With warmer weather on its way, March is a great time to start planting shrubs and potting plants as well as growing fruits and vegetable...
With warmer weather on its way, March is a great time to start planting shrubs and potting plants as well as growing fruits and vegetables. There are lots of things that can be grown in spring like spinach, kale, carrots and beetroot.
Plants need warmth and plenty of sunlight to grow and produce edible, delicious fruits and vegetables.
With warmer weather just around the corner, expert Carol Klein has shared how to grow beetroot from the comfort of your garden.
Beetroots have multiple health benefits as well as being a super versatile vegetable.
They can be added to soups, strews and salads and can be grown from March onwards.
READ MORE: When to plant runner beans
“You can do that without a greenhouse, you can do it with your kitchen windowsill, anything at all.
“You don’t need any professional equipment whatsoever, but you know the old ways are the best.
“Beetroot seed is lovely and it’s especially lovely for kids because it’s big and they can get hold of it.”
The vegetable likes its own space so one top tip is to not overcrowd them.
To sow your beetroot, begin making a 0.75-inch deep hole with the corner of a rake and place two seeds, four inches apart from each other.
Cover these seeds with soil and then water them very well.
Beetroot seeds need watering regularly to make sure they stay well hydrated although be sure not to water them too much.
When the seedlings reach around 0.75 inches high, remove the weakest seedling of each pair to leave one beetroot seedling at every four inches.
If you want a large supply of beetroot, you should try to sow seeds every month, keeping the rows at least eight inches apart.
The Royal Horticultural Society explained that it is also possible to have beetroot almost all year round.
Different beetroot varieties should be picked at different times.
However, generally you can tell when they are ready to harvest by looking at them.
This is typically 90 days after doing them once the roots are around the side of a tennis ball.
To harvest them, they should be gently lifted under the root with a hand fork.
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