Beetroot is a necessary, appetizing vegetable. Many gardeners grow it on their sites. It grows in all areas of our country and you can get a good harvest, without putting much effort. Different varieties vary in color and shape.
Grade selection
When choosing planting material, it is necessary to consider for what purpose they are grown. Beets are divided into sugar, table and fodder. All its varieties have differences in color, appearance of the root crop and the time of ripening. You can cultivate any, given their features. By maturity, they are divided into: early, middle and late.
Ripening varieties are consumed in dishes in the summer, while others are stored for a long time. When choosing seeds for planting, be sure to take into account the distinctive features of a particular region. It is necessary to grow ripe fruits.
The best varieties include:
- Early: Red Ball, Bulk, Egyptian. Reaching 2 cm or more across, they will be suitable for use. Young leaves are added to salads and soups.
- Medium: Mulatto, Bohemia, Bona. They do not withstand sudden fluctuations in temperature. Well kept in winter. It is better to plant in those areas where it is not possible to grow late varieties due to climate conditions.
- Late: Late-ripening cylinder, Renova. For their aging, 4.5-5 months of suitable weather are necessary. They grow best in areas with hot summers.
Lunar calendar beet planting in 2019
This vegetable is planted in a well-warmed ground + 6 ... +10 ° С. Planting dates depend on the specific area and variety. In the southern warm regions (Krasnodar Territory), seeds are sown in the first half of spring, in the central European part of Russia (for example, in the Moscow region) - in early May, in the Ural region, Western and Eastern Siberia - in late spring. These are indicative dates for mid-season varieties. Early varieties are best planted earlier, and later ones later. This is taken into account if they want to get good quality root crops. Specific dates are selected using the lunar calendar.
Region | Auspicious days | Bad days |
Kuban | March: 10-12, 15-17, 23-25, 27-30. April: 2,3, 7-17. | March: 6, 7, 21. April: 5. |
Middle lane | April: 2, 3, 7-17, 24-27, 29, 30. | April: 5, 19. |
May: 1-4, 12-14, 21-23. | May: 5, 19. | |
Ural and Siberia | June: 9-11, 18-20. | June: 3, 4, 17. |
July: 25-31. | July: 2, 3, 17. |
Choosing a place for planting beets
This is a pretty crucial moment if you want to get a good harvest. You can’t plant a culture every year in the same place, it’s better to choose a new one for it every time. Take into account which vegetables grew earlier. It is good for beets if they were cultures of the nightshade, pumpkin or onion family, and after cruciferous (all types of cabbage, radish, turnip) it is not recommended to plant.
The plot should have a lot of sunlight. It must be abundantly watered, but they are not allowed to stagnate. The soil is selected sandy, with good conductivity of air and water, pH 6.5-7. Loam and loam will do.
Beet plot preparation
In the fall, after harvesting, they dig a plot, having previously scattered mineral fertilizers on its surface (0.3 kg per m2). Organic matter is added to a depth of 30-35 cm. If desired, prepare a warm bed, given the time for its decomposition - this should happen by the time the beet root develops. By adding crushed egg shells, wood ash or dolomite flour, the acidity of the soil is reduced. In the spring, once again they dig a place for landing and add a layer of mulch (peat or sawdust).
Seed treatment
Seeds before sowing must be prepared:
- Check their suitability by placing in 200 ml of water with salt. Those that rise to the surface throw away.
- Dip alternately in hot, and then in cold water several times, keeping for 1-2 hours in each, quenched.
- Keep 12 hours in solution (2-3 grains of manganese per 1 liter) - for disinfection.
- Soak in the stimulator.
- Sprouted if you wish to receive seedlings.
If sown before winter, then they only check and disinfect. The remaining stages are not performed so that the shoots do not appear, and the plant does not die.
