- Seeds of the MM Garden
- Planty Sowing Calendar
- Are our seeds organic?
- What does F1 mean on the seeds of Planty Gardening?
- African marigold - sowing and growing
- Asian salad mix - sowing and growing
- Endive - sowing and growing
- Dino kale - sowing and growing
- Bush tomato - sowing and growing
- Bush basil - sowing and growing
- Beet - sowing and growing
- Bush basil - sowing and growing
- Chioggia beet - sowing and growing
- Cos lettuce - sowing and growing
- Butter beans - sowing and growing
- Climbing zucchini - sowing and growing
- Liquorice mint - sowing and growing
- Yellomato - sowing and growing
- Marigold - sowing and growing
- Cucumber - sowing and growing
- Cilantro - sowing and growing
- Bibb lettuce - sowing and growing
- NZ spinach - sowing and growing
- Indian cress - sowing and growing
- Bok choi - sowing and growing
- Dino kale - sowing and growing
- Snow pea - sowing and growing
- Lettuce - sowing and growing
- Lettuce - sowing and growing
- Baby pumpkin - sowing and growing
- Radish - sowing and growing
- Arugola - sowing and growing
- Chard - sowing and growing
- Romano pole bean - sowing and growing
- Bacon bean - sowing and growing
- Spinach
- Bush bean - sowing and growing
- Stem lettuce - sowing and growing
- Sugar snap - sowing and growing
- Lamb's lettuce - sowing and growing
- Winter pea - sowing and growing
- Winter purslane - sowing and growing
- Winter lettuce - sowing and growing
- Carrot - sowing and growing
- Purple carrot - sowing and growing
- Sunflower - sowing and growing
- Seeds of the MM Garden
- Planty Sowing Calendar
- Are our seeds organic?
- What does F1 mean on the seeds of Planty Gardening?
- African marigold - sowing and growing
- Asian salad mix - sowing and growing
- Endive - sowing and growing
- Dino kale - sowing and growing
- Bush tomato - sowing and growing
- Bush basil - sowing and growing
- Beet - sowing and growing
- Bush basil - sowing and growing
- Chioggia beet - sowing and growing
- Cos lettuce - sowing and growing
- Butter beans - sowing and growing
- Climbing zucchini - sowing and growing
- Liquorice mint - sowing and growing
- Yellomato - sowing and growing
- Marigold - sowing and growing
- Cucumber - sowing and growing
- Cilantro - sowing and growing
- Bibb lettuce - sowing and growing
- NZ spinach - sowing and growing
- Indian cress - sowing and growing
- Bok choi - sowing and growing
- Dino kale - sowing and growing
- Snow pea - sowing and growing
- Lettuce - sowing and growing
- Lettuce - sowing and growing
- Baby pumpkin - sowing and growing
- Radish - sowing and growing
- Arugola - sowing and growing
- Chard - sowing and growing
- Romano pole bean - sowing and growing
- Bacon bean - sowing and growing
- Spinach
- Bush bean - sowing and growing
- Stem lettuce - sowing and growing
- Sugar snap - sowing and growing
- Lamb's lettuce - sowing and growing
- Winter pea - sowing and growing
- Winter purslane - sowing and growing
- Winter lettuce - sowing and growing
- Carrot - sowing and growing
- Purple carrot - sowing and growing
- Sunflower - sowing and growing
How to sow and grow red beets
What are beets?
Most beets grow round and red, but there are a lot of different types out there. Flat or egg-shaped, white or yellow, or even red and white striped.
The ancient Greeks and Romans used beets as a way to treat fevers. Here in the Netherlands, we figured out it was a tasty and nutritious vegetable around the 16th century. In the past, beets were only eaten by the poor, but now they're more widespread. They're considered a superfood these days.
Vitamins and minerals in beets
The red coloring is great for healthy blood vessels and can help lower blood pressure.
Fun fact: you can also eat the beet leaves. They're full of carotene and minerals.
