How to properly grow and when to collect beet seeds: step-by-step guide and important tips
For most beginners and experienced gardeners, the choice of seed material for a particular crop can be problematic. And although for many summer residents getting their own seeds seems like a waste of time and effort, it happens that the variety they like simply disappears from sale. Most crops, for example, beets, carrots, tomatoes, have different varieties.
Having grown in one season sweet beet harvest, you will want to get this vegetable from your garden all the time. But what to do if you forgot the name of the variety or the packaging is no different from what you bought last season, but the vegetable itself did not grow so well? In such cases, your own planting material will be a salvation, especially since even novice vegetable growers can get it. From this article you will learn how to grow beet seeds yourself.
How to grow beets for seeds
Your own beet seeds are guaranteed to produce a healthy harvest. The plants growing in your soil have adapted to the soil type and climatic conditions, and also acquired immunity - the best option for growing them on an ongoing basis.
Fungi and other diseases will bypass your beets. Such seeds will produce large and healthy fruits. In addition, it will be nice to save money and time on searching for seed material by growing it on your own plot.
Note! Beetroot is a biennial plant, so the seed collected in the first season of crop growth on the site will be inferior. The seeds simply may not germinate or produce a good harvest.
Planting and caring for queen cells
In the spring, organize a separate bed. Seed beets are deepened to the very top, the area for normal development is 20 by 20 cm. Care is carried out as for a regular crop - watering, loosening, removing weeds, timely fertilizing.
The area for beet seeds must be fertile and even in terrain. The best soil for queen cells is chernozem on weak or medium loams; heavy loams are not suitable. It is not recommended to grow seed plants on sandy loams and solonetzes.
Planting takes place in early May. The soil should be light, loose, saturated with phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. For planting, dig holes and place queen cells in them, then cover them with soil 2-3 cm above the root crop. During dry periods, watering is necessary.
Beet seeds are planted at a distance of 70x70 cm; for home growing of the crop, it will be enough to plant 4 root crops. Beetroot is a cross-pollinating plant, therefore, when planting different varieties, in order to avoid cross-pollination and degeneration of the species, it is recommended to place them on different sides of the plot.
On a note. It is important to provide freshly planted root crops with nutritious fertilizers, namely nitrogen and potassium, during the first growing season from the appearance of rosettes to stem formation.
Fertilizers are applied taking into account the soil and climatic characteristics of the site.
If the beets weigh more than 200 g, they can be cut in half along the root, through the middle of the central bud.This way you can conduct a thorough inspection of the queen cells and remove diseased planting material. In addition, the number of testes will double.
The material is planted in loose soil in a square-cluster manner, that is, the row spacing should be equal to the distance between the holes in the bed. Beet halves are planted two per nest, whole heads - one at a time. The soil around the testes is squeezed out, and the heads are sprinkled with 2-3 cm of loose soil.
Seed collection
Of course, it is easy to purchase root vegetable seeds in a store, but it is preferable to collect them yourself, maintaining the grade, and sow them next year - this is exactly what our grandmothers did.
On root crops, a rosette of leaves first develops, and later flower-bearing shoots. Flowering of the seed begins at the end of June and lasts 20-40 days. The formation and ripening of grains ends 25-30 days after pollination of flowers. Ripeness and harvest time are determined by color.
When to collect beet seeds
When the seed pods turn brown and dry, the planting material will be ready for collection. But it’s better not to wait for complete drying: overripe seeds can fall off on their own. All branches are cut, dried in a sheltered area from the wind, sorted and sent for storage. It is better to store seeds in paper bags in a dry place. One plant produces approximately 50-60 g of seed.
How to collect seeds correctly? Carefully cut off the seeds with the trunk and hang them on the crossbar, and cover the bottom with paper. Let them hang like this for 2-3 weeks.
Important! Dry and collect the seeds in a warm room, away from wind and moisture.
Lightly tap the seeds from time to time; the seeds should fall off on their own.After the specified time, remove the inflorescences, lightly remember them and shake them.
You can select the best seeds in this way:
- dilute a tablespoon of salt in 1 liter of water,
- Place the seed in water for an hour.
Seeds that float are unusable. Select those that fall to the bottom of the container.
Wash the seeds and dry them for a week, then place them in paper bags.
