Harvesting beets correctly

How to guess the collection time

Beets should be harvested before the onset of autumn frosts. You should not rush and harvest the beets too early - if you do this at the end of summer, you can get vegetables that did not have time to ripen, in which all the useful substances will not be formed.

Also, you do not need to harvest table beets very late, because with the arrival of frost, you will dig out root crops that are unsuitable for consumption and storage from the site. Even choosing and caring for the best varieties of vegetables can come to naught if the canteen beets are harvested at the wrong time.

How can you know for sure if the time has come to harvest your favorite roots? For this, there are some exact signs that can help both beginners and experienced summer residents. So, if the vegetables have grown to the diameter that is considered characteristic of a given variety of table beet, specific growths are visually visible on the surface of the root crop, the lower tops have become yellow and dry, and forecasts of weather forecasters indicate the imminent onset of the first frosts - you can be sure that the time of harvest the harvest has arrived.

Also, risk factors for this vegetable are prolonged rains, since after them the roots are able not only to crack in the soil, but also to start to rot. Thus, if autumn turned out to be rainy, then it is also not worth delaying the beet harvest. Every year and depending on the region, the harvest time of this vegetable crop may vary slightly. In some areas, they will fall at the beginning of September, and in others at the end of October. On average, dry and clear weather can also serve as a guide for harvesting before the temperature is stable at around +5, but until the period when the soil begins to freeze.

Everyone knows that there are three types of beets - table, sugar and fodder. In any case, removed from the site in time and placed in a safe place, it will be perfectly stored for a long time and retain not only its rich vitamin composition, but also excellent taste characteristics. Harvesting dates for table beets, sugar beets and fodder beets practically coincide. The only caveat when harvesting beetroot is that, depending on the variety, the timing can shift - for example, root crops with an early ripening period reach full maturity already 50 days after planting. But among gardeners, varieties with a late ripening period have gained great popularity, since they are able to boast of a high degree of keeping quality.

Productivity of different types

Provided that beets are grown on an industrial scale, the weight of vegetables and the amount of root crops per hectare will greatly depend on the timing of harvesting from the site. That is why in those farms where this vegetable crop has been successfully planted and grown for many years, special attention is paid to the question of when to start harvesting.

Many gardeners are also worried about the yield of different types of beets per hectare.After all, not everyone grows it both for their own needs and for fodder for livestock, and for sale in order to get a certain profit. So, what is the average yield of different types of your favorite root crop from 1 hectare of usable area?

As the experience of many summer residents shows, the yield of table beet from 1 hectare can be approximately 40 to 50 tons. This is relevant if the sowing rate of planting material, that is, seeds, will be about 16 - 20 kg per 1 ha. Many experienced gardeners who successfully grow highly productive modern varieties of this root crop, using the drip irrigation method, manage to obtain higher beet yields - up to 90 tons per hectare.

As you know, sugar beet, which has also been cultivated by gardeners in almost all regions of our country for many years, cannot boast such a high yield as its predecessor. According to experts, the average yield of this type of vegetable can be up to 18 tons per hectare. If we take data from individual regions of Russia, then, for example, in the Belgorod region and the Krasnodar Territory, it is possible to collect about 30 tons of sugar beet from 1 hectare of usable area. Unfortunately, our country is not yet the undisputed leader in this matter, since in some European countries, as well as the United States, the yield of the same type of vegetables can reach about 60 tons per hectare.

If we talk about the yield of fodder beets, which worries all those summer residents who have decided to start cattle for their own needs or for sale, then its indicators are somewhat different from the two previous types of root crops. The yield of fodder beets can range from 30 to 60 tons per hectare of land. Moreover, in the case when it is possible to collect about 60 tons of this vegetable, at the same time the livestock owner receives a pleasant bonus in the form of 30 quintals of tops. The highest result of the harvest of fodder beet, which has been harvested in our country at the moment, is about 172 tons per hectare. Competent planting of root crops, as well as compliance with all generally accepted standards of agricultural technology, the use of high-quality fertilizing and special biological products can help increase the yield of beets from 1 hectare in our country, which gives hope to many gardeners.

Video "How to properly clean and store"

How to collect correctly

In order to properly harvest the beets, you will need special gardening tools, as well as a knife with a sharpened blade and a container where you will put the roots. They will need to be carefully dug, using a shovel or a pitchfork for these purposes, and then removed from the ground together with the tops. Then, when the beets are in your hands, they must be cleaned by removing the soil from the surface of the vegetable. After that, the roots should be placed in a dry place so that they can dry well.

When you remove all the beets from the garden, and they dry out normally (this will take about a couple of hours), you will need to cut the tops with a knife. This procedure is carried out carefully, leaving small shoots, the length of which should not be more than 2 cm.

You should not postpone cutting the tops for a long time, since it has the property of sucking nutrients out of vegetables. After the tops are trimmed, the vegetables should be dried well again. Experts do not recommend storing the resulting crop quickly; first, it must be kept at a temperature of about 10 - 12 degrees for a couple of days. This is necessary so that the resulting wounds can heal and dry on the roots.

Since beet harvesting is a common activity for all gardeners, it is most often successful. The main thing during the harvest of your favorite root crop is to try to avoid mechanical careless damage to the surface of the vegetables and to correctly trim the tops.The terms and methods of preserving a given vegetable crop directly depend on how long the tops will be cut. If your plans include keeping it safe and sound until the beginning of spring, then the cuttings should be left about 2 cm long.

In the case when they want to save the beets until a new crop is obtained next season, the tops are cut right along with part of the vegetable head. This is done to prevent your favorite vegetable from sprouting. But in this case, it is also necessary to remember that it will take more time for the minor damage received during the cutting process to heal. Also, during storage of beets, in this case, it will be necessary to periodically observe it in order to prevent root crop rot.

Video "Mineral nutrition of sugar beet"

How to carry out the correct and healthy nutrition of the sugar beet crop, you will learn from the video.