The beet (Beta vulgaris) provides a variety of uses for food products and garden growth. The roots are commonly consumed as nutrient-rich vegetables, the body of the sugar beet is used to make table sugar, and the leaves are harvested as a separate vegetable: chard. In 18th-Century Silesia, an area that is now part of Poland, the first-ever beet sugar extraction plant was created by a royal decree from the king.
I. Appearance and Characteristics
Beta vulgaris (beet) is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Betoideae of the family Amaranthaceae. Economically, it is the most important crop of the large order Caryophyllales. It has several cultivar groups: the sugar beet, of greatest importance to produce table sugar; the root vegetable known as the beetroot or garden beet; the leaf vegetable known as chard or spinach beet or silverbeet; and mangelwurzel, which is a fodder crop.
Three subspecies are typically recognised. All cultivars, despite their quite different morphologies, fall into the subspecies Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris. The wild ancestor of the cultivated beets is the sea beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima).
The wild forms of Beta vulgaris are distributed in southwestern, northern and Southeast Europe along the Atlantic coasts and the Mediterranean Sea, in North Africa, Macaronesia, to Western Asia. Naturalized they occur in other continents. The plants grow at coastal cliffs, on stony and sandy beaches, in salt marshes or coastal grasslands, and in ruderal or disturbed places.
Cultivated beets are grown worldwide in regions without severe frosts. They prefer relatively cool temperatures between 15 and 19 °C. Leaf beets can thrive in warmer temperatures than beetroot. As descendants of coastal plants, they tolerate salty soils and drought. They grow best on pH-neutral to slightly alkaline soils containing plant nutrients and additionally sodium and boron.
Beta vulgaris is a herbaceous biennial or, rarely, perennial plant up to 120 cm (rarely 200 cm) height; cultivated forms are mostly biennial. The roots of cultivated forms are dark red, white, or yellow and moderately to strongly swollen and fleshy (subsp. vulgaris); they are brown, fibrous, sometimes swollen, and woody in the wild subspecies. The stems grow erect or, in the wild forms, often procumbent; they are simple or branched in the upper part, and their surface is ribbed and striate. The basal leaves have a long petiole (which may be thickened and red, white, or yellow in some cultivars). The simple leaf blade is oblanceolate to heart-shaped, dark green to dark red, slightly fleshy, usually with a prominent midrib, with entire or undulate margin, 5–20 cm long on wild plants (often much larger in cultivated plants). The upper leaves are smaller, their blades are rhombic to narrowly lanceolate.
The flowers are produced in dense spike-like, basally interrupted inflorescences. Very small flowers sit in one- to three- (rarely eight-) flowered glomerules in the axils of short bracts or in the upper half of the inflorescence without bracts. The hermaphrodite flowers are urn-shaped, green or tinged reddish, and consist of five basally connate perianth segments (tepals), 3-5 × 2–3 mm, 5 stamens, and a semi-inferior ovary with 2-3 stigmas. The perianths of neighbouring flowers are often fused. Flowers are wind-pollinated or insect-pollinated, the former method being more important.
In fruit, the glomerulus of flowers form connate hard clusters. The fruit (utricle) is enclosed by the leathery and incurved perianth, and is immersed in the swollen, hardened perianth base. The horizontal seed is lenticular, 2–3 mm, with a red-brown, shiny seed coat. The seed contains an annular embryo and copious perisperm (feeding tissue).
There are 18 chromosomes found in 2 sets, which makes beets diploid. Using chromosome number notation, 2n = 18.
The color of red/purple beetroot is due to a variety of betalain pigments, unlike most other red plants, such as red cabbage, which contain anthocyanin pigments. The composition of different betalain pigments can vary, resulting in strains of beetroot which are yellow or other colors in addition to the familiar deep red. Some of the betalains in beets are betanin, isobetanin, probetanin, and neobetanin (the red to violet ones are known collectively as betacyanin). Other pigments contained in beet are indicaxanthin and vulgaxanthins (yellow to orange pigments known as betaxanthins). Indicaxanthin has been shown as a powerful protective antioxidant for thalassemia and prevents the breakdown of alpha-tocopherol (Vitamin E).
