[Dartford_Digger]

I've only grown beetroot once before without much success. I read the following this morning and I'm a bit stumped.

Beetroot seeds normally germinate within 12 to 24 days and will need thinning out twice, once at each cluster to remove all but the strongest, this is done as soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle.

Does this mean I have to take the germinating seed out of the ground and take off anything that looks small and weak then put it back in the ground?

Thanks in advance for your help

[DD.]

No, you gently pull up the weakest, leaving the strongest in the ground.

Personally, I've never thinned mine. I don't let them get much above golf ball size and up to that size, they'll gently push each other aside as they grow.

[compostqueen]

No.  It gets composted

You don't have to sow three at each station. This is only done because the sower is hedging his bets and thinks he will get one good plant out of three.  These days though beetroot seed is excellent and I always get a near perfect germination rate but I only sow one seed per station and sow wide enough apart so they don't need thinning

Alternatively you can sow single seeds in modules and then plant out at the correct spacings

You'll be fine. Don't worry  

[sunshineband]

You could just carefully pull out any small looking plants from the group; you donlt need to dig them up

Personally I leave them all in, having sown two seeds about eight inches apart. The developing roots push each other aparts slightly as they grow, and make decent size clumps of beetroot.

If are growing them to show, this wouldn't be good as they are not always perfectly round, but it works just fine for roots to eat and saved a lot of faff imho  

[compostqueen]

I just wish all seeds grew so readily as beetroot 

I got new packets of Boltardy and Golden Beet yesterday ready for the off. I've got Pablo and Detroit, oh and Chioggia too 

[m1ckz]

i allways sow my beetroot in a seed tray .then transplant when big enough,,,works well for me

[Mrs Bee]

I start off with an early sowing with 2 seeds in a small paper pot ie gargae until the germinate and then get them in early so I get some small early beets.

Then I sow succesionally straight into the soil throughout the year.
As others have said they push each other apart and you can pick out the smallest for some lovely baby beets.
The beetroots sort of stick up with part of the beet poking out of the ground.
You definately don't need to dig them up to thin.

Don't worry too much about them; I have found that they are the easiest veg to grow.

[GrannieAnnie]

I know they say not to sow beetroot seeds in a tray first as they don't like transplanting, but I always do a few that way first to get them off to an early start, as Brian loves his beetroot.

When they are transplanted, they always droop and look dead for a few days, but then they perk up.

Afterwards, I then sow straight into the ground, leaving gaps between seeds, and like DD I don't bother to thin out.  If any seeds don't germinate. I can always drop another seed in that gap and get smaller beets later on.

snap Mrs B!!   

[Salmo]

What nobody has explained is that each beet seed is a cluster of seeds with probably 3 or 4 seeds in it. If all of them germinate you will get 3 or 4 seedlings coming up from each one.

I plant a seed every two inches along the row and then thin out to single plants.

With the exception of Bolthardy most beet varieties will bolt (run to seed) if they are planted too early. Wait until April when the soil is warm.

[Sue33]

I didn't realise they were clusters of seeds 

[sunshineband]

I didn't realise they were clusters of seeds 

Some of the newer F1 varieties are single seeds

[DD.]

Not necessarily.

You can get monogerm varieties.

Beetroot, Solo

[DD.]

Sunny agrees with me! 

[sunshineband]

Not necessarily.

You can get monogerm varieties.

Beetroot, Solo

Is that not necessarily F1?  Or not necessarily polycarp?

I am easily confused today 

[DD.]

Not necessarily a cluster of 3 or 4!