The Best Way To Grow Beets In Containers. I can honestly say I love growing beets every second year because they yield so much at once. I have enough usually to last me two years. So here are my tricks and tips to growing beets in containers.
Table of Contents
Choosing the Right Container to Grow Your Beets
How To Plant Your Beets
- Plant directly into your container in full sun after the danger of frost.
- The soil must be quite acidic. I recommend a PH of 6.0-7.0. If you need to adjust the PH you can add some garden lime as the package specifies.
- Make your rows about 12″ apart, plant the seeds 3″ apart and cover lightly with soil. Seedling should emerge like in the above picture around 14-21 days.
- If you notice any clusters of 3 or more, you need to pull them out or thin them to make sure they have room to grow. You can stagger planting if you prefer to eat them fresh all summer.
Caring for Your Beets In Containers
Since they are in containers, you do not have to worry about weeds or pests as much. Keep the beets well watered during any dry spells. Keep the soil moist but not saturated. The best time is to water your beets earlier in the morning so the leaves can be dry by evening. There is no need to prune them because you need to have the beets protected from the sun.
Pests and Diseases of the Beet Root Plant
Beets can be prone to aphids, cutworms, springtails, spider mites, and root aphids. They can also develop any of these Diseases:
- Phoma leaf spot or root rot
- Powdery Mildew
- Rust
- Scab
- To fully identify any problems I would recommend using the Washington State University website. Mainly because they have galleries to help you identify the problem.
Harvesting Your Beets
I usually pick the greens when they are around 6″ long and the roots are less than 2″ in diameter. If you want you can also harvest them as baby beets. I would recommend waiting until they appear to be 3″ in diameter. Store your beets at 33-35 Degrees F. With 95% humidity. Cook your greens like you would spinach. You can also blanch them and freeze them for later use.
My other favorite way to preserve and harvest my beet is to can them. You start by boiling the beets with skins on for about 45 minutes. Cool the beets and peel the skins off. They come right off after boiling. Dice and put into jars and add your favorite brine to them. I have some great recipes that you can use if you would like to jar your beets.
Busy Bee’s Recommendations
Here are some of the things I use from planting to growing my beets. Things I can honestly recommend to make your job much easier when it comes to harvesting.
