Hi Ya'll. Has anyone grown beets successfully starting from seed grown in the house and transplanted? Also has anyone ever made sugar out of albino beets? Thanks ahead of time. You guys are great!

I've started beets indoors & planted them out. The trick is to transplant them outdoors as soon as & as young as possible. The longer after they've sprouted you wait, the more they resent being transplanted & you can end up with deformed roots or almost no roots at all.

I've started them indoors and transplanted them successfully. The trick to it though is transplanting them when they are very young seedlings, as with any root veggie. You can't wait too long because of their tap roots and even if they are root veggies that don't have tap roots since they are roots they don't like to be disturbed. As soon as they have leaves and are large enough to handle, I transplant them.

Since beets are winter veggies, why do you want to start them indoors? I have planted mine directly outdoors about a month ago and they are doing fine though growing slowly. I am in zone 8/9 with temps that don't get below the 20's and rarely that low. Usual winter temps are 40-50's daytime, 30'40's nighttime but lots of rain and terrible winds with not much sun.

If you have cold winters have you tried season extenders like cloches or row covers? I would try that if I were you, maybe starting them indoors and moving them out under a row cover and starting others outdoors directly under the row cover and see what happens, if you haven't already.

I've never tried to make sugar, sorry.

Breezy, we must have been typing at the same time.

Great minds think alike.

I normally do direct-sow beets outside, but sometimes I'll start some indoors & mark my beet beds with the transplants.

I start mine outside also but was checking on germination so started them inside for ease of testing and keeping them apart. I've done the same with carrots and all kinds of roots. My outdoor space is just so limited that it's hard to devote any space to testing but when I do transplant them I usually put them on the end so I can watch them.

We grow so many beets it would be impossible to start indoors and transplant! They always do great direct sown. And when you thin them, eat the greens or put them in salad. You wouldn't get that if transplanting.

quote:

Originally posted by BreezyGardener:
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I normally do direct-sow beets outside, but sometimes I'll start some indoors & mark my beet beds with the transplants.

Now that's a great idea! So glad I pop in to read once in a while...

quote:

Originally posted by Mumsey:
We grow so many beets it would be impossible to start indoors and transplant! They always do great direct sown. And when you thin them, eat the greens or put them in salad. You wouldn't get that if transplanting.

Well, I direct sow mine, and then in the spring when I am cutting off my lettuce for salad, I whack of the tops of the beet leaves too to add in. Dosn't seem to bother the beets, they grow back just fine. Mrs.k

Most root vegetables don't like being transplanted. So I direct sow beets, carrots, turnips, etc. Same for herbs and ornamentals related or similar in structure to to those veggies, such as parsley or CA poppies.

I do the same with the beet greens, Mrs. K. There is no green that tastes better in my book. I just love them and the greens just keep growing back with no harm to the beets themselves when I cut them.

Since I don't eat beets this will be my first year growing them. Books say beets are the only root crop that can be transplanted. I will just transplant a few early ones to get a head start on the season. I think peat pots will be best so the root isn't disturbed.
I bought 200 normal peat pots and 200 tiny peat pots. I didn't know they would be so tiny! I have to figure out what of the things I am starting can handle the tiny pots. Any suggestions would be great.