Planting beets with seeds in open ground in spring: terms and rules for sowing. How to grow good beets: planting, watering, feeding beets Where to sow beets

Exists different ways sowing beets. Two planting options are seeds and seedlings. Spring or autumn may be the right time, the main observance correct timing... carried out in the period 1-2 decades of May, when the soil becomes completely warmed up.

If the seeds are found in insufficiently heated soil, shoots will begin to shoot and good harvest will not be received.

The fall period can also be chosen for planting beet seeds, usually late October or November, depending on the region. Landing is carried out in the event of an air temperature of -4 degrees. should not be carried out too soon, as the seeds awakened by the heat may die.

Beets are often planted in seedlings. In this case, the seeds are planted at home. Also landing is done inside a greenhouse or greenhouse.

Seedling seeds are sown when the first days of April come and a month later they are placed in open ground. The seedling method of planting beets provides early harvest and saving seeds, since the shoots remaining after thinning are also suitable for planting.

What does it depend on?

The sowing time of beets is determined by the climate conditions of the region in which you live. The optimal planting time for a vegetable is when the last frost is gone. The sowing time is also influenced by whether you are going to cover the crops with foil.

The sowing time also determines the type of beet. Generally, early varieties should be sown earlier, and later should be planted later. When late varieties are planted too early, a coarser root crop will form.

Sowing time for seedlings and planting in open land in spring - what's the difference?

You can often hear advice to plant beets in early spring, in March. However, it does not tolerate frost very well, you should keep this in mind. In the Ural, Siberian areas, it will be necessary to plant beets in open ground one way or another when mid-May comes. When the seedlings are grown at home for a long time, they stretch and future yield decreases. This means that for planting seedlings in the garden, sowing it is more correct in April, in the first days or in the middle.

The appearance of 2-3 true leaves means the seedlings are ready for open ground. It is important to prevent overgrowth of seedlings. If the roots rest on the bottom of the box, the shape of the root crops may turn out to be incorrect.

Planting seedlings in a garden bed occurs when the soil is heated to no less than +10 degrees (usually this is mid-May).

When to sow seeds?

The best thing

Beets are a heat-loving vegetable, so they are planted in the ground, which is warmed up to + 5-10 degrees. Beet planting dates vary depending on the climate. For example, in southern regions (Krasnodar, Kuban) beets are planted in March-April. At the same time, in the districts of the Moscow region, it occurs in the early-middle days of May, and in the Siberian and Ural regions, this is the period of the second half of May.

It is forbidden to sow beets except when the soil is warmed up at a depth of 10 cm (in spring), or otherwise as in the fall for winter planting in late-early October-November.

What happens if the work is carried out at an inopportune time?

If beets are sown for seedlings before mid-April under weather conditions that do not allow planting on the garden bed, the seedlings will stretch out.

Briefly about how to grow a vegetable

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

With the right place of cultivation, beets do not require feeding.

We suggest watching a video on how to grow beets properly:

The time when the beets are planted is the most important factor in caring for them. In open ground and in autumn. Seedling seeds are planted when there is one and a half month before transplanting in open ground.

At a temperature of +5 degrees, the seeds begin to germinate and withstand short-term cold snaps up to -2 degrees. But freezing should be avoided as this leads to the flowering of plants.

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In the preparation of borscht, "fur" and "vinaigrette" salads, you cannot do without beets. Therefore, the beds with this not the most popular, but necessary culture in the economy, flaunt on almost every one. If you don't have many years of experience in growing this root crop, but you plan to do it, you have come to the right place. Today we'll talk about how to plant beet seeds in open ground.

Preparing a plot of open ground for planting beets

If you don't feel like messing around with growing beet seedlings, you can safely plant seeds directly in open ground. By the way, this is exactly what most summer residents do. However, it would be wrong to arrange beds on any free piece of land. The place for the beets must meet two basic requirements:

1. Free access sun rays ... Avoid planting beets near trees, bushes, sunflowers, corn - anything that can cast a shadow on it.

2. Good drainage... Beets should not be planted in places where moisture stagnates. If there is no other place, try to fix the poor drainage by adding sand, sawdust, or compost to the soil. If the site is in a lowland, remedy the situation by filling it with earth in the hills.

