Content
There are several ways to plant beets for seedlings - both at home and directly into the ground. The crop demonstrates good germination, but the sowing time and care rules must be observed.
When to plant beets for seedlings
It is recommended to sow beet seeds for seedlings approximately 3-4 weeks before the final warm weather sets in and the plants are transferred to open ground. Each region has its own crop planting dates.
When to plant beets for seedlings in the Moscow region and the middle zone
It is recommended to plant beet seedlings in the Moscow region and throughout the Central region from early to mid-April. In this case, it will be possible to transfer the seedlings to the ground in the first half of May.
It is recommended to keep beet seedlings in a closed container for no more than 1.5 months, otherwise they will outgrow
When to plant beets for seedlings in the Urals
In the Urals, spring comes later, so beet seedlings are usually sown at the end of April. In this case, you can move it to the garden in the second half of May after the onset of warm weather.
When to plant beets for seedlings in Siberia
As in the Urals, it is necessary to plant beets in Siberia in the second half of April, towards the end of April. The seedlings will have time to get stronger in 20-25 days, just in time for the final arrival of spring.
Seed selection and preparation
In order for beet seedlings to germinate safely, the seeds need to be prepared. The process looks like this:
- The material is sorted out, poured into a container with cool water and left for ten minutes. At the end of the period, the seeds remaining floating on the surface are thrown away and only those that have sunk to the bottom are left.
- Planting material is soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate for 20 minutes. The liquid should be pale pink, otherwise the grains will get a chemical burn and die.
- After disinfection, the beet seeds are placed in clean warm water and left for five hours. Then the material must be slightly dried.
- The prepared seeds are placed on well-moistened gauze or cloth, the substrate is folded in half and left in a warm place at 22 ° C.
During germination, planting material is periodically sprayed with a spray bottle. After the sprouts appear, the beets are transferred to the soil or to a box with soil.
Soil preparation
Before germinating beets on a plot or in a box, it is necessary to prepare the substrate. The culture prefers loose and aerated soil with low acidity. To prepare it, you can mix peat, humus, turf, wood ash and sand in a ratio of 2:1:1:1:0.5.
To disinfect the substrate, it is recommended to bake it in the oven at 200 °C for 20 minutes. In this case, there will be no fungal spores or pest larvae left in the soil. To be safe, you can spill the soil with Fitosporin or a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
Instead of processing in the oven, the soil for beet seedlings can be scalded with boiling water to remove diseases and pests
Selection of containers
It is recommended to grow beets in plastic or biodegradable containers. Suitable for sowing seeds:
- cups of sour cream or yogurt;
- cut plastic bottles;
- ordinary flower pots;
- peat cups.
You can use both small individual containers and wide but shallow boxes. A container with walls about 10 cm high is optimal for seedlings. Drainage holes need to be made at the bottom; it is also advisable to treat the container with potassium permanganate for disinfection.
It is not recommended to use wooden containers for beet seedlings. Such containers are less susceptible to disinfection and often become an ideal breeding ground for fungi and pests. As a result, beets begin to suffer from diseases already in the early stages of cultivation.
Methods for planting beets
Beets are most often planted for seedlings at home or in a greenhouse without heating. There are several popular ways to sow seeds.
Warm bed
You can sow beets in seedlings in a warm bed in an unheated greenhouse or in a garden if spring has already arrived, but cold weather is still possible. The place is prepared like this:
- Dig a small pit about 35 cm deep for the culture.
- Half fill the hole with compost, manure and straw.
- A thick layer of soil is laid on top of the organic material until the height of the bed is about 40cm.
- On the resulting elevation, grooves are prepared for seeds about 20-40 mm deep with a distance between rows of 25 cm.
- Planting material is placed in the soil at intervals of 10 cm and covered with earth, lightly compacted.
- The seedlings are watered abundantly and covered with film for the first time.
The organic layer on a warm bed will gradually overheat, releasing heat upward. Due to this, the planting material will not freeze even in the event of a sudden cold snap. It will be possible to transfer the beets to a permanent place when a stable daytime temperature of about 18 °C is established.
To prevent the raised bed from crumbling, it is recommended to strengthen it along the edges with boards or plastic panels
In cups
A popular method of sowing beets for seedlings involves using individual containers for growing. This simplifies the care of the crop and allows you not to injure it again during transplantation. The sowing algorithm is very simple:
- The cups are covered with a nutritious substrate from garden soil in combination with peat, humus and sand, retreating 1 cm from the edge.
- The soil should be thoroughly watered with settled warm water.
- Make a hole about 4 cm deep in the center of the container.
- Place 2-3 beet fruits in the soil in each cup and cover the top with soil.
At the end of the procedure, the soil is moistened again, but this time a spray bottle is used so as not to wash out the seeds.
Peat cups are best suited for beet seedlings - you can transfer the crop to the garden directly into them
Beet seedlings in a snail
If you don’t have enough space in your apartment, you can grow beet seedlings in rolls or snails. Planting seeds is carried out as follows:
- Ribbons 10-12 cm wide and up to 1 m long are cut from foamed polyethylene about 2 mm thick.
- Lay out the strips on the table and carefully roll them up, adding a nutrient substrate between the layers.
- The finished snails are tied with a thin rope to maintain their shape.
- In accordance with the photo of beet seedlings, place the rolls vertically on saucers or a large tray and pour water into the tray.
- If necessary, add more soil to the spiral rows.
- Distribute the beet seeds along the grooves at intervals of 4-6 cm.
Cultivation is carried out according to a standard algorithm - the sprouts are regularly moistened until they are transferred to the garden.