Storage rules and periods
Many gardeners complain about the impossibility of storing root vegetables; they allegedly often spoil before the onset of winter. This may be due to unsuitable weather conditions during harvesting or non-compliance with agricultural technology in collecting and storing planting grains.
Read also:
How to recognize a beet allergy and quickly get rid of its symptoms.
Let's preserve the taste and benefits: how to freeze zucchini fresh for the winter.
How to prepare seeds for the winter
During ripening, the seeds lose the moisture they contain and gradually dry out. All physiological development in the material is suspended due to the lack of moisture. Seed grains in a dormant state contain an embryo and a supply of nutrients under the skin.
Without disturbing dormancy in some way, the seeds will not develop. If the room humidity exceeds 12%, the seeds will begin to germinate. Maintaining a dry microclimate in the storage environment is the main condition due to which the seed will remain viable.
be careful! Seeds do not respond well to being kept in a warm, humid environment.
If the temperature and relative humidity in the room where the seeds are stored are exceeded, then after a couple of months they will lose their ability to climb.The same thing will happen with temperature changes. The optimal temperature level for storing material is 12-15 ° C, but access to fresh air should be limited.
Storing the material in an unheated room in winter is unacceptable. At low temperatures, the seeds become damp and die, especially if the temperature does not rise above 0 °C.
Preparing for sowing
Beginner gardeners do not always succeed in planting beets: the seeds do not germinate well or the vegetable grows small. But beets are one of the first among vegetable crops in terms of yield and the presence of beneficial properties. The culture is well stored almost all year round. What could be wrong?
One of the key points in growing root crops is proper preparation of the seed. If you ignore technology and let everything take its course, you shouldn’t be surprised by an undesirable outcome at the end of the season.
Seed treatment
Beet seeds germinate slowly. For sowing, it is better to use hatched grains.
To prepare beet seeds for planting, they are processed in one of the following ways:
- Soaking in superphosphate solution. Mix 1 teaspoon of the substance in 1 liter of warm water. The seeds will need to be kept in this solution for 24 hours and then dried.
- Bubbling. Place the seeds in water with air supply. The duration of such treatment is approximately 18-24 hours.
- Soaking in a solution of wood ash. Pour 1 tbsp into 1 liter of heated water. l. ash, stir. We keep the seeds in this solution for at least a day.
After processing, rinse the seeds with warm water, wrap in a damp soft cloth, and keep for 2-3 days in a room with a temperature of at least 22 °C. If the fabric dries out, it must be moistened.
Important Tips
To grow a quality crop of sweet root vegetables every year, you need almost perfect seed.
Advice from experienced agronomists will help novice gardeners not to make mistakes:
- The root crop variety chosen for planting should not be a hybrid. Pay attention to in which regions of the country it is recommended to grow it. There is a risk that the beet seeds grown simply will not suit your climate.
- Store seeds only in paper bags, as the seed must breathe. In foil, cellophane or thick paper, the grains will simply deteriorate during storage.
- Do not collect seeds in the first year of the crop's life. The fact is that in the most common cases, beets tend to bloom when the seedlings are frozen. The preservation of the species is biologically inherent in the plant, so in such cases it is forced to devote all its strength not to the fruit, but to the peduncle.
Conclusion
Obtaining seeds from the crop you like is not too labor-intensive. Don’t be afraid to spend time preparing seed material yourself. Your own seeds will be several times larger than store-bought ones, and therefore the harvest will be sweeter, healthier, larger and of higher quality. The better you choose a plant to plant for seeds, the better the resulting inflorescences will be.
Interesting information on how to get healthy beet seeds in this video:
Just chatter, no timing, no type of seeds before harvesting...
Irina, thank you for your feedback, but perhaps you did not read the article very carefully. Information on collection dates is in the article, under the appropriate heading. Don't forget that timings vary depending on the region:
“The flowering of the seed begins at the end of June and lasts 20-40 days. The formation and ripening of grains ends 25-30 days after pollination of flowers.
Ripeness and harvest time are determined by color. When the seed pods turn brown and dry, the planting material will be ready for collection. But it’s better not to wait for complete drying.”
How to understand this phrase? “Do not collect seeds in the first year of the crop’s life.” I will collect seeds in the fall, but can’t I sow them in the spring?
The author believes that it is better to collect in the second year. The first ones may be weaker. You can try to plant them, of course, but there may be a lot of waste.