest it worsens the taste of vegetables. Irrigation should be stopped completely 2-3 weeks before harvest.

Grow beets on summer cottage Many people try. Not everyone succeeds in this, since growing and caring for beets in open ground has a number of peculiarities. The crop needs to be watered on time and fed properly in order to obtain large and sweet root crops by the end of summer.

A warm-season two-year crop should not be sown on the beds too early. Beets tolerate short-term temperature drops well. But even surviving plants can start bolting in mid-summer. This process starts at the genetic level, since low temperature for biennial plants it marks the end of the growing season of the first year of development. When it warms up, the bushes do not form roots, but direct all their energy to flowering and setting seeds, releasing a flower arrow.

To avoid this, the gardener should choose a time for sowing beets in open ground when the frosts have already ended and the soil has warmed up to a temperature of about +10... +12 °C. For middle zone In Russia, the approximate time for sowing beets for winter harvesting is the last ten days of May. Seeds sown at this time will have time to sprout and give good harvest root crops by the end of August - beginning of September, depending on the variety.

To grow beets for early production, the gardener should prefer the seedling method.

In regions with mild winters and early onset of heat, winter planting of beets is also practiced to obtain early vegetables. In this case, the seeds are sown in late October - early November. Planting should be done to a depth of 3-4 cm. To preserve the seeds, the bed should be mulched (sawdust, peat). The thickness of the mulch layer is 5-7 cm. Beets grown in this way are not suitable for winter storage.

Preparing the soil and sowing seeds

Preparing a site for beets for spring sowing in the ground begins in the fall, after harvesting. The best predecessors are potatoes and other nightshades, onions, leguminous plants. You can’t plant beets after chard and cabbage. different types, as well as carrots and other root vegetables.

The best place is an area with loose and light fertile soil, which is well warmed by the sun. Soils with a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction are preferred. If horse sorrel or woodlice (chickweed) grows in the garden, then the soil has high acidity. When preparing a site for growing beets in open ground, it is better to lime such soil by adding dolomite flour, chalk or fluff at 1-1.5 kg/m².

In order for the beets to be tasty, the soil on the ridges must be filled with mineral and organic fertilizers. For 1 m² you need to add:

• 20-30 g ammonium sulfate;
• 10-15 g of potassium chloride;
• 30-40 g of superphosphate;
• 15-20 g ammonium nitrate;
• 4-5 kg ​​of humus.

Do not use fresh manure, bird droppings, compost or similar materials to fertilize the soil. Any organic fertilizers must be applied in a rotted form so as not to provoke beet scab disease.

Minerals and organic matter are scattered over the surface of the ridge, and then the soil is dug well, thoroughly mixing the soil and fertilizers. Over the winter, the granules will dissolve, enriching the soil with the substances the beets need. In the spring, the area can be dug up again, preparing the beds for sowing.

Beet seeds are different from others: they are collected in 2-4 pieces. and are covered with a common shell. Each round and rough seed in a bag will produce several sprouts when germinating. This must be taken into account during sowing and the grains should be placed at a distance of at least 5 cm from each other. There is also a beet variety called Odnosprotkovaya, which germinates despite general rules and produces only 1 sprout from each grain.

Before sowing, the seeds need to be inspected. Their natural color is yellowish-gray. If they have a different color, then pre-sowing treatment was carried out by the product manufacturers. Such seeds need to be germinated or sown immediately. If planting material not processed, it is soaked in a warm solution of light pink potassium permanganate. This procedure destroys bacteria and fungal spores.

After soaking, the seeds can be sown immediately if the selection of location and preparation of the beds have already been completed. Sometimes gardeners prefer to plant germinated seeds. To do this, they are placed in a damp cloth and placed in a warm place for 2-3 days, maintaining a constant level of moisture in the material. During this time, reddish sprouts appear. Ungerminated seeds can be left for another 1-2 days; they may germinate a little later. Seeds with seedlings are planted in furrows to a depth of about 3-4 cm and covered with soil.

When sowing, the following distances must be observed:

• Leave 5 cm between grains in 1 row;
• There should be about 25 cm between rows.

Beets planted on narrow ridges work well (according to Mittleider). With this method, beds are made about 35 cm wide, with sides formed from soil along the edges. The seeds are planted at a distance of 5 cm from each other along these sides. The advantage of this method is ease of care and uniform illumination of all plants.

Planting seedlings

To obtain early production, beetroot is grown in seedlings. To do this, seeds are sown 2-3 weeks before planting in open ground. Transplantation is carried out when 2-3 leaves appear. For the seedling method, you can grow beets in a greenhouse or in deep boxes on a windowsill. It can be sown more often than with direct sowing in open ground.

Seedlings are planted according to the scheme proposed for sowing seeds (5x25 cm). It is better to plant young plants in cool and cloudy weather, before rain. If the weather is sunny and hot, it is advisable to shade the ridges with gauze or lutrasil, stretching the fabric over the installed wire arches.

Beet care

After planting seeds or seedlings, the gardener must follow the rules for caring for beets in open ground. The final result depends on their observance: the size of the root crop, its taste and the keeping quality of the vegetables. winter storage. Following is uncomplicated step-by-step agricultural technology will help you grow the best harvest.

