Nothing says more about the quality of your soil than beetroot. Sweet, tender roots are the product of soil that is cared for and rich in organic matter. When young, beets are apt to notice if your soil is lacking micronutrients, particularly on alkaline soils and those flooded with spring rains.Often the seedlings turn bright red; covering them with cloches should keep off the rain and save them.
All this talk of sulking suggests they are standoffish and difficult to tend to, but once you get through the first stages – even in a summer as washed out as the last – they will plump up for winter storage.
Choose soil that is free-draining, sunny and has had organic matter added in the last year. Or cheat and grow in pots or boxes of quality, peat-free compost, where they will romp away.
Beets don't like cold soils – anything below 7C – to germinate in; even if seeds do germinate, they will often bolt. That's why 'Boltardy', which has the sense to stay still in such conditions, is one of the most popular varieties.
Beetroot seed is actually a cluster of seeds fused together. Any packet of seed, unless it states that it is monogerm, will throw up a variety of sizes: the larger seed will likely germinate into several seedlings clustered together. Monogerm seed is more expensive, but saves on thinning. However, as every part of the beetroot is edible, thinning is hardly a drawback. Leave a cluster to develop into small salad beets, then thin and eat the seedling leaves in a salad, allowing those left behind to grow into maincrop beets.
Don't let a beetroot grow too large, or the sweetness will be replaced by woodiness. Beets take two to three months to mature to a size best for storage (somewhere between a clementine and a tennis ball). Long-rooted versions, such as 'Cylindrica' or 'Cheltenham Green Top' ,or round types, such as 'Boltardy' and 'Detroit 2', store best. For main crop supplies, sow through May and into the beginning of June.
For smaller beets for salads, sow from now to midsummer in intervals of two to three weeks. For large beets, space apart 15cm each way or 23cm between rows and 8cm between plants. For baby beets, you can squeeze them in a little more.
There are numerous pretty cultivars: the Italian heritage variety 'Chioggia', with its candy stripes; 'Burpee's Golden', with mustard-yellow roots; 'Bull's Blood', with dark metallic leaves, the bloodiest red 'Sanguina'; and 'Albina Vereduna', which looks like a turnip but has all the sweetness of a beet.