Choose a well-lit and drained outdoor area

The next thing to consider when choosing a site for planting beets is crop rotation. It can be planted in its original place only after 4 years. It also grows poorly after cabbage. Good predecessors beets are considered cucumbers, squash, pumpkin, potatoes and greens. Feel free to plant this crop in the spring in the place where the green manure grew.

The area of \u200b\u200bopen ground selected for planting beets must be properly prepared. Dig it up in the fall with the addition organic fertilizer (excluding fresh manure). In the spring, loosen the soil and add mineral fertilizers to it. Ammonium nitrate, superphosphate, and potassium chloride are suitable.

Beets love fertilized soil

We plant beets in open ground on time and correctly

For quick consumption, beets are planted in April or May, when the ground warms up to 10 ° C, and for winter storage - in the first half of June. In open ground, beets can be planted in the fall, but only until the first frost - in October.

If you want to improve seed germination, do not skip preparatory activities... Soak them in growth stimulant solution, strictly following the instructions. A solution is suitable for this purpose, which is prepared from 1 liter of warm water and 1 tbsp. l. wood ash. The seeds must be kept in it for a day.

The next stage is the swelling of the seeds. They should be placed between layers of wet cloth, cotton or napkin for three days. Maintain the same humidity all the time. During this time, the planting material activates its internal forces and becomes fully suitable for planting.

Swollen seeds germinate better

If you want the rows of beets to be even, stick sticks in the two extreme points of each of them and pull a thread between them. It will serve as a ruler, under which you will make even furrows. Deepen them 2-3 cm. Suitable grooves can be made with a long board.

Furrow depth - 3-4 cm

Observe a distance of 40-45 cm between adjacent rows. Places where the beet seed will fall must be thoroughly watered. The seeds of the beets are large enough, so you can easily lower them into the groove at a distance of 10 cm from each other. By planting them more often, you will create the need for subsequent thinning of young shoots.

Often sown seeds will need to be thinned out

Now you know exactly how to plant beet seeds outdoors. You are sure to cope with this simple task. You can easily find information on how to care for beets from planting to harvest. Even those who are engaged in farming for the first year are able to grow this culture.

Watch a useful video: rules for planting beets in open ground

Beetroot or, as it is popularly called, beetroot is a valuable and tasty product in demand by domestic consumers. In this regard, there is nothing surprising in the fact that almost all gardeners prefer to grow this crop on their plots.

Despite the fact that the vegetable has been known for more than one century, for last years in connection with certain achievements in the field of soil science, agrochemistry and other related crops, the technology of its cultivation has undergone certain changes. When is the best time to plant beets and what to pay particular attention to when growing them, we will try to find out.

Beetroot is a common diet for many Russians

Before looking for an answer to the question of when to start planting beets, a number of other equally important questions should be resolved.

Seat selection

Sowing beets should start with choosing the right place where the crop will thrive and yield a good harvest.

It is recommended to plant a crop such as beetroot in areas where there is no deficit of sunlight and heat. Concerning optimal place for beds - the south side of the site, not shaded by trees or shrubs.

Since beets are very fond of water, they will need to be watered almost every day. In order not to experience difficulties in the watering process, the beets should be planted near a water source.

The place for planting beets must be sunny.

Often, beets are planted with other crops: cucumbers or, for example, beans. In no case should you sow beets in the place where cabbage used to grow. It is recommended to change the bed for beets annually. If a crop is constantly planted in the same area, the land will be depleted, and the risk of infection of the plant with diseases and pests will increase significantly.

Soil preparation

To grow a decent beet crop, root crops should be sown in loose, neutral soil. In this case, the digging of the beds should be carried out in advance: before winter after harvesting. When digging, clods of earth should not be broken - this will accumulate more moisture inside the soil. If the soil is acidic, liming should be done. For this purpose, wood ash or dolomite flour is evenly distributed throughout the area intended for the subsequent cultivation of beets in the open field. If the beets are planted on loam, superphosphate can be added during the autumn digging process.

Important! When preparing the soil for planting beets, in no case is it allowed to use fresh manure. It contains a large amount of nitrogen, which is transferred to the root crop and accumulates in it in the form of nitrates.

