Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: farmersue on May 10, 2009, 21:46
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So i was just looking on the Dig In website, at beetroot, and they suggest putting a little salt around them as they like this. I've never heard that before! I wonder if i still need to do that as i live close to the seaside anyway. And they also say you can leave them in the ground for winter. Is this true? I love beetroot, and it would be great to have some to eat fresh at that time of year rather than pickled.
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I have grown beetroot several times and wouldn't think of putting salt on the ground for any reason I can think of. :tongue2:
I think it has been discussed before somewhere on this forum...but I definitely go for "No"
Beetroot grow well in very small cells (or paper-pots) and can be planted out individually - this avoids having to fiddle about thinning or weeding when they first come through. ;)
I find they usually germinate quite easily sown directly into the soil - just keep the ground watered.
Over wintering?
Maybe but I find they are inclined to taste earthy and become woody. I could be wrong here - may depend on when sown and what variety. ;)
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The old wise man from our allotment said he always puts some salt around his beetroot as he thought it made them taste sweeter.
They were originally a coastal plant (he tells me) and liked the salt.
Only sprinkle the salt around the stem but not on the leaves-was also is advise.
As for the second question,yes .
There were alot of massive (turnip sized) beetroot on our site untill a couple of months ago.
They do get a bit tough but nothing a good boiling cant sort out.
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Thanks you guys. Beetroot seems to be relatively easy to grow (for me so far anyway) so i don't think i'll start messing about with salt and stuff. I was intrigued tho.................... :wub: I might try leaving a few in the ground at the end of the season and see what happens......
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Choose the right variety, pick small and they can be sweet and tender and not a spot of salt in sight... ;)
Salt in the soil inhibits growth of many plants.....
Try a search - there's a discussion about adding salt somewhere on here. ;)
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Try a search - there's a discussion about adding salt somewhere on here. ;)
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So there is! Thank you - how interesting. I hadn't heard about that before. Not sure how i missed the earlier discussion either! :wacko:
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The old wise man from our allotment said he always puts some salt around his beetroot as he thought it made them taste sweeter.
They were originally a coastal plant (he tells me) and liked the salt.
Only sprinkle the salt around the stem but not on the leaves-was also is advise.
As for the second question,yes .
There were alot of massive (turnip sized) beetroot on our site untill a couple of months ago.
They do get a bit tough but nothing a good boiling cant sort out.
All the beet family, beetroot, chard, sugar beet, mangels, are tolerant of salt. Weeds in sugar beet used to be controlled by spraying with saturated salt solution on a hot day. The weeds withered within hours but the sugar beet loved it. Salt is added to sugar beet seedbeds, there is some sort of nutrition substitution with sodium and potash and salt is cheaper. On clay soils salt will make ithe soil loose its structure so is not advised.
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I wonder if someone mistook salt for epsom salt? The latter has magnesium which encourages plant growth but must be used sparingly. As for regular salt, no way would I add it my soil.
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My father who worked initially on farms in North Lincolnshire which is a big Sugar beet growing area and later worked in a fertilizer factory which specialised in guess what -- sugar beet fertilizers always maintained that salt (NaCL- ordinary salt) was an essential but small ingredient. Beetroot is a close relation.
R