Beetroot is considered to be a traditional from the order of the quinoa, which we cultivate everywhere in the gardens and use in cooking as a healthy and tasty ingredient. The plant is unique, not only its roots are suitable for food, but also its tops. Borscht, vinaigrettes are made from it, used in soups and vitamin salads.
- Contents Description and characteristics of beet
- most popular varieties of red beet
- planting technology in open ground
- beet cultivation and care of the landing
- harvesting and storage
description and characterization
vegetable beet is a biennial plant. Its roots are large, their weight reaches one kilogram. Color - maroon. Externally, the fruits look rounded or flat. Foliage wide, green shade. After planting in the ground in the second year, the period of flowering and the formation of seed material begins.
The period of planting and harvesting is different, depending on the climatic zones of plant cultivation, lasts from two to four months.
According to the formation of the harvest, beet canteen is divided into four categories:
- early ripening( from 65 to 80 days);
- early maturity( up to 100 days);
- mid-season( up to 130 days);
- late ripening( from 130 days).
Beets are rich in vitamins and nutrients Homeland and regions of growth of beetroot
Well-known garden crop appeared about two hundred years ago. Her ancestor is considered chard, growing in the wild in the countries of Western Europe, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. The plant is first mentioned in the fifth century BC.Mangold became the founder of today's beet varieties - table, sugar and fodder. From it, modern species have adopted the main advantage - the content of a large amount of iodine.
The most popular varieties of beetroot
To date, agrotechnology brought a large number of varieties. But most often gardeners prefer the following:
- cold-resistant. The variety is early ripening, medium-shaped roots, ripen in two and a half months. The fruits are round, slightly flattened, their upper part is located above the surface of the soil, which makes it easy to harvest. The pulp is tasty, cherry shade, juicy. The average weight of the fetus reaches two hundred grams. When growing this type, from a ten-meter plot of beds you can collect from forty to seventy kilograms of vegetables, , which will be perfectly preserved. The plant is unpretentious, able to tolerate cold, rarely ill fungal formations. Beet recommended for breeding in the northern regions;
- fortune. The unpretentious beetroot plant of average terms of maturing, reliable, with a small rosette of leaves, gives stable yields. It is recommended to grow in the gardens of the Urals. Suitable for all types of culinary treatments, canning, bookmarks for long-term storage. Vegetables differ in large forms, their weight reaches three hundred and fifty grams. Productivity is high, reaches from forty to sixty kilograms from ten square meters;
Grade cold-resistant 
Grade Fortuna - a red ball. Beet round, medium early. Full maturity occurs in three to four months. The weight of vegetables ranges from three to five hundred grams. The plant is well opposed to diseases, does not undergo tsvetushnosti, yields up to ninety pounds from ten square meters. It is considered the best grade for all types of processing. Stored wasteless for six - eight months;
- Pablo. The grade is high-yielding, is subject to cleaning in three months after emergence of shoots. Vegetables weigh up to one hundred grams, in the autumn season their weight reaches five hundred. The flesh is dark red, juicy and with excellent taste. Vegetable practically does not crack, rarely prone to stalking. Hybrid gives stable yields in the amount of six - seven dozen kilograms from ten squares, successfully used in cooking.
Pablo variety beets 
Planting technology in the open ground beets
For this crop should be selected loose fertile soil. Preference is given to loamy chernozem and peatlands that have a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction. Acidity is very important for beets, otherwise the roots will be affected by diseases and will not be able to be stored for a long time.
Cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes and onions are considered the best predecessors for this crop. Even though the shoots are capable of surviving weak frosts, one should not take risks with this - it is better to wait a bit.
Step-by-step instructions for sowing in open ground is as follows - the bed loosens to a depth of five centimeters, grooves are made at intervals of thirty centimeters. The depth of seeding should be about three centimeters. Seeds can be sown dry or pre-soak them in water. The soil before this definitely needs to be moistened. Interval between seeds - from three to four centimeters. Planting beets, furrows should be sprinkled and watered. Shoots will appear in about a week.
Sowing beets in the open ground Growing and post-planting care
At the initial stage of growth, beets should be fed with nitrogen, then potassium is preferred. Further use of nitrogen fertilizers can cause voids and cracks to appear in the vegetable.
To support potassium plants, it is best to use wood ash to improve the disease resistance of the vegetable.
Beet needs constant watering, loves moisture. But waterlogging is not recommended for it, since it can cause diseases.
The soil in the beds must be loosened almost from the moment the sprouts form the second leaf. At the same time, weed is removed, shoots are thinned. By the way, the beets are perfectly transplanted and quickly take root in the new garden bed.
The second thinning is best done at the end of July, leaving up to ten centimeters between the beets.
. beet seedlings. Harvesting and storing the crop.
. Mass harvesting occurs during the first frosts. It is important not to miss this moment, otherwise frozen roots will be poorly preserved.
Beets should be carefully removed from the ground, cut off the tops of the hands. Then the vegetables remain in the garden to dry their wounds. Beets with damage and diseases, is rejected and not stored. The entire crop is stored in clean boxes and stored at a temperature of one to two degrees of heat.
It should be noted that the beets are best preserved, the growing season of which does not exceed five months. If the plans preserve the harvest for a long time, then you should use varieties of early ripeness, sowing them in mid-May. But for early planting suitable beet varieties that will be eaten daily.