Proper soil preparation will allow you to successfully grow a crop for next year and get an excellent harvest.

Preparation before sowing is carried out already in the spring, literally a few days before the seed is in the ground. Usually limited to loosening the soil. If desired, it is additionally allowed to cut grooves.

Seed preparation

Sowing beets in open ground in spring, among other things, means seedbed preparation the seeds themselves.

Better to buy granulated beet seeds

Currently on sale, you can easily find a wide range of planting material that does not require pre-sowing treatment... We are talking about the so-called pelleted seeds, to which growth stimulants and protective agents have already been added. Such seeds can be sown into the soil immediately after purchase.

If you take simple seeds for planting, they will need to be subjected to some additional procedures.

The easiest method for preparing seeds is to soak them in warm water with stimulants for several days. The most important thing – do not forget to dry them thoroughly immediately before sowing. Otherwise, they stick together, and when the seedlings germinate, they will need to be very thinned out.

Landing time

The question of when is it better to plant beets has no clear answer. Even if you type a query in the search bar of your browser, such as "when to plant beets in open ground with seeds or planting beets in spring and sowing, when to sow, how to plant correctly," there will be no specific recommendations.

Generally speaking, the culture is allowed to be planted in two terms: in early spring and almost in summer.

Sowing early ensures quick emergence. Early ripening varieties should be used for such a planting. Sowing early will not be very suitable for cold, wet spring regions. So, for example, if you sow beets too early in the Moscow region, firstly, it will sprout too early, and secondly, it will most likely go into shooting. On such plants, root crops grow very small and unsuitable for food.

Thus, for middle band In Russia, the most favorable period when it is better to sow beets is May (its end) or even the beginning of June.

When to plant beets

Important! Many gardeners plant beets at the same time as potatoes when the soil temperature is at least 10 degrees.

Autumn sowing of beets is also allowed. But in this case, you need to use only special cold-resistant varieties that are not prone to flowering. Autumn planting has its undoubted advantages:

• seeds have time to partially swell during the pre-spring thaws;
• during the winter, the seeds have time to harden;
• manage to ascend earlier;
• form a stronger and healthier root system.

There is also a big disadvantage of pre-winter planting. Roots grown in this way are not suitable for long-term storage.

Some gardeners, when calculating planting times, use moon calendar - it allows you to choose the most favorable date for planting.

Sowing technique

Having figured out when to plant beets, it's time to learn how to do it right. Sowing beets is possible in four ways.

Lowercase

At the landing site, rows are cut with a depth of three to five centimeters at a distance of 20 to 30 centimeters from one another. Furrows are thoroughly watered with water using a watering can, from which the sprayer has been removed in advance. Jet irrigation allows not only to water the soil better, but also to compact it. The secret is that in this case the seeds will be located at the same depth and will sprout at the same time. We plant seeds at intervals of 3-4 cm.

Row sowing method

On the landing belt

Landing tape is the most simple and convenient way landing. A special strip (tape) for planting in specialized gardening stores can be sold with the seeds already fixed. But if desired, the landing tape is easy to make yourself. To do this, drops of starch-based paste are applied to a strip of toilet paper, and beet seedlings are attached to them. Such a planting scheme can significantly save time. All that is required for planting is to shed water on a furrow, lay a tape on it and sprinkle it well with earth.

Tape

This method involves combining several rows with an interval between lines of about 15 cm into one wider tape. Remember to leave a gap of about 40 cm between the belts to facilitate crop maintenance (in particular, watering and weeding).

When to plant beets

Seedlings

Seeds for seedlings should be sown no later than mid-April. It is recommended to use individual containers or peat pots. Transplanting into open ground is done when the plant has several leaves. You need to plant seedlings in such a way that the average gap between the plants is about 15 cm.

Sowing beets is a snap

Important! A few days before planting, it is recommended to take the seedlings outside and place them in the shade to harden young plants.

This method of planting saves seeds due to the absence of the need for thinning crops.

Important! There are other ways to save space when boarding. For example, you can plant different vegetables in the same garden. Beets go well with legumes, radishes and onions.

