Forum home› Fruit & veg
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Beetroot

pclark42pclark42 Posts: 186
in Fruit & veg
Beetroot is something I have never grown, I don't mind it from time to time, so I only grew one 3 cell tray of 20 seeds, they grew quite Leggy, about 8cm tall, so today I decided they should go out, there was quite a bit of root to untangle (I hate handling young seedlings) but they all came out, can you lot on here tell me do they sound normal? I put them in as deep as I dare, did I do right?

Posts

  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    I plant mine direct in the soil on the grounds that, as you say, there's always a risk of damaging the vital part of them, i.e. the root.
  • PlashingPlashing Posts: 328
    I plant mine in blocks of three about 10 cm apart and just leave them to get on with it,they will automatic sort  themselves out,then I pick the larger ones when about golf ball size then then the others will grow on.If you want you can look on Charles Dowdings no dig web site and look how he grows it,I did them same last year and had the best crop of beetroot for many years.I have gone onto no dig and I am getting better results than I have ever done with digging.
  • pclark42pclark42 Posts: 186
    Peter Hewitt
    Can I ask you about no dig, Charles Dowding puts cardboard down, then compost, what puzzles me is how deep the compost ? and with root crops like carrots and Parsnips, surely it would have to be a really thick layer of compost? am I missing something. I am approaching a piece in my garden which is very hard and I cannot get a spade into it, I was considering trying the no dig method on this area, would you be able to give any advice.
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487

    Carrots can be helped by starting them off in lengths of guttering filled with compost.  Placed on a bench where it's easier to work, the tiny seed can be more thinly sown and, once the seedlings show through, wet the compost and slide the whole thing out on to the earth where you want them to grow to maturity.

    Parsnips benefit from having a definite root-shaped hole to grow in so, if you use a crow bar to create holes at least 15 inches deep, wiggle it about so that each hole is about 3-4 inches wide at ground level, insert such fertiliser as you think fit, fill the hole to about half a inch from the top with compost or loose soil, place 5 or 6 seeds on next, and cover them with more compost/soil.  Germination is pretty atrocious with parsnips, hence the number of seed per hole, but I find this works.

    While this is happening, you can develop CD's advice to improve your soil for the future.

  • GemmaJFGemmaJF Posts: 2,286
    edited May 2020
    pclark42 said:
    Peter Hewitt
    Can I ask you about no dig, Charles Dowding puts cardboard down, then compost, what puzzles me is how deep the compost ? and with root crops like carrots and Parsnips, surely it would have to be a really thick layer of compost? am I missing something. I am approaching a piece in my garden which is very hard and I cannot get a spade into it, I was considering trying the no dig method on this area, would you be able to give any advice.
    I'm going to start trialing the same system next year. So very swatted up on it all, been looking into in detail for the past couple of years now.

    Richard Perkins has recently published a book with a chapter on the topic. There is also the Fortier book 'The Market Gardener' which covers the system in much detail.

    Essentially though, Richard Perkins states around 6 inches of compost. That will grow a carrot plenty long enough!

    The system does eventually change the underlying soil and improves it. I will be trialing on a compacted clay front lawn. Already collecting the cardboard.

    Compost wise, I did some simple maths.

    Beds are standardized in the system to a width of 75 cm or 2.5 ft in old money.

    So for a 20 ft bed, 6 inches deep and 2.5 ft wide, I need 25 square foot of compost.

    A block of compost 3 x 3 x 3 foot, gives me 27 square foot of compost. So I know I can get a bed out of a compost bin that size that is filled.


    The key thing in the system with beetroot is they start them in bunches in a seed tray, then plant the bunch out, the beetroot then push each other over for space and seem to appreciate growing in a group. Saves a lot of space when starting seeds as several go in each cell, easier to harvest as one can pull out a bunch or just choose the larger ones and leave the rest more space to grow on.



  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    I once left a 24-module seed tray of beetroot seedlings on the ground intending to plant them out, but forgot for a couple of weeks after which thay had rooted into the ground below.  As an experiment, I just left them and they grew perfectly fine so they really don't need much space to grow. 
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • GemmaJFGemmaJF Posts: 2,286
    Multi sowing method with Charles Dowding

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPVHCh1cDMw
Sign In or Register to comment.