You can sow seeds even without using soil. In this case, the planting material is placed in well-moistened napkins or strips of toilet paper and also rolled into a snail. But this method is not intended for long-term germination - the seedlings will need to be transferred to a more nutritious medium immediately after the first leaves appear.
The disadvantage of the roll growing method is that beet seedlings often stretch out
Caring for beet seedlings
When growing beets through seedlings, you must follow basic care rules. Even at home, vegetables require attention.
Watering
When growing beet seedlings, it is necessary first of all to provide the crop with high-quality moisture. The soil in the containers should not dry out, otherwise the seeds will not be able to develop. You need to moisten the soil often, but you should not allow the liquid to stagnate, as the beet roots may rot.
Top dressing
For successful development, beet seedlings need to be periodically fed with useful substances. Usually, before transferring to the soil, fertilizers are applied twice - after the formation of the initial two leaves and during the dive.
For the first time, the seedlings are watered with an infusion of chicken manure or a solution of complex minerals containing nitrogen is added. After diving, you need to add potassium and phosphorus to the soil, as well as boron, molybdenum and copper. For fertilizer, you can use ready-made liquid mixtures for vegetables or wood ash.
Dive
When growing beets in a warm bed or in wide boxes, it is necessary to plant them after the cotyledon leaves appear. The procedure prevents the roots of individual plants from becoming tangled and allows for optimal conditions for each of the mature seedlings.
During the dive, it is necessary to thin out the seedlings, removing all weak and stunted specimens from the containers. Leave approximately 7 cm of space between strong, healthy sprouts. When transferred to individual containers, seedlings must be removed from the soil very carefully, without injuring the root system. There is no need to shorten the underground shoots.
It is recommended to carry out picking and transfer of beet seedlings immediately after the next watering
Hardening
At home, beet seedlings develop in a warm environment, and after being transferred to the ground they are faced with differences in day and night temperatures. Before planting the crop in the garden, it is necessary to carry out preliminary hardening. It will help make seedlings less sensitive to the effects of cold, wind and direct sunlight.
Typically, hardening for beets is performed as follows:
- About two weeks before transferring to the garden, the seedlings are moved to a cooler room, lowering the temperature by about 3 °C.
- Open the window to let in fresh air, but close it at night to prevent the plants from getting hypothermic.
- After 4-5 days, leave the airing, including overnight, or move the seedlings to a glazed balcony.
- On the 7-8th day, they begin to take the containers with the sprouts outside during the daytime in warm weather.
Ten days after the start of hardening, the seedlings are finally left on the balcony or in the open air until planted in the garden.
When and how to transplant beet seedlings into open ground
Beet seedlings are transferred to open soil on average a month after sowing the seeds, when 3-4 true leaves are formed. The bed is located in a well-lit area of the garden, the soil is dug up in advance and fertilized with complex minerals and organic matter. The soil acidity level is reduced to neutral.
A video about planting beet seedlings in the ground offers the following algorithm:
- Holes about 10 cm deep are prepared in the beds - the roots of the seedlings should fit entirely into them.
- The beets are placed in the holes, leaving 8=10 cm between the bushes, and the voids are filled with soil, lightly compacted.
- Water the beds generously and cover them with non-woven material until the seedlings take root.
Landing should be done in the evening after sunset or in cloudy weather. In bright sunshine, seedlings cannot be transferred to the garden, as this will negatively affect survival rate.
It is best to plant beet seedlings on a small hill to avoid moisture stagnation
Problems when growing beet seedlings
Beets are not a fussy crop and, if basic rules are followed, they germinate easily. But sometimes gardeners encounter difficulties and problems.
Beets don't sprout
With proper sowing of beet seeds, the first shoots appear in 7-10 days. The lack of seedlings can be caused by several reasons:
- Poor quality planting material. Even good seeds can lose their viability if stored for too long, dried out or frozen. It is recommended to use for seedlings material collected independently or purchased from a reliable manufacturer no earlier than in the previous season.
- Neglect of preparation. If the seeds, soil and containers are not disinfected, the planting material may suffer from fungi and die immediately after sowing into the soil.
- Violation of growing conditions. For successful development, beets need warmth and sufficient light. If the container with planting material is in a too cold and shaded room, the seeds germinate much more slowly, and sometimes do not germinate at all.
Too thorough disinfection can damage the culture. If you soak beets for disinfection in a concentrated solution of potassium permanganate or fungicide, the seeds will receive chemical burns and die.
The seedlings stretched out
When grown at home, beet seedlings often stretch out. This usually happens due to lack of lighting, especially if the spring turns out to be cold and cloudy.
When pulling out seedlings, it is necessary, first of all, to move the container to a brighter place. Once a day, it is recommended to slightly rotate the container. If the sun shines on the sprouts only from one side, the beets will bend and begin to wither.
Thinning young greenery helps to cope with the stretching of seedlings. Seedlings located too densely shade each other and, moreover, constantly compete for moisture and nutrients.
Beets are less likely to suffer from stretching when sprouted in separate cups
There are pests
If beet seedlings germinate successfully, but then begin to rapidly wither, the problem is most likely caused by pests. At home, they infect seedlings due to careless soil preparation before sowing seeds. If you do not calcinate the garden soil and do not spill it with potassium permanganate, the larvae of beetles and butterflies that eat the roots and leaves of beets may well remain in it.
An infusion of onion peels, tobacco dust, and a solution of laundry soap with the addition of wood ash can help remove pests. Treatments must be carried out when the first signs of oppression of seedlings appear. If individual seedlings have suffered too much damage, they must be immediately removed from the container, since they will no longer grow.
Conclusion
It is necessary to plant beets for seedlings in compliance with the terms and rules for growing the crop. You can sow seeds either in a common box or in separate containers, but in both cases it is important to pay attention to the preliminary preparation of the material, soil and container.
