How to plant, grow & care for Beetroot

Don’t let crinkle cut pickled beetroot put you off – it doesn’t have to be that way. I love beetroot raw or roasted, red, orange or pink, and that's what makes it look such fun on the plate. There is even a variety called ‘Chioggia’ or ‘Candy Stripe’ and when you cut into it, you'll see the flesh is stripy - pink and white. Sown regularly every three or four weeks you will be picking baby beets in June, right up to the full-size ones at Christmas that will store through the winter. Browse our range of beetroot seeds and seedlings for a tasty addition to your kitchen garden.

Last updated: 4th Mar 2025

Details Where & when to plant How to sow How to plant Care guide Pests, diseases & common issues Frequently-asked-questions

Details

Calendar

Jan J

Feb F

Mar M

Apr A

May M

Jun J

Jul J

Aug A

Sep S

Oct O

Nov N

Dec D

Sowing

Planting

Flowers/ Harvest

Where & when to plant

Where to plant

Soil type

Beetroot is not too fussy about soil, but a fairly rich, moist but free draining soil will give you the most succulent crop.

Aspect & position

Grow them in an open sunny position, although if you want a particularly early crop you can also grow them in the polytunnel or greenhouse.

When to plant

You can start sowing beetroot seeds in the greenhouse in March, but it is best to wait until the soil warms up in April to sow outside.

How to sow

If the garden soil is still a bit cold and wet, you can get ahead by sowing beetroot seed in gutters, germinating them somewhere warm and dry and then transplanting the young seedlings when the weather warms up. Beetroot hate having their roots disturbed, so this is an ideal method.

Use a length of plastic guttering that you can handle easily. Fill with peat free compost almost up to the top of the gutter, water lightly, then pop the seeds individually (beetroot seed is quite big) at about 4cm spacing, down the middle of the gutter. Put the guttering in the greenhouse or on an indoor windowsill and watch the seed germinate in around 10 days’ time.

Photography by

Jonathan Buckley

How to plant

Once your beetroot seedlings have four leaves and are looking sturdy enough to face the outside world, harden them off for a few days by keeping them inside at night and outside during the day.

Make an indentation in your prepared soil outside using an empty piece of gutter, water the bottom of the indentation and let it drain away. Carefully slide the seedlings, soil and all into their new home and water in well. Once you have the knack, they will hardly notice the change and grow away as if nothing has happened. You will still need to thin them out gradually, eating the baby beets at radish or golf ball size before leaving the main crop to grow on to the size your recipes need.

Photography by

Jonathan Buckley

Care guide

Watering

Beetroot doesn’t need a huge amount of water unless you are growing it in the greenhouse or in a container when you will need to give it a helping hand. Beetroot grown outdoors may need additional watering in particularly dry spells, if the soil looks like it is drying out.

Thinning out

Make sure your seedlings don’t get smothered by weeds, and thin out gradually so that they don’t have to compete too much for water and food. Some varieties will bolt (go to seed) if they are stressed, so, better to eat the thinnings than let them be too crowded in the row.

Harvesting

When you're harvesting beetroots, go through your patch and have a little rummage and you’ll find the bigger ones are starting to push themselves slightly out of the ground. You should be able to see the ones that are ready to harvest.

You don't want to start at the beginning of the row and just harvest down the row because you will then end up taking really small ones out which is a bit of a waste unless you want baby beetroot. You really want to pick them when they're the right size, roughly between the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball. This is when they're really tender, but they're not too small so you're not wasting them.

The root should pull easily from the soil by hand, but you may find that you need a trowel if you have a heavier soil. What I always do is wash them under a tap in the garden into a bucket and then just chuck the bucket with the soil onto the garden rather than bringing all the soil into the sink, and blocking the drains.

Storing

Harvest your beetroot before hard frosts come and you can store them over the winter months. Store the roots in boxes of sand or sawdust in a cool, frost-free shed. They should last right through the winter.

Pests, diseases & common issues

Why did my beetroot grow leaves but no bulb?