How to care for plantings

Despite the fact that beets – not the most picky root crop, it requires a certain amount of care. At the same time, the list of manipulations that should be performed with the crop does not differ, depending on the region in which the planting was carried out: be it the Kuban, the Moscow region or, for example, the Urals, the algorithm of actions for obtaining a good harvest is approximately identical.

Thinning

One seed crop gives 2-4 shoots. In this regard, thinning is one of the most significant moments in agricultural technology. In total, this procedure is performed three times during the season:

1. The first time the plants should be thinned out immediately after germination. This is usually done when the first leaves appear on the seedling. This time, the plants are left quite densely - about 2 cm apart. In parallel with this, weeds are removed, and the row spacings are loosened;
2. The next thinning is recommended about a month after the first. The interval between plantings is increased to 8 cm, leaving the strongest specimens. At this time, the head of the root crop begins to form, so it will be useful to carry out prophylaxis against diseases. Alternatively, you can use Kazim or any other moderately toxic fungicide;
3. The last time the beets are thinned out at the stage of emergence of root crops. The distance between plants should be 15 centimeters.

Watering

Watering for beets is especially important, especially in the early stages of the growing season. The entire first month after planting, the crop must be watered, regardless of weather conditions, at least once a week, and later - as the soil dries up. It is necessary to stop watering about a month before harvesting. If this is not done, the root crop will lie poorly. It will not be superfluous to mulch the planting. Straw, last year's foliage, peat, etc. can be used as mulch.

Watering beet

Cleaning

Selective harvesting of beets begins in the middle of summer. By this time, individual specimens have time to grow to a decent state. Young vegetables are allowed to be processed and eaten together with tops.

Mass harvesting of crops from the garden is usually done in mid-September. It is very important to have time to harvest before the first frost. In addition, if you overexpose the beets in the ground, they will become coarse and pronounced rings will appear in its pulp, which will negatively affect its taste characteristics.

After harvesting, it's time to think about what to plant on the beet bed for next year. To replenish soil supplies in organic matter, it is preferable to plan for planting those plants that accept manure fertilization. We are talking about corn, pumpkin, zucchini. Beets should be returned to their original place not earlier than after three years.

What to do for good yields

To get a normal harvest, one complete feeding is enough.

It takes a certain amount of effort to get a good beet crop.

But if, despite this, the plants do not develop quickly enough, it is recommended to repeat the procedure. For this, you can use mineral fertilizers, which include nitrogen.

Important! In order to prevent oversaturation of the plant with nitrates, nitrogen, like potassium, can be added with herbal infusions. To obtain the latter, freshly cut grass is poured into the container in equal shares and poured with warm water. The composition should be insisted within a week. The resulting funds are used with the next watering of the plant.

The presence of trace elements in the soil has a certain effect on the quality of the crop. To stimulate the growth of the beet head and increase its sugar content, you can use the Makbor fertilizer, which contains calcium, magnesium and boron. If we talk about folk remedies, here simple table salt is best suited at the rate of 1 tablespoon per ten liter bucket.

It doesn't take much effort to get a great beet harvest. The most important thing – know when and how to plant beets correctly, and follow all recommendations exactly.

Beetroot was brought to Russia from Byzantium in the 10th century. In ancient times, this plant was highly prized for its healing properties, for example, Hippocrates used it to treat infectious and skin diseases. Nowadays, 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 beets on his plot, and there is a simple explanation for this. Not only is this a very useful vegetable, as mentioned above, but, among other things, it is easy to grow, since it is an extremely unpretentious plant. But, despite this, in order to get an excellent harvest, some rules must be followed. Let's figure out how to plant beets (sowing, seedlings, features, care), we will try to tell about all this in this article.

Sowing dates

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

To obtain an early harvest, sowing is carried out in the fall, at the beginning of November, or under the 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 20. If the seeds are sown too early in cold soil, the roots may not grow, and instead flower stalks will form. After the first shoots appear, the film can be removed (beet shoots tolerate frosts down to -2 ° C).

