Beet
Vegetable · cool season · also called beetroot
When to plant
- Sow seeds outdoors about 3 weeks before your average last spring frost.
- It can also be grown as a fall crop, timed back from your first fall frost.
- Ready to harvest about 55 days after planting.
- Sow again every 3 weeks for a steady harvest.
Greens are edible too. Thin seedlings early.
Frost dates depend on where you live. Enter your ZIP code to get exact dates.
Dates by zone: 3a 3b 4a 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 8b 9a 9b 10a 10b
Growing basics
- Sun
- Part sun (4–6 hours)
- Spacing
- 3–4 in
- Soil temperature
- At least 50°F
- Time to harvest
- About 55 days
- Containers
- At least 2 gallons
- Plant family
- Beet and spinach family
- Harvest per plant
- About 0.25 lb
- Seeds keep
- About 4 years
Companions
Good neighbors: Onion (sets), Lettuce, Cabbage, Garlic
Keep apart: Horseradish. Horseradish spreads aggressively. Give it its own spot.
Keep apart: Mint. Mint spreads aggressively into neighbors. Keep it in a pot.
Keep apart: Fennel (bulb). Fennel slows the growth of most garden plants. Grow it on its own.
Keep apart: Sunchoke (Jerusalem artichoke). Sunchokes spread aggressively and shade neighbors.
Varieties to try
- Chioggia 55 days: candy-striped
- Touchstone Gold 55 days: golden, doesn't bleed
- Detroit Dark Red 60 days: classic
- Cylindra 60 days: long, easy to slice
Pests and problems
Grow it well
Tips
- Soak big, hard seeds overnight. Peas, beets, chard, and okra sprout faster after 8 to 12 hours in water. Plant them right away, and don't soak them longer than a day, or they can rot.
- Thin seedlings early. Crowded carrots, beets, and lettuce never size up. Once seedlings have their first true leaves, snip the extras at the soil line with scissors, leaving the spacing on the packet. Pulling them disturbs the roots of the ones you keep.
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