One of the sweetest varieties is Rocket beets: description, advantages and disadvantages
Beetroot is a vegetable that is found in almost every garden bed. The culture is rich in iron, iodine, potassium, magnesium, zinc, copper, vitamins B, P. It has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular and nervous systems, and has an antioxidant effect.
Of all types of beets, hybrids bred abroad, mainly in France or Holland, receive special attention. Rocket f1 is their bright representative.
Description of beets
Some gardeners are happy to plant hybrids and recommend them to others, others prefer varieties. Each case has its pros and cons - let’s find out what they are for Rocket.
Hybrid f1
F1 are first generation hybrids: they are obtained by crossing two varieties. They inherit the best from their “parents”: for example, disease resistance, cold tolerance or high yield.
Important! Seeds from such fruits are no longer used for planting: they lose most of their unique properties, that is, the quality of future fruits will be low.
The photo shows beets Rocket F1
Origin and development
The first Rocket f1 seeds came to Russia from Holland in 1998. Thanks to its sweetness, good keeping quality and ease of growing, beets quickly gained a place in the Russian market and in the gardens of summer residents throughout the country. In 2000, the hybrid was added to the State Register.
Distinctive features
The hybrid is recommended for cultivation in Northwestern, Central and East Siberian regions.
Rocket is a beet with cylindrical roots.It is distinguished by tender and juicy pulp of a bright, uniform color without rings. Vegetables are cooked quickly without losing their taste and beneficial properties.
Characteristic
Leaves are medium shaped, elongated, dark green, with wavy edges, arranged vertically on long red stems. The seeds are multi-sprouting: even a small amount of planting material produces a densely populated bed.
The average weight of one root vegetable is 200–300 g. The pulp is sweet (sugar content - 11.7%). Rocket is a mid-season hybrid: 90–120 days pass from germination to biological ripeness. Productivity is high (5–7 kg/m2), vegetables are stored for a long time.
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How to grow
Beets are grown in two ways: direct sowing in the ground or through seedlings. The second method helps to obtain an early harvest and helps to avoid unnecessary losses if there are very few seeds. The disadvantage of seedlings is the disruption of the root system during picking (it takes about two weeks to recover).
Planting by seeds
Hybrid seeds that are purchased in stores have already been processed by the manufacturer and are ready for planting.
The bed is prepared in the fall, from October to November. Beets love sunlight and fertile soil with neutral acidity. To do this, organic fertilizers are added to the ground: compost or rotted manure (3 kg/m2), mineral compositions: 25 g ammonium sulfate, 35 g superphosphate and 15 g potassium chloride per 1 m2.
When sowing before winter, add 4 liters of organic fertilizers and 30 g of potassium chloride with 30 g of superphosphate. In spring, add 30 g of urea per 1 m2 sown area.
Too acidic soil increases the risk of root rotting. To reduce acidity, lime is added to the soil in a ratio of 550–1000 g per 1 m2. Depending on the acidity level, use a solution of 1 tbsp. lime per 10 liters of water.
3–5 days before planting, dig up the bed, remove weeds and wood ash from it. Pre-soaked seeds are planted in moist soil to a depth of 2-3 cm, at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other. Sprinkle loose soil on top.
The beds are sown in late April and early May.when the earth has already warmed up to +10°C.
Seedling method
The soil for seedlings is fertile and neutral in acidity.. The ideal ratio is 75% peat, 20% turf soil and 5% sand. No later than an hour before sowing, the mixture is watered with a 1% solution of potassium permanganate.
The soil is poured into boxes 8–10 cm from the bottom, leaving 3-4 cm to the top, moistened with warm water (+15…+20°C). At a distance of 10 cm, make grooves 2-3 cm deep. Keep 7-8 cm between the seeds themselves. The planting material is sprinkled with earth on top and compacted well.
Already in a week the first shoots appear. They are thinned out at the stage of 3-4 leaves: each sprout is carefully removed with a teaspoon and, together with the soil, is transplanted into another planting box. The operation is repeated again when the number of leaves on the seedlings becomes more than six.
Beets love water, so the soil is always moistened. Watering is carried out with settled water as the top layer of soil dries, and excess water that has drained into the pan is poured out. Once every 3-4 days, carefully loosen the soil.
Every two weeks the seedlings are fed organic and mineral fertilizers in a ratio of 3:1.