The technology of planting beets in open ground seeds
Beets (beetroot or beetroot) refers to two-year-olds. Seeds for planting are received in the second year from the arrow, and the root crop, which is eaten, in the first. Planted in prepared grooves, spaced 25-30 cm apart. The earth is well watered, and then they wait until the moisture is absorbed, but not dry. They close the seeds to a depth of 2-3 cm, leaving a distance of 1.5-2 cm between them. They fill up the ground with earth, while leveling the grooves. Once again watered. If the seeds are not germinated or can not stand in water, then the sprouts will appear in a fortnight. Otherwise, seedlings will be visible after 7 days.
Technology for planting beets in open ground seedlings
You can get an early harvest of beetroot, if you use planting seedlings. Thus, a certain number of root crops are usually harvested, and the rest through the seeds. A landless method that does not require much space is well suited. Then young plants dive, planting them in greenhouses near tomatoes. Additionally, nightshade will be protected from diseases.
The order of work for seedlings:
- they put toilet paper on a plastic bag, folding it several times;
- moisturize from a spray bottle;
- seeds are placed on top, leaving 1 cm between them, and 1-1.5 cm recede from the edge;
- roll the paper into a roll and place it in a container, covering it with cellophane;
- direct the empty edge down the container;
- sign the name of the variety for memory;
- they move the container into heat, where a little water is added to it, and the paper is sprayed from time to time.
Shoots will appear in 7 days. Planted in a well-heated soil, having prepared deep holes in it. The roots in the holes should not bend. They are gently pressed to the soil. Seedlings are abundantly watered.
Beet Care
Highlights of leaving:
- Loosening the soil. Spend regularly. It is necessary to ensure air access to the roots.
- Thinning seedlings. One seed gives several sprouts. If you do not remove the excess, then the root crops will grow medium-sized. When there is no sun on wet soil, they spend twice a season: after the formation of 3-4 leaves, leave a distance between plants of 5 cm; at the time of the formation of root crops, it’s already 7-10 cm. In the first thinning, the removed seedlings can be transplanted, and in the second, small tubers are eaten.
- Watering is carried out not only under the root, but also on the foliage, because she needs moisture too. You can make grooves between the rows and direct water along it. In dry weather, this is carried out more often and more abundantly. Lack of moisture in the soil is bad for the taste and size of the fruit. Before collecting for 7-14 days, it is better not to moisten the earth.
- Top dressing only if necessary with infusions of herbs or fertilizers on yeast. Others are not recommended. Beets are enough that brought into the ground before planting. You can pour salt water once a month (10-15 g per bucket of water).
Beet Diseases and Pests
Burak rarely gets sick. If you observe the order on the site (harvest, dig), the necessary crop rotation (alternate planting of beets with other plants that are not exposed to similar diseases), they are treated with copper preparations, then they get a good harvest. For the prevention of beds treated with a solution of manganese or hot water.
Harvested before laying for storage must be dried.
The main pests of root crops include rodents, a bear and moles. Slugs, snails, wireworms, aphids and beetroot fleas spoil them. Their rot (gray, red, etc.) and nematode (a dangerous parasite) are affected.
Fight pests with folk remedies:
- infusion of onion husks;
- dusting with wood ash or dust of tobacco;
- hot pepper infusion or broth.
If this is not enough, then approved drugs are used.
Mr. Dachnik advises: the secrets of growing tasty beets
To obtain a delicious sweet root vegetable, it is necessary to carry out the right care for it. In addition, they recommend the implementation of a number of actions:
- Watering with salt water to increase the sugar content, and prevent the appearance of pests (summer fly, white butterfly).
- Irrigation with a solution of boric acid (10 g per 10 l) once a season or soaking seeds in it (10 g per 2 l) before planting for 10-15 minutes.
- Thinning. It is better to leave a distance of 6 cm between plants. If it is larger, then the root crops will turn out to be large, but not so tasty.
- The protrusion of beets from the soil will add sweetness to it.
- Prevention of crust formation on the surface. Mandatory loosening. You can put mulch between the rows (mowed grass, peat, black spanbond).
- Timely cleaning. Do not let root crops grow more than 6-8 cm across.