Choosing a seat for landing

It is best to prepare a bed for planting in the fall. First of all, it should be dug up onto the bayonet of a shovel and loosened well. It is advisable to add half a bucket per m2 of rotted compost or humus to the soil (fresh manure is not recommended). If it is large, it is recommended to add lime or chalk when digging at the rate of 1 glass per m 2 (you cannot add it in the spring, this can cause a root disease such as scab). Before sowing, you should fertilize the soil, the following mixture is suitable: 10-12 teaspoons of boric acid, 1 teaspoon of magnesium sulfate, about 2 glasses of ash and a tablet of trace elements (all this per m2). Chlorine-containing fertilizers should not be applied for planting, but magnesium is very fond of. Growing beets in the open field on sandy soil requires the introduction of peat, sod land and humus on the site (1 bucket per m 2). A full bucket of peat and coarse river sand is added to the clay soil with the addition of two liters of stale sawdust, which should be treated with a urea solution beforehand.

Seed preparation

How to plant beet 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 liters of water) for a day, then rinse, wrap in a damp cloth and keep in this form at a temperature of at least 25 0 C for two days. This technique allows you to get friendly shoots a week after sowing.

Sowing

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

How to plant beets with seeds in the ground and seedlings in the spring? The seeds are sown in rows at a distance of 30-40 cm from each other, into the grooves to a depth of 2.5-3 cm.The prepared grooves are spilled with hot water, the seeds are laid in them at a distance of 2-3 cm from one another, then they are slightly pressed into ground and mulch. Most beet seeds are multi-sprouted, that is, 2-4 shoots appear from one seed, therefore, 5-6 days after the shoots have appeared, 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 the roots 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 with seedlings, so let's talk about how to do it correctly.

A month before planting the beets in a permanent place, seedlings are sown in a specially prepared substrate according to a 4 x 4 cm scheme. This method of growing allows you to get a crop 3 weeks earlier than usual. It is not necessary to dive the seedlings before planting in the ground. The required temperature for growing is 15-20 o C. It is best to grow beets with oval roots. Transplanting it to a permanent place begins when the plant forms 3-4 leaves. Before this, the container with the seedlings is properly 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 part before planting. After that, the seedlings are well watered. Plants are planted at a distance of 8-10 cm from one another.

Further care of the beets consists in timely loosening, weeding, fertilization and watering.

Care

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

Beet seeds, as mentioned above, sprout 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 friendly shoots. Real deep loosening for the first time is carried out 4 days after the friendly seedlings 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 tying root crops. By the way, in August, beets require one more thinning, when weeding, remove excess root crops, the distance between the plants should be 15-20 cm. After weeding and thinning, be sure to spud the plants and mulch the soil.

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

Beet disease

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

Beets are affected by diseases such as false rust, phomosis, and leaf spot. The pests of this root crop are root eater, beet aphid, nematode, flea, fly, root aphid, smooth dead eater. With these diseases and pests, folk remedies, proven for centuries, will help to cope.

Harvesting and storage of 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 storing, the leaves should be cut at a distance of about 3 cm from the root crop. Store beets in boxes, sprinkled with sand, at a temperature of 1-3 0 C.

Bordeaux 237, Pablo, Podzimnyaya A-474, Cold-resistant, Renova, Griboedovskaya flat A-473, Egyptian flat, Pushkin flat K-18, Incomparable A-46 "," One-sprout ".

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.

Good harvests to you!

Plant beets (Latin Beta) belongs to the genus one-, two- and perennial herbaceous plants of the Amarantovye family, although not so long ago the beet, which in Ukraine is called the beetroot, and in Belarus the beetroot, was reckoned to the Marevye family. The main representative of the genus is common beet, which has three varieties: table beet, fodder beet and sugar beet. Beetroot grows on all continents except Antarctica. The progenitor of cultivated plant species, wild beets, were used both for food and as a medicinal plant in ancient Babylon. The most interesting thing is that at first they ate only the leaves, and the beet roots were used for medicinal purposes.

The ancient Greeks sacrificed beets to Apollo as one of the most valuable plants for them. Cultural forms of root beet appeared only at the beginning of our era, and in the X-XI centuries they were already cultivated in Kievan Rus. Fodder beets were brought to XVI century in Germany, and began to be engaged in the selection of sugar beets since 1747, when it became clear that sugar contained in cane was found in beets. Today, beet sugar is used more often in many countries than cane sugar, and beetroot (Beta vulgaris) has become an indispensable crop, known to be rich in antioxidants, potassium and folic acid that humans need.

