The Mrs tried to grow some beetroot in a trough in the cold frame. Thought they were looking good as the leaves were huge & in good condition, except when she pulled them only one was worth keeping, all the others were the size of peas or just straggly roots!
Where's she gone wrong?
Harvested to early?
Too many in the trough?
The seeds are actually groups of seeds so you get around 4/5 coming from one initially planted seed.
She maybe needs to thin them out once the leaves start appearing?
Of course I could be completely wrong with that theory but it worked for us last year. They were in a bed though not in a cold frame.
EDIT: How deep is the trough? It maybe needs to be deeper as they grow a long root under the main body.
Don't know if they were harvested too early, they went in about early May & the 'book' says, 'harvest as soon as they're big enough to handle'? Thinning them out is probably an idea as is a deeper trough. Just can't understand why the leaves looked spot on but there was no beet just root! (apart from the one)
Ahh well, better luck next time eh.
i just eat the leaves this time of year. roots in a couple of months when they are swelling up preparing their store for winter
[i]i just eat the leaves this time of year[/i]
You are either a snail, a slug, or maybe a rabbit then. 😉
try them they are nice, the smallest leaves raw or the cook the larger ones - just treat them like kale or spinach
How pretty were they though?