The bulb is a storage mechanism for the plant, so if it does not get enough food, water or light it will not have enough surplus to store. Usually this happens because the soil is too poor, or the plants are too overcrowded. Alternatively, if the soil is too rich in nitrogenous matter, the plant will put all its energy into leaves, and not the root. So don’t manure too heavily and add a little potash in the form of biochar or wood ash.

Why is my beetroot not growing?

You need to wait until the soil is warming up before you sow the seeds outside, otherwise they will be slow to germinate and even slower to grow.

Why are my beetroot leaves turning yellow?

Sometimes this can be due to over or underwatering, and occasionally a mineral deficiency such as boron if the soil has had too much lime applied in the past.

Why are my beetroots so small?

Usually this is because they are struggling for food, so make sure you improve the soil with well-rotted compost before you sow next time. You could rescue the crop by raking in a little general purpose fertiliser around the plants. Make sure you thin your seedlings to 6cm apart so that they do not have to compete too much with their neighbours.

Why do sparrows eat beetroot leaves?

Because they know a good thing when they taste it, and there probably isn’t much other greenery around for them. You can net your crop to deter them, or frighten them off with a dangling CD, hopefully as the summer progresses, they’ll find other more robust plants to peck at.

Why is my beetroot bolting?

Plants bolt (go to seed) when they are stressed and realise they need to propagate themselves before it is too late. Ensure they have the right amount of what they need: food, water, light and air and they should concentrate on storing their surplus energy in the form of a nice tasty root. Sadly, you can’t turn the clock back, once they decide to bolt there is no holding them back, just pull the plant up and harvest the leaves as a green vegetable and start again. Make sure when you sow new seed it is not too thick, as competition for resources is usually the main cause.

Photography by

Jonathan Buckley

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does beetroot take to grow?

It rather depends on the weather conditions and the size of beetroot you prefer. But the rule of thumb is around seven weeks for baby beets and 12 weeks for a full-size root.
How deep does beetroot grow?

The roots are relatively shallow with the bulbous part often forming above ground level.
Can you grow beetroot in containers?

You can grow beetroot in a large container, as long as it is deep enough for the developing roots.
How often should beets be watered?

If you are growing them outside in the open ground they should not need much watering at all unless there is a particularly dry spell. Then it is better to give them a decent drink once a week, rather than a sprinkle every day.
What happens if you don’t thin beets?

If you sow the seed too thickly you will get a mass of spindly leaves and no roots. Try to sow relatively thinly (every 2cm or so) and then thin out every other one to eat as micro leaves, and then again a couple of weeks later every other one can be taken as baby beets, leaving the wider spacings for the mature roots.
Is it safe to eat beetroot leaves?

Absolutely, these are a mainstay in the bags of supermarket salad leaves as they keep well and are packed with flavour. They also look very pretty on the plate with the red stems. Once they get bigger, or indeed as you harvest the roots, cook the leaves as you would spinach or chard.
How many beetroots do you get from one plant?

Most varieties are ‘multigerm’ which means that they have three or four embryos in each seed, often resulting in as many bulbs which will need thinning.
Can you grow a beetroot from a beetroot?

You might be able to grow beet leaves or flowers by cutting the top off a root and standing in a dish of water, but you will not get another beetroot per se. They are an annual plant so once they have made a root they are primed to flower and set seed.
Does beetroot need full sun?

It does really, you might get a decent crop of beet leaves in shade, but the root will not form properly without sunshine. So at least half the day the plant needs to be in full sun.
Can you grow beetroot all year round?

Beetroot seed will not germinate in cold conditions. If you sow the seed indoors it will germinate, and given enough artificial light (using horticultural grow bulbs) you can get a winter crop. But given that it stores well as a winter root vegetable there isn’t really much point.

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Common name	Beetroot
Latin name	Beta vulgaris
Type	Half-hardy annual vegetable
Height	30cm
TLC rating	Easy
Aspect	Full Sun
Spacing	15cm
Yield	Up to 250g
Suitable for pots	Yes
Grow in a greenhouse?	Yes