Growing beets from seed is quite challenging because beet seeds are incredibly small. However, if you start your beet seeds indoors to germinate and transplant the seedlings into your garden outdoors, it will be much easier to manage your garden layout. Most root crops have trouble adjusting to new homes when they are transplanted as seedlings. Because of this general rule, most people think that beets are also tough to transplant, which is just not true. In fact it is not hard to transplant beets.
Hardening off your beet seedlings will help them adjust to moving from the indoors to the outdoors more comfortably. Before moving the seedlings into the bed, amend the soil in the bed with a two to three inch deep layer of compost worked into the top six inches of soil. The compost alone will provide most of the nutrients that your beets will need to grow after being transplanted. Beets don’t require a fertilizer to be added at planting time, as excess nitrogen will promote a focus on leaf growth instead of root development.
Transplant your seedlings on a cloudy day or during the evening time to reduce the chance of shock to your seedlings. Plant your beet seedlings in the garden at the same depth that you planted them in their pots indoors. Space beet plants four to six inches apart in a row, taking care not to disturb the roots too much during the move. After planting, water the soil so that it settles around the plant’s roots.
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