Planting and caring for beets

• Landing: sowing seeds in the ground is carried out before winter or in spring, when the air warms up to 8-10 ˚C. Early varieties are sown for seedlings in April, and seedlings are transplanted into the ground after three months - in early or mid-May.
• Lighting: bright sunlight.
• The soil: peat bogs, loams, medium loamy chernozems of neutral or slightly alkaline reaction. Do not grow carrots in soil that has been filled with fresh manure or compost.
• Predecessors: Unwanted: carrots, beets, chard, potatoes, all types of cabbage and other cruciferous crops. Good: cereals and legumes, eggplants, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peppers.
• Watering: regular (3-4 times per season), as soon as the topsoil dries out, in dry weather - abundant. The best way is sprinkling. Water consumption per 1 m² of the plot is 20-30 liters. Watering is stopped three weeks before harvesting.
• Top dressing: after the first thinning - with a solution of bird droppings (1:12) or mullein (1:18), spending 12 liters of fertilizer for every 10 m² of the plot. When the beet tops are closed, ash is scattered over the beds at the rate of 1 glass per 1.5 m², after which the area must be watered.
• Reproduction: seed.
• Pests: miner and beet flies, aphids, scoops, fleas and shchitonoski.
• Diseases: red rot (or felt disease), fusarium (or brown rot), root rot, peronosporosis, cercospora, phomosis.

Read more about growing beets below.

Beet plant - description

The root of the beet, the so-called root vegetable, is juicy, thick and fleshy. In most varieties, when growing in the ground, it is not completely submerged in the ground, but protrudes slightly above the surface. In the first year of growth, beets, like carrots, develop only a rosette of large, bare, ovoid, basal leaves on long petioles, as well as a root crop.

Sometimes by the end of the first year, but usually on the second of the middle of the outlet, an erect, strongly branched, faceted stem appears, reaching from half a meter to a meter in height, with small alternate, almost sessile leaves, in the axils of which bunches of small, dim, also sessile flowers appear. composed of complex ears. The beet is a compressed single seed.

Varied beneficial features beets due to the presence of organic acids, iron and fiber in root crops. Because of this, beets are often used in diets to treat hypertension, kidney stones, diabetes, scurvy and other diseases. Big healing power has fresh beet juice.

Growing beets from seeds

Sowing beet seeds

Growing beets in the open field involves sowing seeds both by seedling and non-seedling methods. Despite the fact that beets are cold-resistant crops, they should not be sown in open ground before the air warms up to 6-8 ºC, however, the full development of the plant begins only when the temperature rises to 16 ºC. In addition, if early sown seedlings fall under frost, they will shoot themselves instead of increasing the root crop. To stimulate germination, beet seeds are soaked for a day in cold water or half an hour warm (35 ºC).

The seeds are buried in the ground to a depth of 2-3 cm, and the distance between the rows is observed depending on the variety - from 7 cm if you grow small beets for canning, and up to 30-35 cm if you need large root crops. The distance between specimens in a row in the first case is 5-6 cm, and in the second - up to 10 cm.

Since in many varieties of beets the seeds are collected in infructescences of 2-3 pieces, the sprouts appear heap and require thinning at an early stage of development, in the phase of formation of the first pair of true leaves. As a result of the procedure, the distance between shoots should be 3-4 cm. The removed shoots are transplanted to another place: at this stage of development, they easily take root.

Simultaneously with the first thinning, the site is weeded, and then mulched with fine organic matter - sawdust, for example.

The second thinning is carried out when the seedlings acquire two pairs of leaves, and the root crop reaches a diameter of 1.5 cm - the interval between seedlings after the second thinning should be 6-10 cm. Thinning with simultaneous weeding is carried out after watering or rain in cloudy weather.

Growing beet seedlings

Early varieties of beets, which are rich in vitamin C and carotene, as well as betanin, calcium, iron, phosphorus and other biologically active substances, are grown by seedlings. Young beets are as valuable an early vegetable as radishes, salad, green onions... Choose beet varieties resistant to flowering for growing seedlings - K-249, Polar flat, Cold-resistant 19.