More about our beet seeds
- Species name: Kogel 2
- Family: root
- Plants per square patch: 9
- Height: 25 to 35 cm
- Sowing time: mid-April through the end of August
- Sowing depth: 1 - 1.5 cm
- Germination: 12 and 18°C in 5 to 7 days
- Time to harvest: after 9 to 10 weeks
- Sunlight: the more sun there is, the sweeter the beets will be
What do you need to sow and grow beets?
- a 30x30 cm patch with airy, nutritious soil mix
- beet seeds
- a place with at least 6 - 8 hours of sunlight a day
Growing your own beets is super easy with the MM-Mix. If you grow in low-quality (potting) soil, disappointment is pretty much guaranteed. So don't skimp on soil mix: go for the best.
How do you sow and grow beets?
Each vegetable goes through a number of stages - we call them levels. The app tells you exactly what to do at each level and checks in when your plants are ready for the next.
So you don't need to know how to grow beets before you start: the app takes you through every step.
But if you'd like to read more about those steps, here's what the whole process looks like:
Level 1: Sowing beets
- poke 9 holes in the square patch (no deeper than 1 cm)
- put 1 to 2 seeds in each hole
- carefully cover the holes with soil mix
Level 2: Beet seedlings
Then it's time for the next level.
Level 3: Thinning your beets
Here's how: take a pair of scissors, leave the biggest and prettiest seedling per hole, and cut off the others along the soil mix. Never pull them up like a weed. That can damage the roots of your remaining plants.
If you see spots where nothing came up, sow a few more seeds. Beets - like carrots and radishes - can't be transplanted.
Level 4: Caring for your beet plants
Level 5: Harvesting beet leaves
Harvest a third of the leaves at most: the plant needs the rest to make the beet grow. Also, always leave the growth core: that's the center of the plant where new leaves come in.
Level 6: Harvesting beets
When they're about the size of a ping-pong ball, they're ready to harvest. They won't all grow the same: some grow faster than others. Harvest the largest beets first, so that the rest can continue to grow.
Keep watering them regularly. This helps prevent the beets from getting woody.
What do you use beets for?
Young leaves are delicious raw in salads. Older beet leaves are good in stews, stir-fry dishes, or pasta.
The possibilities are almost endless. How about some latkas?
The last levels
Beets are cold-resistant, so you can leave them for a long time in the fall. A little frost makes the beets even sweeter 🙂
The last level: tidy up the empty beet patch in your garden box or your MM-Mini and prepare it for the next round of sowing.
So: ready to grow beets yourself?
Plus: with our app and materials, it's almost impossible to fail.
Order your beet seeds here or get started with a complete starter kit:
About our seeds
- Seeds of the MM Garden
- Planty Sowing Calendar
- Are our seeds organic?
- What does F1 mean on the seeds of Planty Gardening?
- African marigold - sowing and growing
- Asian salad mix - sowing and growing
- Endive - sowing and growing
- Dino kale - sowing and growing
- Bush tomato - sowing and growing
- Bush basil - sowing and growing
- Beet - sowing and growing
- Bush basil - sowing and growing
- Chioggia beet - sowing and growing
- Cos lettuce - sowing and growing
- Butter beans - sowing and growing
- Climbing zucchini - sowing and growing
- Liquorice mint - sowing and growing
- Yellomato - sowing and growing
- Marigold - sowing and growing
- Cucumber - sowing and growing
- Cilantro - sowing and growing
- Bibb lettuce - sowing and growing
- NZ spinach - sowing and growing
- Indian cress - sowing and growing
- Bok choi - sowing and growing
- Dino kale - sowing and growing
- Snow pea - sowing and growing
- Lettuce - sowing and growing
- Lettuce - sowing and growing
- Baby pumpkin - sowing and growing
- Radish - sowing and growing
- Arugola - sowing and growing
- Chard - sowing and growing
- Romano pole bean - sowing and growing
- Bacon bean - sowing and growing
- Spinach
- Bush bean - sowing and growing
- Stem lettuce - sowing and growing
- Sugar snap - sowing and growing
- Lamb's lettuce - sowing and growing
- Winter pea - sowing and growing
- Winter purslane - sowing and growing
- Winter lettuce - sowing and growing
- Carrot - sowing and growing
- Purple carrot - sowing and growing
- Sunflower - sowing and growing