Betacyanin in beetroot may cause red urine in people who are unable to break it down. This is called beeturia.
The pigments are contained in cell vacuoles. Beetroot cells are quite unstable and will ‘leak’ when cut, heated, or when in contact with air or sunlight. This is why red beetroots leave a purple stain. Leaving the skin on when cooking, however, will maintain the integrity of the cells and therefore minimize leakage.
II. How to Grow and Care
Sunlight
Beets prefer to grow in full sun, meaning at least six hours of direct sunlight on most days. However, they can tolerate some light shade.
Temperature and Humidity
Beets are not quite as cold-tolerant as some cool-season vegetables, such as broccoli, but they can tolerate a light frost. Temperatures between 50 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit are ideal. Humidity also typically isn’t an issue as long as proper soil moisture is maintained and there’s air flow around the plants to help inhibit fungal growth.
Watering
Provide at least one inch of water every week. Mulching will help to keep the soil from drying out and getting too warm.
Soil
A light, rich, well-draining soil with a slightly acidic to neutral pH is best. Rocks, clay, weeds, and anything else that can interfere with root development should be removed. Moreover, beets need boron in the soil to prevent black heart, a condition that causes deformed leaves and corky black spots on the roots. You can provide boron by using compost or seaweed extract as a soil amendment.
Fertilizing
If your soil is not rich in organic matter, supplemental feeding will be necessary starting about two weeks after the beets emerge. Any good vegetable fertilizer will do, following label instructions.
Planting Instructions
In most regions, there are two windows of time when you can grow beets: in the spring and again in the fall.
For spring beets, you can sow seeds as soon as the soil has warmed up after winter, a couple of weeks before the last frost, and you can plant more beets every few weeks for an ongoing harvest, until afternoon temperatures start to reach around 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
Then in midsummer or early fall, once the temperatures begin to cool below that same temperature again, you can plant fall beets. You will want to plant beets ideally about five weeks before the average first frost date for your area. Any time less than a month before the first frost may be too short of a window.
Initially, sow seeds in rows a couple of inches apart and 1/2 inch deep. Keep your rows of beets separated by about a foot. Once the seedlings are a few inches tall, thin the beets so that there is a four-inch space between each plant. Use a pair of scissors to thin your beets instead of plucking them by hand, which could disturb the roots of the beets you aren’t thinning.
Fortunately, beets do not need a trellis or any kind of support.
Pruning
Beets do not need pruning, and their leaves should not be cut. Beets will need to be initially thinned, however, after the seedlings first germinate. Each beet needs four inches of space around it to grow. Use a pair of small scissors to remove the excess seedlings without disturbing the roots of the beets you want to keep growing.
Propagation
Beets are not really propagated from plant tissue, as each individual plant is usually eaten entirely. Beets are easily grown from seed, and beet seeds are both easy to find and affordable.
How to Grow from Seed
Beets are usually grown from seeds, which are readily available and affordable. Here are the basic steps:
- Choose a location with as much sun as possible.
- Prepare neutral, well-draining soil. Consider amending it with compost; otherwise, you may need to fertilize the beets more often as they are growing.
- Sow seeds 1/2-inch deep and about one to two inches apart, in rows that are at least a foot apart.
- Cover the seeds loosely with soil, and keep the soil moist until the seeds germinate.
- Once the seeds have germinated and the greens are a few inches tall, thin the beets so that there is about a four-inch space between each plant.
Overwintering
Fall beets that have not been harvested yet can stay in the ground during winter, offering you fresh beets in the colder months. The above-ground beet greens will not survive freezing temperatures, but the taproot below will. You can even leave your beets in the ground all winter long and harvest them in the spring. Cover your winter beets with straw or mulch to provide some protection from the elements.
In zones 9 and above, they often can be grown over the winter months.
