Phil’s beetroot tips
Planting time, spacing and nutrition can all affect the size of your beets, writes PHIL DUDMAN
Beetroot is generally easy to grow, but there are a few factors that can cause the size of your roots to be less than satisfactory. The first is timing. Where I live, in the subtropics, I should be able to grow beetroot all year. I certainly try, but my crops always do best when conditions are cool to warm; not too hot and not too cold. For me, early autumn and late winter to early spring plantings produce the biggest beets. In the tropics, you should sow in autumn to early winter; in temperate areas, sow from spring to late summer for the best returns.
The second factor is the weather. While beetroot tolerates temperature extremes, the plants make very little progress when it’s very hot or very cold. They also dislike extremely dry or wet conditions. Keep them moist in dry times, but during periods of unrelenting downpours, protect your crop under clear plastic sheeting supported by a simple frame. This helps to avoid the onset of terminal foliage diseases.
Then there’s nutrition. Beetroot plants thrive in fertile soil. If yours is poor, make sure you add plenty of aged manure and compost. Treat your beets as if they were a crop of hungry leafy greens. Sprinkle some blood and bone along the rows every 4–6 weeks, and supplement this with fortnightly applications of liquid
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Beetroot plants need adequate space, fertile soil and optimal growing conditions to reach their super-sized potential; a bumper crop of big, beautiful beets. seaweed and fish emulsion. Boron is a trace element often lacking in our soils, and beetroot demands it. You can buy it in powdered form. Dissolve it in water and apply it, just once, soon after planting. Don’t overdo it – too much can be fatal.
Crowded beetroot plants will do okay, but if you want to grow those big babies that are the size of cricket balls, you need to give them room to move. Space your beets 20–30cm apart. I sow them closer, then thin them to the desired spacing when they get to about golf-ball size.
Finally, it’s common to see plants looking lush on top, but tiny in the root department. Be patient. It can take 3–4 months for beets to achieve ‘whopper’ status.
Problems in your patch? Write to Phil at experts@gardeningaustralia.com.au