Cultivation of beet seedlings begins three weeks before planting in open ground with pre-sowing seed treatment. The seed for disinfection is soaked in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, then the seeds are kept for 2-3 days in a humid environment for pecking and finally they are laid out in a box on a wet, light, pickled with Fitosporin to avoid black leg disease, lightly sprinkled with the same substrate and put in greenhouse.

Caring for beet seedlings is no different from caring for any other seedlings - they require slightly damp soil, constant temperature and daily ventilation.

Picking beet seedlings

How to dive beet seedlings, and when to do it? Picking is carried out according to the same principle, with the same signs and with the same interval as when thinning seedlings in the open field. Seedlings dive only once, but if you sowed seeds not in a box, but in cups, then you can not dive the seedlings, but plant them in open ground directly in cups.

Planting beets in open ground

When to plant beets in the ground

Planting of beets in the ground is carried out from mid-May at the stage of development in seedlings of 4-5 leaves. Required condition - soil warmed up to 8-10 ºC at a depth of 8-10 cm, which is possible only if the place under the beets is well lit by the sun.

Soil for beets

Before planting beets, you need to select a site for it and prepare the soil on it. Most of all, beets love fertile loose soils - peat bogs, medium loamy chernozems with a slightly alkaline or neutral reaction - the pH value should be no less than 5 and no more than 8 units. In acidic or too alkaline soil, beets are sick. Do not plant beets on soils that have been filled with fresh manure or compost; beets must take at least 3 years to grow in such areas.

You can plant beets in areas where onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, cereals, eggplants, peppers and legumes grew before them; undesirable precursors for beets are chard, carrots, all types of beets, potatoes, rapeseed and any cabbage.

In early spring, 20-30 g of sulfuric acid ammonium, 15-20 g of ammonium nitrate, 10-15 g of potassium chloride and 30-40 g of superphosphate per 1 m² are added to the site for digging. If the soil on the site does not differ in fertility, then add 2-3 kg of humus per unit area, and to neutralize the acidic soil, add half a kilogram of fluffy lime to 1 m².

How to plant beets in open ground

The size of the beet root depends on the planting density: the larger the gap between the seedlings, the larger the beet root will be. But too large root vegetables are inconvenient to use, in addition, they accumulate more nitrates and are not as tasty as medium-sized root vegetables. To get juicy, sweet root vegetables, seedlings are planted in rows at a distance of 4-5 cm from each other on a cloudy day, the size of the row spacing should be about 25 cm. When transplanting, the central root of the seedling is shortened by a third of the length.

After transplanting into open ground, the seedlings are watered with a humate solution for speedy rooting and protected from the sun with a non-woven material, erected over the beds along the entire length of the arc, so that the shelter laid on them does not damage fragile seedlings. After the young beet is taken in, gets stronger, and its root crop acquires a diameter of one and a half centimeters, it will be possible to thin out the seedlings to an interval of 8-10 cm between them, and by July, when the leaves of the tops are practically closed, the shelter is removed, and the area is mulched for protection beets from weeds and moisture retention in the soil.

Planting beets before winter

Planting of winter beets takes place in late October or early November. On a previously dug and fertilized area, grooves are made at a distance of 15-20 cm, into which seeds are scattered at the rate of 2-3 g per m², or as described in the section on sowing beet seeds in open ground. Seeds are not covered with a depth of 3-4 cm. Planting beets in the fall involves the mandatory mulching of the site for the winter with humus or peat.

Beet care

How to grow beets

Care of growing beets requires removal from the site weed, regular watering and loosening of row spacings. If you mulched the beds, then you will have to weed, loosen the soil and water the beets much less often. Loosening the row spacing to a depth of 4-6 cm is necessary to destroy the soil crust, which makes it difficult to aerate the root crops. The crust is especially harmful to plants during the period of development of the first two pairs of leaves, since it is at this time that the root molt occurs, which retards the growth of the plant and forces it to show increased demands on growing conditions.