Pests and Diseases
Many of the common problems with beets are shared by other root vegetables, such as potatoes. In addition to black heart, caused by a boron deficiency (described above), be on the lookout for:
- Bacterial infections: A variety of soil bacteria can cause discolored spots on leaves, which can gradually infect the roots. Affected plants should be removed, and crops the next season. Do not plant beets in garden space previously occupied by potatoes.
- Viral infections: Various viruses, often transmitted by leafhopper insects, can cause twisted, distorted leaves. Combat viruses by planting resistant varieties and fighting leafhoppers with pesticides.
- Fungal infections: Similar to bacteria, fungal infections cause small brown or gray spots to cover the leaves. To prevent this, rotate crops every two to three years. At the first sign of infection, apply a fungicide.
- Root rot: Usually caused by the Fusarium fungus, root rot causes the above-ground foliate to wilt, as though in need of water, while the underground roots begin to rot away. Root rot tends to appear in cycles; two or three disease-free years might be followed by a bad season where many plants are affected. Root rot can be minimized by keeping your garden weed-free and by avoiding overwatering. Affected plants should be removed.
- Insect pests: Watch for leaf miners, leafhoppers, flea beetles, aphids, and caterpillars. Pests usually are identified by ragged holes left when they feed on leaves. Use an appropriate pesticide, or pick off pests by hand.
III. Uses and Benefits
- Medicinal uses
The roots and leaves of the beet have been used in traditional medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments. Ancient Romans used beetroot as a treatment for fevers and constipation, amongst other ailments. Apicius in De re coquinaria gives five recipes for soups to be given as a laxative, three of which feature the root of beet. Platina recommended taking beetroot with garlic to nullify the effects of ‘garlic-breath’.
Beet greens and Swiss chard are both considered high oxalate foods which are implicated in the formation of kidney stones.
- Culinary uses
Spinach beet leaves are eaten as a pot herb. Young leaves of the garden beet are sometimes used similarly. The midribs of Swiss chard are eaten boiled while the whole leaf blades are eaten as spinach beet.
In some parts of Africa, the whole leaf blades are usually prepared with the midribs as one dish.
The leaves and stems of young plants are steamed briefly and eaten as a vegetable; older leaves and stems are stir-fried and have a flavour resembling taro leaves.
The usually deep-red roots of garden beet can be baked, boiled, or steamed, and often served hot as a cooked vegetable or cold as a salad vegetable. They are also pickled. Raw beets are added to salads. A large proportion of the commercial production is processed into boiled and sterilised beets or into pickles. In Eastern Europe beet soup, such as cold borsch, is a popular dish. Yellow-coloured garden beets are grown on a very small scale for home consumption.
The consumption of beets causes pink urine in some people.
Jews traditionally eat beet on Rosh Hashana (New Year). Its Aramaic name סלקא sounds like the word for “remove” or “depart”; it is eaten with a prayer “that our enemies be removed”.
- Other uses
Cultivars with large, brightly coloured leaves are grown for decorative purposes.
IV. Types of Beets
- ‘Burpee Golden’ beets have a beautiful yellow-orange color but are relatively temperamental when growing.
- ‘Chioggia’ is an heirloom beet with concentric red and white circles.
- ‘Detroit Dark Red’ is great for fresh eating or canning and pickling.
- ‘Mini Ball’ produces individual-sized beets and is great for growing in containers.
IV. Harvesting and Storage
Beets take around 55 to 70 days after planting to mature. You can start harvesting beet greens once the plants reach around 3 to 4 inches tall. The greens are most tender before they reach 6 inches, and they can be eaten raw or cooked. Be sure to leave some leaves on the plants, as they’re necessary for root development. Beetroots are ready to harvest when they’re around 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. Larger roots will be tougher and more fibrous.
Harvest the beetroots by loosening the soil and gently pulling them out. Leave at least 1 inch of the stem to avoid bleeding during cooking.
Beets are ideal root cellar vegetables and can be stored for three to four months packed in sand or sawdust in a cool, dry spot. Beets can also be canned, pickled, or frozen. Fresh beets will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.
