Beets

[Rick589]

Beets are supposedly easy to grow but I never seem to be able to get a good crop and I’m not sure what’s going on. I have sandy soil, augment with homemade compost and fertilizer, have adjusted the pH to insure it’s above 6 and still never seem to produce a good crop. Any thoughts from anyone?

 

[Debbie292d]

Beets are supposedly easy to grow but I never seem to be able to get a good crop and I’m not sure what’s going on. I have sandy soil, augment with homemade compost and fertilizer, have adjusted the pH to insure it’s above 6 and still never seem to produce a good crop. Any thoughts from anyone?

We're in Wisconsin and never have any issues growing massive amounts of beets other than with voles that like to dig down and chew a little chunk out of them.

Maybe it's the particular brand or type of beet seeds you're buying? I couldn't even tell you which brand we get as it's whatever Walmart or TSC has on sale when we're in there. We just plant ours in the ground when the threat of frost is gone.

 

[Rick589]

We're in Wisconsin and never have any issues growing massive amounts of beets other than with voles that like to dig down and chew a little chunk out of them.

Maybe it's the particular brand or type of beet seeds you're buying? I couldn't even tell you which brand we get as it's whatever Walmart or TSC has on sale when we're in there. We just plant ours in the ground when the threat of frost is gone.

Thank You for the reply. I’ve actually considered the seed itself and will be going to a different variety this season. I’ve always bought, what I thought would be higher quality, seed on line. In fact, I once received a double order of beet seed free which gave me some 1500+ seeds, these are what I’ve been using the last couple of years. You may be right with the variety, I guess this season will tell me something.

 

[rosemarythyme]

x2 on checking your seed. I don't do anything different with the garden dirt in the beet area vs other areas, so if your soil has been good enough for most vegetables it should be fine for beets. Last year was my only poor beet harvest and the seeds were all getting old. Even when they sprouted many of them struggled.

 

[Rick589]

Has anyone grown limas? I cannot get the things to fruit, they grow but nearly never produce any beans,

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Has anyone grown limas? I cannot get the things to fruit, they grow but nearly never produce any beans,

What is in your home fertilizer mix you said you used above for your beets and do you use that for your beans as well? Beans do not like excess nitrogen because they produce their own nitrogen and add it back into the soil. Too much nitrogen will cause the bean to flower and then the flowers fall off instead of fruiting. Also I saw in your profile that you are in Maryland. I used to live in southern Maryland and when the heat hit the beans had to be watered with about 1” of water per week. They do not do well in hot conditions and dry soil.

 

[Rick589]

What is in your home fertilizer mix you said you used above for your beets and do you use that for your beans as well? Beans do not like excess nitrogen because they produce their own nitrogen and add it back into the soil. Too much nitrogen will cause the bean to flower and then the flowers fall off instead of fruiting. Also I saw in your profile that you are in Maryland. I used to live in southern Maryland and when the heat hit the beans had to be watered with about 1” of water per week. They do not do well in hot conditions and dry soil.

I actually do not fertilize my beans and I do water regularly using the ol’ finger in the soil method to determine need. The thing that makes this more irritating is that my string beans and my peas do well every single year. But these limas, in the exact same soil and with the exact same treatment, will root and grow but will not fruit. This has happened several seasons in a row with the planting location being different each season as it is with my other beans and my peas.