Beets :(

I feel like a mom who sees her baby coming home from school with a black eye. My beet sprouts were doing so great. They were the first to come up and grew SO fast. Now, the past week they look like someone has given them a good whack and about half of them are lying over and dying. Daily, I go out and desperately try to prop them up with extra MM in the hope that they will turn their pretty faces to the sun and see life is worth living!! They continue to grow. Sort of. But I've lost about half my beet sprouts I am super careful when watering. I hand-water under the leaves because an accidental spritz from my hose knocks them clean over. Is there a reason why they are suddenly failing on me? They never lack for water and get 6 solid hours of direct sunlight a day. Is the heat just too much for them? Thank for any suggestions!

Mine were like that last year. Beets and carrots, good years and bad years. Try to not overwater. Have you seen any insects or wire worms?

Detroit Dark Red Beet

Maybe I am over-watering. I'll try to take it easy in that department while they are so little. I haven't really seen any pests. Nothing is wrong with the leaves and haven't seen any bugs on them. Their little stems just can't seem to support the leaves

Suggestion: Quit watering for a few days, this should cause the plants to make the roots to grow deeper, seeking water.

You had some severely hot weather these last few weeks. No one likes that, even beets. Likely if you could have heard them they were gasping. Beets prefer it a more on the cool side than hot. That said, here in so cal I can plant beets every month of the year so they can't be too fussy. But St Lou was seriously hot lately.

Try and give them some shade if it is over 90. Don't touch them either. You said you are lifting up their leaves to water under them, best to leave them alone when small.

Sounds like you may be fighting an uphill battle...beets like the cooler weather and should probalby be planted in late-march for your area...they love water and wilt in the heat. Try to keep them going if you can, but you may want to hold off for a while as you may be approaching the best time (early August) for seeding beets for fall gardening.

Hey all. Thank you for the advice The ones that are still hanging on, are, well, only a few. But I'm gonna keep them going as long as they can stand it and replant next month. Thanks again!

Something else I have found about beets is that they need more than just mels mix, so I planted mine somewhere they have a bit of dirt as well. I believe that beets have some very specific soil requirements and perhaps by adding more compost you might get closer
The other thing is that if your area tends to be very hot, you might consider planting again with the plans for a fall crop, best of luck....
I just love your winking dog picture, for some reason it reminds me of Mae west

GWN wrote:Something else I have found about beets is that they need more than just mels mix, so I planted mine somewhere they have a bit of dirt as well. I believe that beets have some very specific soil requirements and perhaps by adding more compost you might get closer
The other thing is that if your area tends to be very hot, you might consider planting again with the plans for a fall crop, best of luck....
I just love your winking dog picture, for some reason it reminds me of Mae west

Thanks for the advice! The ones that I propped up are surviving, so even with the heat, I think they will make it. Am sad though that I lost so many! I think the ones left over are making it because they only get 6 solid hours of sunshine. They are shaded the entire morning.

Haha, I admit I had to look up who Mae West was and I see what you mean!!!

"Belle", As your real life "momma" I can see the exact look on your face re: the Mae West statement! It's the face you would give me if I was to speak of watching Birthday House on tv as a child.
....and there goes "Belle" back to her favorite search engine!

llama momma wrote:"Belle", As your real life "momma" I can see the exact look on your face re: the Mae West statement! It's the face you would give me if I was to speak of watching Birthday House on tv as a child.
....and there goes "Belle" back to her favorite search engine!

I love it! Belle I very much relate to you!

llama momma wrote:"Belle", As your real life "momma" I can see the exact look on your face re: the Mae West statement! It's the face you would give me if I was to speak of watching Birthday House on tv as a child.
....and there goes "Belle" back to her favorite search engine!

....Birthday House? ......I usually listen to you when you talk about childhood stuff but that is definitely a new one, lol!

cheyannarach wrote:
I love it! Belle I very much relate to you!

If anyone can make me laugh till my sides hurt, it's my mom

:scratch: what is birthday house? :scratch:

Birthday House was a childrens tv show around 1962 (?)
Anyway, Paul Tripp was the host. It celebrated kids birthdays, very innocent and corny stuff. It's like watching pre-school in action.

Here's a clip from the popular show

Here's another one for ya, mom

aha, we only had shows like Mr Dressup and the Friendly giant up here in Canada... AT LEAST at that time

Belle87ad wrote:Here's another one for ya, mom

Way to go "Belle" finding Birthday House. That record was sold as an old vinyl 78 rpm from way back when, with colors instead of the usual black. Your grandfather snatched it up from a flea market when I was a child.

Belle,

I seem to be having the same problem with my beets. I planted 4 squares a few weeks later than first batch and they just seem a little sickly.

I did plant 8 squares in April. My oldest daughter and I pickled 5 pints We are thinking of taking them to the county fair. FYI, it was a rather stinky process. My littlest boy, 3, asked frequently, "What's that smell!" as he held his nose.

I will be planting 12 squares next month for a fall crop. I hoped I would have gotten more than 5 pints from 8 squares, but I have to admit I pulled a few along the way to see how big they were.

Good luck with keeping the remaining few alive and well.

Belle, I learned a few things about beets, and I wasn't very successful for a couple of years, so I'm glad that I know more now.

For one thing, I just can't grow them 9 to a square like in the SFG book. Out of frustration, I looked at a YouTube instructional video, and they indicated it's better to grow them further apart. The roots will grow down, not out, if they are crowded.

I'm lucky to be a member of a community garden, where the raised beds are 20 feet long. I had a beautiful crop this year, but I sowed the seeds about 6" apart. Seeds were planted on February 16, and harvest was from May 14 to May 23. I was also lucky that the community garden has a compost team, and the compost was ready about May 1. I think it really helped to lay it down a couple of weeks before the harvest.

And, no, beets surely don't like hot weather. In Texas anyway, this means planning for a harvest before June 1.

I love beets!

I just spent the day canning beets, pickled beets that is.
I have picked the largest beets to give the other ones room

Another thing about beets is that each seed is actually a threesome, and yet another reason to thin....harshly

GWN wrote:I just spent the day canning beets, pickled beets that is.
I have picked the largest beets to give the other ones room

Another thing about beets is that each seed is actually a threesome, and yet another reason to thin....harshly

I think I have read somewhere early on this year how to separate the three or four seeds from the main carrier so you can sow individual seeds. I'll see if I can locate it again
Here is a link to single germ seeds for sale
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-5766-moneta-monogerm-f1.aspx

I've also found a site for the mono germ seeds in the UK ..good prices if the seed is still indate for next spring or perhaps even good for a late sowing this year, so I've ordered a packet .