beetroot

When to sow beetroot?

Botanical name
Beta vulgaris
Family
Amaranthaceae

Beetroot is sown outdoors from March to July, 2.5 cm deep. It germinates in 10 to 15 days. It is harvested from June to October.

Beetroot is a biennial plant. The edible parts are the roots and leaves.

beetroot
Photo: W.carter · CC BY-SA 4.0

Beetroot through the year

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Indoor sowing
Transplanting
Outdoor sowing
Harvest
15913172125293337414549
  • indoor sowing
  • transplanting
  • outdoor sowing
  • harvest

In short

Outdoor sowing
from March to July
weeks 13 to 31
the window opens seven weeks before the last frost
Indoor sowing
from February to April
weeks 9 to 14
the window opens eleven weeks before the last frost
Transplanting
from April to June
weeks 15 to 26
the window opens five weeks before the last frost
Sowing depth
2.5 cm
Spacing in the row
10 to 15 cm
30 cm between rows
Germination
10 to 15 days
Germination temperature
7 °C
Days to maturity
50 to 80 days
Harvest
from June to October
weeks 24 to 42
Repeat sowing
every 21 days

The last frost is not on the same day everywhere, so the recorded weeks are a guide and not a date.

Growing conditions

🪨
Soil
loamy
🧪
pH
6 to 7.5
☀️
Sun
full sun
💧
Water
moderate water
❄️
Frost
tolerates light frost
🌱
Nutrients
a moderate feeder
🔁
Crop rotation
no sooner than the fourth year
📏
Height
30 to 45 cm

Companions in the bed

Companion planting is tradition and not an agronomic claim. What is recorded is which pairs sources recommend and which they advise against.

cucumber cited
kohlrabi cited
lettuce cited
pea cited
  • “Cited” means the pair is named by one source or two.

Pests and diseases

Listed here is every problem for which the sources name this plant as a host. The problems are not listed in order of how common they are.

Flea beetles

pest
Signs
The leaves are riddled with small round holes, as if somebody had peppered them with shot. Touched, the beetles jump. Young plants with such leaves stall or die, older ones grow through the damage.
Prevention
Clear away the plant debris in which the beetles overwinter. Cover the bed with fleece right after sowing or planting and leave it until the plants are strong. Keep the soil moist, because a dry warm spring is the worst case.
What to do
Pin fleece down at the edges, which is the main measure. In autumn or early spring loosen the top layer of soil to cut down the number of overwintering beetles.

Leaf miners

pest
Signs
Pale winding trails or irregular blotches just under the skin of the leaf, with the larvae inside them. The blotches are broad and the leaf is no longer for the plate.
Prevention
Cover the bed with fleece before the flies start laying their eggs in early spring. Remove the weeds of the same family, on which the pest keeps going between crops.
What to do
Squeeze the attacked leaves between your fingers so that the larvae in them die, or remove and destroy the leaves, which is the main measure. Do not spray, because that also destroys the parasitoids that keep the miners in check.

Slugs and snails

pest
Signs
Holes appear in the middle of the leaf rather than along the edge, young plants are eaten down to the ground, and there are slimy trails in the morning. On low-growing fruit there are gnawed pits.
Prevention
Remove the hiding places beside the bed: boards, stones, dense weeds. Water in the morning and not in the evening, so that the night is dry. Spread a band of coarse sand or gravel around the bed. Cover young plants with fleece. Pick them off at night, which is still the most effective measure.

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Related plants

The plants below are in the same botanical family (Amaranthaceae).

Sources about the plant: Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Clemson Cooperative Extension, GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, Iowa State University Extension, KGZS Zavod Ljubljana, KGZS Zavod Nova Gorica, NC State Extension Plant Toolbox, Royal Horticultural Society, Semenarna Ljubljana, Smernice za strokovno utemeljeno gnojenje (Mihelič et al., MKGP 2011), Utah State University Extension, Washington State University Extension, Wikidata. Checked between 14 and 28 August 2026. The problem descriptions also draw on: University of Maryland Extension, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension.