Growing Beetroot in the UK: A Beginner's Guide

Why is beetroot such a good crop for beginners?

Few vegetables give back as much for as little fuss. Beetroot is quick, with baby roots ready in under two months. It is hardy enough to shrug off a cool British summer, and it does two jobs at once: the swollen root for roasting and pickling, and the leaves, which you eat raw when young or cook like spinach when larger.

It also stores well, either boxed in sand or left in the ground over a mild winter, so a few short rows can feed you long after the growing has stopped. And it is small. A single 3m row, sown in stages, keeps a household in beetroot for months without demanding a big plot or a greenhouse. If you are planning a first patch, it sits neatly alongside the other reliable starters in our guide to growing vegetables.

What is the "seed cluster", and which varieties are single-seeded?

Here is the fact that catches almost every new grower out. What looks like one knobbly beetroot seed is usually a cluster of several seeds fused together. Sow one, and two or three seedlings push up in a tight little clump. Nothing has gone wrong. That is simply how beetroot works, and it is why thinning is part of the job rather than an optional extra.

If the idea of thinning puts you off, you can sidestep it with a monogerm variety. These have been bred so each cluster carries a single seed and sends up one seedling. 'Moneta' is the common UK monogerm choice, described by the RHS as ideal for anyone who would rather not thin.

When and how should you sow beetroot in the UK?

Beetroot resents having its roots disturbed, so the simplest and most reliable method is to sow it straight into the ground where it is to grow. The main outdoor window runs from late March or April through to July. Sow a short batch every two to three weeks rather than one long row all at once, and you will pick tender young roots steadily instead of facing a glut of tough old ones.

You can steal a march in cold areas by sowing from late February under a cloche or fleece, but only with a bolt-resistant variety, or the cold snap will send it straight to seed. Beetroot germinates better if you soak the seeds in warm water for about an hour first.

1. 1

   Prepare the drill

   Rake the soil to a fine, crumbly tilth and draw out a shallow drill about 2.5cm (1in) deep. Water the base of the drill if the soil is dry.

2. 2

   Sow the clusters

   Space the seed clusters roughly 10cm apart along the row, or a little closer if you plan to harvest small. Cover lightly and firm the soil gently.

3. 3

   Label and wait

   Mark the row and keep it moist. Seedlings usually appear within 1-2 weeks, often two or three from each cluster.

4. 4

   Sow again

   Two to three weeks later, sow the next short batch. Repeat through to July for a rolling supply into autumn.

Module-sowing under cover, dropping a cluster into each cell and planting the whole clump out undisturbed, is a known trick for an early start. It works, but keep your first year simple and lead with direct sowing.

What soil and site does beetroot need?

An open, sunny spot and light, fertile soil suit it best. The one firm rule is to avoid ground that has been freshly manured, which encourages lush leaf and forked, misshapen roots. Beetroot much prefers a bed that was manured for a previous crop. It also dislikes very acidic soil, so on a known acid plot a little lime the autumn before helps.

Heavy clay is workable if you loosen it and add compost, but if your roots come out stunted or forked, that is usually the soil talking. The same open, stone-free, not-too-rich conditions suit the other easy roots too, which is why beetroot and carrots are natural bedfellows on a beginner's plot.

How do you thin beetroot, and can you eat the thinnings?

Once the seedlings are about 2.5cm tall, thin each clump down to a single strong seedling, aiming for roughly 10cm (4in) between plants if you want full-sized roots. For a crop of small, tender baby beets you can leave them a touch closer and simply harvest earlier.

The thinnings are not waste. They are your first harvest, a fortnight before anyone else's.

Do not bin what you pull. Those baby leaves are one of the quiet pleasures of growing your own, sweet and earthy in a salad the same evening you thin. Snip them off at the base and leave the tiny roots behind on the compost heap.

How much water does beetroot need?

