How to thin out beets and transplant them after + video

Beginner gardeners will find it useful to learn how to thin out beets to get a good harvest of large and tasty root crops. You can grow this vegetable in both seedless and seedling ways. Therefore, the strong seedlings remaining after the breakthrough should not be thrown away - they can be used as seedlings. Beets are often planted after the first thinning, but if necessary, grown seedlings with 4-5 leaves can also be used.

Features of sowing and growing beets

Beet seeds germinate at a temperature of +4 °C, but one should not rush into planting, as seedlings and grown plants do not tolerate frost well.The vegetable shows the highest germination at +10 ° C. The seeding rate is 17-20 g per 10 m². Planting depth - 2.5-3 cm. With deep planting, germination decreases and plant growth slows down due to lack of oxygen in the soil.

Beet seeds are infructescences or concretions of fruits, connected by 3-5 pieces into dense balls. Each infructescence can give 2-4 full-fledged shoots, which leads to thickening of seedlings. If you do not remove the extra shoots in time, then the root crops will grow small, deformed and tasteless. The seedlings remaining after thinning can be planted in free places.

If you want to get a crop of large root crops, then you need to thin out the plantings at least twice. Moreover, the thinned distances should be 3-4 cm during the first procedure and 8-10 cm during the second breakthrough.

How to thin out beets?

An important agricultural practice for all root crops, especially beets, is thinning. You need to know how to properly break through plants. The size of the harvest will depend on the timeliness and quality of the procedure. To create an optimal feeding area for each plant, it is necessary to carry out 2-3, and sometimes 4 thinning of seedlings.

As soon as the first permanent leaf appears, you can start thinning out the plantings. Sometimes the first breakthrough has to be carried out at the stage of cotyledon leaves. Do not question the need for the procedure; friendly germination is, of course, good, but in thickened plantings the plants will oppress each other. Growing full-fledged root crops in such conditions will not work.

Thinning is desirable to carry out on a cloudy day or in the evening. The soil should be moist, so the day before the procedure, the plants are watered abundantly. Before thinning, the aisles are loosened. The strongest plant is left in each nest, and the rest are removed.

In order not to damage the desired seedlings, do not uproot the plants, it is better to pinch the sprout near the ground. For convenience, you can use tweezers or scissors. If strong seedlings remain after the breakthrough, then you should not throw them away. Beets can be transplanted into prepared furrows or in those places where they did not sprout.

Second treatment

Under favorable conditions, the plants grow well, as a rule, 2-3 weeks after the first breakthrough, the beet manages to grow 5-6 leaves, and the root crop reaches 3-4 cm in diameter. You can proceed to the second thinning procedure. Remove the largest plants that have reached beam ripeness, as well as poorly developed specimens. The distance between the remaining plants should be at least 6-8 cm.

The third thinning is carried out when the root crops reach 4-5 cm in diameter and can already be used for food.At this time, the final density of standing is formed. So that the root crop does not outgrow, the interval between plants after a breakthrough should be no more than 10-15 cm. The vegetable grower always has a choice - either to grow by seed or plant seedlings so that they do not have to thin out later.

Following breakthroughs are multiple selective harvests.

Replanting beets while thinning

After the first thinning, there are many strong plants that can be used as seedlings. It has been observed that planted beets take root well and form larger root crops than those planted with seeds in a permanent place.

If there are no additional beds for planting plants, you can find a place for seedlings between cucumbers, sweet peppers, dill, and other vegetables (except beans). You can also root seedlings of the root vegetable on the sides of the beds with strawberries. These plants get along well with each other.

It is advisable to transplant beets during thinning in rainy cloudy weather, which will ensure better survival. The vegetable reacts very sensitively even to minor damage to the root, so you need to remove it from the ground with a narrow garden spatula. Then carefully place in the prepared hole, avoiding bends and creases, otherwise the root crop will grow deformed.

If the root is too long, it is better to shorten it by one third. Before planting, you can dip the roots of seedlings in a mixture of mullein and clay for good survival. In grown seedlings, all foliage is removed, leaving one central sprout. After transplanting, it is advisable to shade the plants by sticking small branches of a maple or other tree with large foliage next to them.

Many experienced vegetable growers do not recognize the sowing of beets immediately in a permanent place, but plant them only in seedlings. The advantage of this method is that there is no need for thinning and large root crops are obtained.

How to plant beets without thinning?

To get a productive and sweet root crop, thinning beets in the open field is carried out 2 or even 3 times per season. If it is not possible to engage in a breakthrough of plants, you can immediately plant seedlings at a distance of 7-10 cm from each other. Beets have large seeds, so it's not that hard to do.

Many gardeners lay out beet seeds in advance on paper tapes covered with a paste. During planting, the tapes are embedded in furrows to a depth of no more than 2-3 cm and lightly sprinkled with earth. The disadvantage of this method is that some of the seeds may die, and seedlings will be uneven. Therefore, in reserve it is necessary to have a small plot of plants for seedlings, so that there is something to replace the dead seedlings.

Advice from an experienced gardener

Beets are demanding on soil fertility and do not tolerate shading. There are a number of conditions that will affect the quality of the crop, so it will be useful to listen to the simple recommendations of experienced gardeners:

1. If you want to get a good harvest of large root crops, then you need to grow only zoned varieties of domestic selection on your site.
2. Before sowing, you need to process the beet seeds in a weak solution of manganese or ash (2 tablespoons per 1 liter of water). Then wrap in a damp cloth and put in a warm place until the sprouts sprout.
3. Too large root crops are poorly stored, accumulate more nitrates, often have poor taste. To get medium-sized maturing beets, it is necessary to reduce the distance between rows to 18-20 cm, and in rows to 8-10 cm.
4. Experienced gardeners do not want to waste time fighting thickened shoots of beets, it is much easier to grow high-quality root crops from seedlings.
5. Beets do not develop well in acidic soils, so it will be useful to pour it with ash water twice a season (1 cup of ash per bucket of water). You can dust the aisles with dry ash (followed by loosening the soil).
6. Wood ash is also a good pest deterrent.
7. To increase the sugar content, the beets are watered twice a season with lightly s alted water (1 tablespoon of s alt without top per 1 liter of water). The first watering is carried out during the period of tying the root crop, the second - a month before harvesting.

Growing an unpretentious and tasty root crop is within the power of even a novice summer resident. By putting into practice the useful advice of experienced gardeners, you can get a significant increase in yield.

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