How to sow and grow Chioggia beets
Chioggia beets have beautiful red and white stripes. They taste a little sweeter than red beets and are delicious raw in salads.
Add young beet leaves to salads and the older ones to stir-fry dishes.
Add young beet leaves to salads and the older ones to stir-fry dishes.
What are Chioggia beets?
This tuberous root is best known as beet or beetroot. This Chioggia variety is related to the sugar beet. It contains fewer calories and less sugar but somehow tastes even sweeter.
Most beets grow round and red, but you have other varieties too. Flat or egg-shaped, white, or yellow. These ones are red and white striped on the inside: and they're beautiful. The leaves are green with a pinkish streak.
Chioggia beets are an old variety named for the Italian town they originate from.
Most beets grow round and red, but you have other varieties too. Flat or egg-shaped, white, or yellow. These ones are red and white striped on the inside: and they're beautiful. The leaves are green with a pinkish streak.
Chioggia beets are an old variety named for the Italian town they originate from.
Chioggia beet
Chioggia beetroot has beautiful red and white stripes. It is slightly sweeter than red beetroot, so it is also delicious raw in salads.
Use the young leaves in salads and stir-fry the older leaves.
Use the young leaves in salads and stir-fry the older leaves.
- Variety: Chioggia
- Family: root vegetables
- Plants per square: 9
- Height: 25 to 40 cm
- Sowing time: mid-April to late August
- Sowing depth: 1 to 1.5 cm
- Germination: 5 to 7 days at 12 to 18°C
- Time to harvest: from 9 to 10 weeks
- Sunlight: the more sun, the sweeter the beetroot
- Packet contents: about 170 seeds, enough for 5 to 7 squares
How do you sow and grow Chioggia beetroot?
This Chioggia beetroot is included in the free Makkelijke Moestuin app. It guides you from seed to harvest.
Every vegetable goes through several stages, which we call levels. The app tells you exactly what to do at each level and regularly asks you to check whether your plants are ready for the next one.
So you do not need to know how to grow Chioggia beetroot successfully before you start. But if you would like to read ahead, visit the Chioggia beet in the shop for a detailed description.
Every vegetable goes through several stages, which we call levels. The app tells you exactly what to do at each level and regularly asks you to check whether your plants are ready for the next one.
So you do not need to know how to grow Chioggia beetroot successfully before you start. But if you would like to read ahead, visit the Chioggia beet in the shop for a detailed description.
What do you need to grow your own Chioggia beets?
Besides the seeds, you need:
- a 30 by 30 cm square
- Makkelijke Moestuin Mix or MM coconut mix
- a spot with at least 6 to 8 hours of sunlight a day
How do you sow and grow Chioggia beets?
This Chioggia beetroot is included in the free Makkelijke Moestuin app. Use it and you will get guidance from seed to harvest.
Every vegetable goes through several stages, which we call levels.
The app tells you exactly what to do at each level and regularly asks you to check whether your plants are ready for the next one.
So you do not need to know how to grow Chioggia beetroot successfully before you start.
But if you would like to read ahead, here is what the whole process looks like.
Level 1: Sowing Chioggia beets
Level 1: Sow Chioggia beetroot
Loosen the mix in a square in the middle of your raised bed, then sow as follows:
make 9 holes in the square, no deeper than 1 cm
put 2 to 3 seeds in each hole
carefully close the holes
Depending on the weather and the time of year, you will see the first green shoots after about 10 days.
Level 2: Chioggia beet seedlings
Level 2: Chioggia beetroot seedlings
As soon as you see the first seedlings, you know things are going well. They probably won't all come up at once, but give it another week.
Then it's time for the next level.
Then it's time for the next level.
Level 3: Thinning out beets
Level 3: Thin out your beetroot seedlings
Several seedlings come up in each hole you sowed? Choose the best and remove the rest: that's called thinning out. It might sound harsh, but it's necessary. The remaining plants need enough room to grow.
Here's how: take a pair of scissors, leave the biggest and prettiest seedling per hole, and cut off the others at the soil line. 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.
Here's how: take a pair of scissors, leave the biggest and prettiest seedling per hole, and cut off the others at the soil line. 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 Chioggia beet plants
Level 4: Care for your Chioggia beetroot plants
After a week or 2, your seedlings will become small plants.
You hardly need to do anything for the next 5 weeks: if the weather's dry, give them some water and remove the odd dead or yellow leaf. Easy 🙂
You hardly need to do anything for the next 5 weeks: if the weather's dry, give them some water and remove the odd dead or yellow leaf. Easy 🙂
Level 5: Harvesting beet leaves
Level 5: Harvest beet leaves
Chioggia beet plants produce a lot of fresh green leaves, more than red beets. They grow taller too.
About 4 weeks after sowing, you can harvest the leaves for salads.
Harvest - at most - a third of the leaves from each plant: it 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.
About 4 weeks after sowing, you can harvest the leaves for salads.
Harvest - at most - a third of the leaves from each plant: it 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 Chioggia beets
Level 6: Harvest Chioggia beetroot
About 8 to 9 weeks after sowing - at the earliest - you see your first beets. They often stick out a little above the soil mix.
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.
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 Chioggia beets for?
Most people only eat the beet itself. You can boil it, stew it, or roast it in the oven.
Raw beets are super healthy. You can grate them through a salad or enjoy them in a smoothie.
Since these beets have such a beautiful striped center, it's nice to slice them in a salad or use them as an edible garnish. If you boil the beets, they become paler in color and the stripes are less visible.
The young leaves are delicious raw in salads. Older beet leaves are good in stews, stir-fry dishes, or pasta.
The possibilities are almost endless:
Raw beets are super healthy. You can grate them through a salad or enjoy them in a smoothie.
Since these beets have such a beautiful striped center, it's nice to slice them in a salad or use them as an edible garnish. If you boil the beets, they become paler in color and the stripes are less visible.
The young leaves are delicious raw in salads. Older beet leaves are good in stews, stir-fry dishes, or pasta.
The possibilities are almost endless:
Vitamins and minerals in Chioggia beets
Beets are super healthy. They're packed with vitamins: especially vitamin C and folic acid. They also contain a lot of minerals like manganese, iron, copper, potassium, and magnesium. The red coloring is great for healthy blood vessels and can help to lower blood pressure.
Bonus healthy snack? The leaves. They're full of carotene and minerals.
Bonus healthy snack? The leaves. They're full of carotene and minerals.
The last levels
The next levels
During the next level, keep harvesting the beetroot until it is all gone.
Chioggia beetroot copes well with cold, so you can leave it in place for a long time in autumn. A little frost even makes it sweeter.
In the final level, empty the square or your MM-Mini and prepare it for the next vegetable.
So: are you ready to grow Chioggia beets yourself?
Good idea 😉 They are super tasty and easy to grow. All you need is some patience.
Plus: with our app and materials, it's almost impossible to fail.
Order your Chioggia seeds here or get started with a complete starter kit:
Plus: with our app and materials, it's almost impossible to fail.
Order your Chioggia seeds here or get started with a complete starter kit:
Good luck!