From organics they use:
- bird droppings solution (1:12);
- slurry (40–50 g/m2).
Last feeding produced 10 days before planting in the ground.
Important! Nitrogen fertilizers are contraindicated for seedlings: they will lead to the death of all seedlings.
Care
Beet grows well next to potatoes, onions and cucumbers or in the soil after them.
When planting seedsWhen the first 3-4 leaves appear, the sprouts are thinned out. This is done in the same way as when growing seedlings. Leave a distance of 10–12 cm between plants.
Water the crop depending on weather conditions, but so that the bed is always wet. On average, 5-6 waterings are carried out throughout ripening. The next day after irrigation, the soil is weeded 3–5 cm deep.
For fast and lush growth beets are fertilized with calcium, sodium, mineral and organic compounds.
The first feeding is done after first thinning, add urea, approximately 10 g/m2. For the first time, only 25% of the norm is used, the remaining amount is applied once every three weeks throughout the season.
The crop is fertilized a second time after closing the tops in the rows:
- 8 g of superphosphate and 10 g of potassium chloride per 1 m²;
- ready-made mineral fertilizer containing chlorine compounds.
A good help in pest control is watering beets with saline solution (1 tbsp per bucket of water) in mid-summer.
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Features of cultivation
Rocket - cylindrical beets, grows mainly vertically down and up, which significantly saves space in the beds.
Hybrid is frost resistant, but it can still freeze slightly and become flowery, so the fruits will always be of excellent quality.
Diseases and pests
Rocket is resistant to major crop diseases. In order not to destroy the fruits, Avoid over-wetting the soil and do not overload the soil with chemicals.
The hybrid is not immune to insect pests. A particular danger for beet beds is:
leaf miner - lays eggs on the underside of leaves, and the hatched larvae gnaw through the leaves from the inside;- shield beetle - small bugs, similar to bedbugs, gnaw holes in plants, which can cause root crops to die;
- beet flea beetle - small greenish bugs that eat holes in the leaves;
- wireworm - its larvae destroy seeds and roots of already sprouted fruits;
- beet aphid - feeds on plant juices, which is why root crops grow small.
To combat them, the beds are dug up and weeds are removed., and the leaves of the tops are treated with special insecticides.
Harvesting and application
Harvest collected before frost, approximately 100–125 days after planting. The fruits are pulled out of the ground without damaging the skin, and the tops are cut off with a knife.
Beetroot Rocket tolerates transportation well, long-term storage at a temperature of 0...+3°C in boxes or basements.
This is a universal hybrid: suitable for consumption both raw (for example, in salads) and boiled. Healthy vegetable juices are prepared from sugary root vegetables; due to their rich color, beets are added to borscht and winter preparations.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages of Rocket f1:
- pulp without rings, sweet taste of fruits;
- resistance to flowering, drought and major diseases;
- high yield, excellent fruit quality;
- easily transported over long distances and stored for a long time.
The only drawback, inherent in all first-generation hybrids - the seeds that sprouted vegetables produce cannot be used the next year.
Farmer reviews
On many online forums where they discuss which beets to choose for planting, the Rocket hybrid is mentioned. It is often recommended for cultivation.
Lyubov, Orel: “Incomparable beets, I’ve been planting them for the third year in a row, I wouldn’t trade them for anything. Dark burgundy pulp without rings, cooks quickly, excellent taste".
Tatiana, Novosibirsk: “Last year, the seed saleswoman persuaded me to try Rocket F1, produced in Holland, packaged in Gavrish. Great beets! The size of the root vegetables is medium, there are no rings, the pulp is sweet and dark. The harvest is stored for a long time and does not spoil".
Conclusion
Rocket f1 is a favorite of many summer residents. Thanks to their cylindrical shape, the root vegetables are compact and fit in any garden bed. Caring for the crop does not require any extra hassle: it is relatively resistant to frost and has strong immunity to major diseases.
Rocket is suitable for long-term storage: vegetables wrapped in film and stored in a dark, dry box will remain there for another six months without loss of quality and taste. When planting this hybrid in the garden, you can always count on a rich harvest.
mineral compositions: 25 g ammonium sulfate, 35 g superphosphate and 15 g potassium chloride per 1 m2. That is, we multiply by 10,000 and get 2.5 tons, 3.5 tons and 1.5 tons of fertilizers per hectare?