Beets: the secrets of growing beautiful and sweet root crops

Despite the fact that beets are one of the most unpretentious types of vegetables, even its harvest can not always be called exemplary. Often, instead of bright and sweet root vegetables, solid, practically unfit for food, spirits grow. What is the matter? What are the rules for sowing, cultivating and caring for the beets to grow beautiful and tasty in the open ground?

Acquisition and soaking of seeds

Take your time and go to the specialized store for seeds, which has been selling them for more than a year. There is more choice and less likelihood of acquiring low-quality seed.

Before sowing, seeds should be inspected and discarded low-quality specimens. Also, to improve germination, they should be soaked in a solution of fertilizers. To prepare it, you need to take 1 tsp. superphosphate, 1 tbsp. ash and 1 liter of water. Mix these ingredients, leave for a day, then strain. Take a piece of tissue about 25 * 25 cm in size, moisten with a solution and wrap seeds in it. Leave for a day, periodically wetting.

Site selection

• The sun. Beets are not too demanding on light, but in the sunny area it will grow sweeter.
• The soil. Fertile, loose soil is preferred.
• Soil acidity. The optimum level of acidity is 6.5-7.5 pH. At an elevated level, ash or eggshells should be introduced, and at a lower level, peat or acid fertilizers should be applied.

Sowing

You can sow beets immediately in open ground already in May, if the air temperature warms up to +6 degrees.
On beet beds reserved for beets, grooves should be made up to 4 cm deep. Place seeds in them, observing a distance of 10 cm for small varieties and up to 30 cm for large ones. Sprinkle with earth and cover with a non-woven cloth. Shelter should be left until 3-4 leaves appear in the sprouts.

Under favorable weather conditions, crops sprout in a week, or even earlier. But it happens that the first sprouts appear only after 14 days.

Care

• Thinning. The first thinning should be carried out after the appearance of the 1st true leaf in the plant. To do this, carefully remove the sprouts located too close to each other. If this is not done, they will not be able to fully develop. The next thinning can be done in July, when root crops begin to form. It is necessary if the plants are located closer than 10 cm from each other. By the way, the pulled out young beets can be used together with tops for preparation of magnificent borsch or salads.
• Watering. Beets are not afraid of drought, so watering it is enough only a couple of times a week.
• Loosening. After watering, the soil between the rows should be loosened in order to exclude the formation of a crust. For the same purpose, you can mulch with straw or grass.
• Weeding. So that weeds do not pick up nutrients from beets, they should be removed in a timely manner.
• Top dressing. At the beginning and end of June, beets should be fed with nettle infusion. A couple of weeks after the 1st thinning, 2 glasses of ash and 1 tablespoon dissolved in 10 liters of warm water salt. To improve the taste of beets, you can give her boron dressing: dissolve 10 grams of boric acid in 10 liters of water.
• Harvesting. If it is not size that matters to you, but the quality of root crops, dig up beets that have grown to 5-6 cm in diameter. However, some varieties remain sweet even when larger. This information is best clarified on the packaging.

Be sure to plant beets in the area. She needs the most basic care measures, but the result is beyond praise!