This is the single habit that decides whether your roots are good or disappointing. Beetroot wants steady, even moisture. In dry spells, a thorough soak every 10 to 14 days is far better than a daily splash. The reason is simple: erratic watering, a drought followed by a downpour, makes the roots split as they suddenly swell, while a prolonged lack of water turns them woody and tough. A parched plant is also more likely to bolt. Keep the bed evenly damp and mulched, and most of beetroot's common faults never appear.

Why does beetroot bolt, and how do you stop it?

Bolting is when the plant abandons root-making and runs up a flower spike, leaving you with a stringy, woody root. In beetroot it is usually triggered by a cold check, a spell of chilly weather after an early sowing, rather than by summer heat.

When and how do you harvest beetroot?

Start pulling as soon as roots reach golf-ball size, usually around seven to eight weeks from sowing for baby beets, and take them up to about cricket-ball size, roughly 10 to 12 weeks for a fuller root. Beetroot is at its sweetest somewhere between those two. Left much larger it turns woody and loses flavour, so harvest on the young side rather than growing giants.

To lift, ease the root up with a hand fork and pull. Then twist off the leaves about 2.5cm above the crown rather than cutting them. Beetroot "bleeds" its colour from any cut, and twisting the tops seals the top so the root keeps its sweetness and doesn't stain everything pink in the pan.

How do you store your beetroot crop?

For a maincrop sowing, lift the roots in autumn before hard frost. Twist off the tops, leaving a short stub of stalk, brush off loose soil but don't wash them, and pack them in layers in a box of just-moist sand, old compost or coir so they aren't touching. Bone-dry sand lets the roots shrivel, so aim for slightly damp. Kept somewhere cool and frost-free, they hold for a couple of months or more.

In milder parts of the UK you can simply leave roots in the ground and lift them as needed, with a cover of straw or fleece over the row to fend off the worst frosts. Either way, you keep eating homegrown beetroot well into winter.

Can you grow beetroot in containers?

Yes, and it is one of the best roots for a pot or a patio. Use a container more than 20cm (8in) deep. The RHS suggests a 25cm (10in) diameter pot or a trough of similar size gives a worthwhile crop. Fill with peat-free multipurpose compost, mixing a little garden compost or slow-release feed into the lower half, and thin baby-beet varieties to about 4 to 5cm apart for a dense picking of small, tender roots. Keep the compost evenly moist, since pots dry out fast and beetroot hates the swing between bone-dry and soaked.

What can you do with beetroot, roots and leaves?

The roots take almost any treatment: roasted whole until sweet and jammy, boiled and slipped out of their skins, or grated raw into a slaw or salad. The classic is of course the pickle, and a jar or two sees you through winter. If you want to preserve a glut properly, our guide to pickling vegetables covers the vinegar and method.

Don't forget the leaves. Young ones go raw into salads, and larger leaves cook down like spinach or chard, stalks and all. For a single packet of seed, that is a lot of dinner.

What problems should you watch for?

Beetroot is largely trouble-free, but three things account for most disappointments.

• Bolting. Covered above: cold-checked early sowings run to seed. Bolt-resistant varieties and patient sowing are the answer.
• Beet leaf miner. Small maggots tunnel inside the leaves, leaving pale, blistered patches. It looks alarming but rarely harms the root. Pick off and destroy badly mined leaves, and the plant grows on.
• Woody or split roots. Almost always a watering fault rather than a pest. Even moisture and harvesting young keep roots sweet and tender.

Get the sowing timing and the watering right and beetroot will reward you with one of the least demanding, most productive crops on the plot.

Related guides and tools

Beetroot rarely grows alone, so build out the rest of an easy first patch:

• Growing vegetables for the wider pillar of forgiving UK crops to sow alongside it.
• Growing carrots in the UK, beetroot's natural neighbour in light, open soil.
• Pickling vegetables for turning your beetroot glut into jars that last all winter.

And to line up your sowing dates for beetroot and everything beside it, our planting calendar tool tells you exactly what to sow, and when, for your part of the UK.