University of Illinois Extension
Illinois Vegetable Garden Guide
Beets
The beet is a fairly hardy plant and can be planted early. For a continuous supply of young, tender beets make several successive sowings at 3-week intervals. Both roots and tops can be used for food.
The beet "seed" is actually a fruit which will produce more than one plant. To grow satisfactory beets, thin the plants to 3 inches apart. Thinning sometimes can be delayed until the plant tops are large enough to use as greens.
For good quality, harvest beets when they are 1½ inches or less in diameter. Beets will keep for several months if packed in moist sand and placed in a basement or garage. Do not allow them to freeze. Before storing, trim off all but ¼ inch of the tops.
| Crop | Amount for 100 ft of row |
Variety recommended for use in Illinois | Days to harvest | Resistant to |
| Beets (seed) | 1 ounce | Detroit Dark Red | 58 | Boron deficiency |
| Early Wonder | 52 | |||
| Lutz Green Leaf | 70 | |||
| Ruby Queen | 60 | |||
| Sweetheart | 58 |
| Vegetable | Hardiness | Recommended planting period for central Illinois (b) | Time to grow from seed to field (c) | |
| For overall Use |
For storage |
|||
| weeks | ||||
| Beet | 10 | 2-4 | 12-18 | ½-1 |
| Vegetable | Spacing in row | |||
| Seed to sow per foot | Distance between plants when thinned or transplanted | Distance between rows | Planting depth | |
| inches | inches | inches | ||
| Beet | 10 | 2-4 | 12-18 | ½-1 |