[Griffo]

For the last 3 or 4 years my beetroot seedling leaves turn deep red and stop growing (after producing 1 or 2 sets of true leaves). I used to grow great beetroot but now they just won't do.

I have already had to give up growing PSB, parsnips, carrots and leeks because they have perished in the last 2 hard winters (parsnips survived but couldn't get them out of frozen ground). am I going to have to write-off beetroot as well?

Ideas please before I give-up altogether?

[sarajane]

How do you sow your beetroot.  I had this problem a couple of years ago and I still don't know why so I always sow half of them now in small cells in the greenhouse (or windowsill) and then transplant when they have some decent leaves.  I have also this year sown in the ground but after making a 2 inch deep furrow, put some compost in the bottom of the furrow, sow the seed and then cover again with more compost and keep watering well.  They seem to have all germinated and on their way to 8 leaves at the moment. Also sparrows seem to love picking the tops of very young beetroot so I have some old mesh over the top of them this year.  Sparrows are going for the young spinach now instead.

I think with the leeks freezing you maybe need to grow a hardier type.  Musselborough or zero seem to be some of the best for surviving bitter winters.

As for parsnips freezing in the ground, I sent the OH to dig some up before Christmas last year as hard frost was forecast and stored in the garage in a large tub of compost as I can't have Christmas without my parsnips.

Dont be disheartened at growing these veg either.  We all sometimes have problems, for no apparent reason that we can find and this winter just maybe not as harsh as the last  -  fingerscrossed.

[Griffo]

Thanks for the response. I did try sowing in modules this year (a la Monty Don on Gardeners World) and they looked OK for the first couple of weeks but now back to normal.

Try as I might I cannot stop forked/misshapen roots on carrots and parsnips (and I operate a 4 year rotation as well!), I think my ground is too heavy despite years of compost/manuring etc. I also have plagues of underground little black slugs which wreak havoc on the carrots (gave up growing spuds for this reason).

After losing over 90% of my winter/spring crops due to the last 2 hard winters, I am not bothering this year - too much effort for nowt!

[Debz]

Why don't you try growing your beetroot in pots.  My sister's ground is too heavy so that is what she did and got some lovely beets.  As for the overwintering veg thing, I was lucky that I lifted all my leeks just before the really bad weather set in and stuck them all in the freezer in bags (or at least my Dad did, bless him). so that might be an option too.

[Griffo]

I could try pots I guess. The strange thing is, I used to be able to grow fine beetroot, I just can't work out what has changed in my soil.

[noshed]

The manure and compost might be contributing to the forking of your roots. I am a slack gardener and I can grow leeks (Musselbrough) and various varieties of beetroot. What about putting your seeds into a trough of multipurpose compost and see how they go then - they do need a fair bit of water, which is a problem for me at the moment.

[Griffo]

As mentioned, I practice a 4 year rotation, so no manure or compost in the 'root bed' for the previous 3 years. I think the main problem is heavy soil (Herefordshire clay).

I can/will have to try growing beetroot in containers but I would really like to discover why they won't grow where previously they did?

[mumofstig]

has your weather changed in the last few years? I'm wondering if wind is burning your beetroot seedlings. Also the last few springs have been dry in some areas.

It sounds as if you have pretty harsh weather to contend with where you are, as although I lost some of my winter crops it wasn't enough to stop me growing them. As sarajane says perhaps different varieties will help.

Have you tried later sowings of beet? they might be more successful

[Griffo]

I have always grown Musselburgh leeks - they still get frozen solid.

Apart from the last 2 winters being record-breaking cold, I don't believe anything else has changed here.

[aelf]

I also gave up growing carrots in the ground as they were always forked, mainly because my sandy soil is also very stony and full of carrot fly. My solution was to build wooden planters about 2 foot deep and stand them on breeze blocks so that the top of the box is about chest height. I have filled the boxes with loose, spent compost from previous year's seed sowings and planted carrots in this. Results have been excellent so far and we ate carrots right through the winter last year.

Advantages:
easy to work on and weed as no bending
few carrot fly make it up that high so no carrot fly damage
successional sowing meant crops all year

A bit of effort to set it up but worth it long term, I think 

[Aidy]

A couple of off my head ideas...
1/ Have you tried station growing the beets, dibb a fairly biggish hole (diameter wise) say 3 inches deep, fill it with fresh compost and sow, do this every 5 inch or so and see what happens.
2/Parsnips in frozen ground. this year as the winter came early I popped some old weed membrane over some of my snips, this allowed the ground underneath to still be diggable, it dont matter if you cover the plant, they are pretty much dormant anyway, come Christmas morning and I could me snips no problem

[Aunt Sally]

I usually give my baby beetroot plants a little spinkle of salt - they do like it.

[Griffo]

Thanks for the thoughts. I like white pepper on beetroot when eating them but salt when they're growing - that I haven't heard before! Could that be a cure for dark red foliage and stalled development do you think?

[Aunt Sally]

They are originally plants which grew near sea shores so are used to higher salt content in the soil.

I think watering more would be the best thing for poor development.