Thinning beet seedlings

Beet plantings are thinned in order to obtain larger root crops. It is recommended to do this 2-3 times per season:

1. When sowing directly into the ground, the first thinning is performed when 2-3 leaves appear on the plants. Several sprouts will hatch from each seed, so the excess ones need to be removed, leaving the largest and most developed seedling. The plucked sprouts can be used as seedlings: place them where the beets have not sprouted.
2. Beets grown by seedlings are thinned for the first time when a root crop with a diameter of 1.5-2 cm is formed in the soil. For a crop sown with seeds, thinning at this time will be the second time. You need to leave 10 cm between the bushes. When thinning, you need to remove weak and diseased plants, as well as those that have sent out flower arrows. Removed young rosettes can be used as a vitamin supplement in salads (instead of chard) or for preparing summer borscht.
3. The next thinning is carried out if you want to grow particularly large root crops. At this time, the diameter of the root crop already reaches 5-6 cm, so the young sweet fruit can be used as food in any way.

After each thinning, it is advisable to hill up the beets. During this operation, you need to have a good idea of ​​how to properly add soil to the root collar of the rosette: the soil should not cover the leaf growth point in the center of the bush. You just need to slightly cover the top of the root crop, which is above the surface, with earth. Most often, varieties with elongated root crops (Cylinder, Rocket and others) rise above the ground. At the same time, the rosette leans towards the soil, and the beets become curved.

Watering and fertilizing

Secrets of growing beets good quality enclosed in proper watering and feeding plants. It is necessary to water the bed with seedlings abundantly in order to wet the soil to a depth of about 10 cm, where the suction thin roots of the crop are located. As it grows, the volume of irrigation water is increased to 20-30 l/m² if there is not enough natural precipitation.

During the formation of the root crop, a lack of moisture leads to the formation of uncolored and hard rings in the beet pulp.

Until the underground part reaches a diameter of 5-6 cm, it is better to water the beets daily or every other day, focusing on drying the top layer of soil 2-3 cm deep. In the fall, 3-4 weeks before harvesting the crop that is intended for storage, watering is stopped, even if there is no rain. This way, more sugary substances are formed in the root crop, and it will be better stored.

To increase sugar content, you can feed the plantings with salted water several times a season (0.5 tsp per 10 l). At the initial stage of growth (before the formation of root crops), beets need fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers. To do this, add 1 tbsp to 10 liters of water, in addition to salt. l. ammonium nitrate. At the end of summer, the plant no longer needs nitrogenous substances, but fertilizing is also done in August, adding 1 tbsp per 10 liters of water. l. potassium nitrate.

Liquid fertilizing can be applied not only to the soil, but also in a foliar way, that is, by watering nutrient solution by leaves.

Treatment and fertilization

After watering or applying liquid fertilizer, the soil between the rows must be loosened to a depth of 4-5 cm. When performing this procedure, the root crops must not be touched, so the treatment must be carried out carefully. The video shows how, together with loosening, weeds that manage to grow between the rosettes are destroyed.

When loosening, fertilizers are also applied, feeding the plantation in a different way. Complex mixture is scattered between the rows mineral fertilizer(Agricola-4 or others), and then embed it into the soil with a hoe. When carrying out such fertilizing, it is not necessary to add solutions of other fertilizers.

Beet pests and diseases

Beet diseases and pests can be detected by the following signs:

1. Brown spots with a black dot inside on beet leaves are a disease called phomosis, which affects both the leaves and the root crop. Spraying the leaves with a solution of boric acid (0.5 tsp per 10 liters of water) and adding borax at 3 g/m² will help.
2. Peronosporosis is fungal infection. In this case, a grayish coating is visible on the underside of the leaf. You can fight the fungus with fungicides.
3. Corneater, or blackleg, affects young seedlings. The disease is prevented by liming the soil and adding borax (3-5 g/m²) during digging in the spring.
4. Large root crops are more often affected by fusarium and brown rot. They develop on heavy soils, and the methods of treating them are liming and the application of borax.

Beetroot is also damaged by insect pests. Most of them are leaf-eating and sucking (aphids, flea beetles, bugs and others). Plants can be protected by treating with appropriate chemicals (Karbofos, Iskra).

Harvesting and storage

Indicators of yield and ripening period depend on the beet variety. But the approximate harvesting dates for central Russia are mid-to-late September, when the air temperature drops to +5... +15 °C. It is undesirable to delay harvesting by exposing the beets to freezing when the temperature drops below 0 °C.

Root crops are pulled out of the ground, the leaves and their growing point are cut off, and 2/3 of the roots are removed. For storage, beets are placed in boxes, sprinkled with dry sand. Large quantities of vegetables are stored well in the cellar in mesh bags.

What can you plant after beets and what can you combine planting beets with?

If a gardener practices compacted planting, then better neighbors for beets there will be the following crops:

• bulb onions;
• leafy vegetables and greens (lettuce, spinach and others);
• chard and early ripening beet varieties.

Subject to crop rotation next year After growing beets, you can plant potatoes and other nightshades, sow carrots, garlic, and pumpkin crops. The best substitutes will be legumes, which will restore the nitrogen content in the soil. You cannot plant chard in the same place: its leaves will dry out and wither, drying up in the garden bed.