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When to Plant Beets
Start your first round of beets in early spring, as soon as the soil is workable, usually after the fast frost. Make successive plantings every 2 to 3 weeks until mid-summer.Successive plantings are possible through summer as long as daytime temperatures don’t exceed 75°F (24°C).
For a fall harvest, sow beet seeds from mid-summer through early fall, starting about 4 to 6 weeks before your first fall frost.
How to Plant Beets
Sow beets directly in the garden so that we don’t have to disturb their roots. However, beets—unlike many root crops—do generally tolerate being transplanted while still young. Since they are cold tolerant, beets typically have no trouble being started outdoors, though.
Sow 1cm (½”) deep, 5-10cm (2-4″) apart in rows 30-45cm (12-18″) apart. After sowing, cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil.
Make sure soil remains moist for optimal germination. Soak seeds for 24 hours prior to planting to speed up germination.
Each beet seed is actually a hard little cluster of 2 to 4 seeds. It takes several days or even a week for the outer seed coat to soften and allow the seeds inside to germinate. It's important to keep the soil consistently moist during this period. Once the seeds have germinated, you will need to thin out (and eat!) some of the extra seedlings. Ideally you'll wind up with about 9 plants per square foot.
Like most vegetables, beets prefer growing in full sun and they like to get about 1" of water each week. Beets are cold tolerant, so they can be planted in early spring, several weeks before the last frost date. To keep the soil consistently moist during germination, cover the area with row cover until the seedlings break the soil surface.