Beet processing

Weeds can drown out young plants, which grow very slowly until 4-5 leaves appear, so their timely removal is a very important condition for caring for beets. Before the emergence of seedlings for weed control, the area is sprayed with tractor kerosene at the rate of 35-50 g of kerosene per m². And when 2-3 pairs of leaves appear in seedlings, the site is treated from weeds with a solution of sodium nitrate. Then, when the beets are in effect, the weeds cannot harm them.

Watering beets

Beets normally tolerate a short drought, but if you need a high-quality and rich harvest, watering the beds with beets should be regular, and this is especially important just in hot dry weather. Water the beets as soon as the topsoil dries out, preferably in the evening, and the best way of watering is sprinkling, since this method refreshes and rinses the leaves of the plant. If there is no mulch on the site, the next day after watering, it is necessary to loosen the aisles to a depth of 4 cm.

To increase the sugar content of root vegetables, before watering the beets, dissolve a tablespoon of kitchen salt in a bucket of water for watering. Watering too often and too much is just as harmful to the beets as insufficient moisture, since it is the cause of fungal diseases. On average, beets are watered 3-4 times per season, the rate of water per 1 m² is 2-3 buckets. Two to three weeks before harvesting, watering is completely stopped - this measure also helps to increase the amount of sugar in root crops, and also improves their keeping quality.

Top dressing of beets

Beets are very fond of organic matter, and from mineral fertilizers cracks and voids can form in root crops. How to fertilize beets in this case? At the beginning of growth, after the first thinning, it needs nitrogen fertilizers, which can be used as a solution of poultry manure in a consistency of 1:12 or mullein (1: 8) at the rate of 12 liters of liquid fertilizer per 10 m². It is most convenient to make grooves at a distance of 5 cm from the shoots and spill them with a fertilizer solution. When the tops of the rows close together, it is time to apply potash fertilizers, as which you can scatter wood ash over the beds at the rate of 1 glass per 1.5 m², followed by watering the area.

Foliar feeding of beets has a number of advantages:

• firstly, nutrients applied to the leaves are absorbed faster than with root feeding;
• secondly, the assimilation of nutrition is more complete, since, once in the soil, some substances sometimes acquire a form inaccessible to plants;
• thirdly, foliar fertilization of beets can be carried out even when it is no longer possible to apply top dressing to the soil without risking harm to root crops;
• fourthly, the method of foliar feeding allows you to distribute fertilizers evenly, which reduces the risk of overdose or accumulation of substances.

So that the beets do not experience a shortage of molybdenum, boron and copper, these elements are fed precisely by top dressing through the leaves, just like milk of lime (200 g of lime per bucket of water), which feeds the roots with potassium. Spraying the tops with a saline solution at the rate of 60 g of non-iodized salt per 10 liters of water nourishes the root crops with sodium and protects the whites and summer flies from the butterfly.

Beet pests and diseases

Of the diseases, beets are most often affected by phomosis, cercosporosis, peronosporosis, root-eater and rot. To find out what beets are sick with, you need to know the symptoms. possible diseases, and only a correctly diagnosed will help you decide how and how to process the beets to save the harvest.

Fomoz arises, as a rule, from a lack of boron in the soil - that is why it is so important foliar dressing beets with trace elements. This is manifested fungal disease brown or yellowish concentric spots on the lower leaves of the rosette, then black dots appear on them. As a result, dry rot of the heart develops - inside the root crop the tissues acquire a dark brown color. Frequent prolonged rains, fogs, high air humidity contribute to the development of the disease. If you find phomosis on the plants, immediately apply root dressing with brownish at the rate of 3 g per m² and spray the leaves with a solution of boric acid (half a teaspoon per 10 liters of water). Next year, add to the soil boric acid at the rate of 3 g per m².

Cercosporosis, or spotting, can destroy up to 70% of the beet crop, hitting the leaves of the plant, because of which they die off, and, consequently, the quality and keeping quality of root crops deteriorates. If you find small light spots on the upper side of the leaves, outlined with a reddish border, and on the lower side a light gray bloom, add potassium chloride to the soil as a top dressing. As a preventive measure, treat the seeds before sowing with Agat-25 in accordance with the instructions, and spray the soil with a fungicide before planting.

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