The Best Way to Harvest Beetroots

Beetroots are very sensitive plants. Harvesting carefully of this beautifully-colored root vegetable won’t "hurt" them, else they would bleed easily. Now, you wonder how you will able to harvest this kind of vegetable if you can’t harvest them just like other root crops.



First thing that you must do is to determine when the right time to pick the beetroot is. You also need to consider that they might be too young or it is too early to harvest them if they were grown in the soil. It is very difficult to decide when the right time is, isn’t it?



Doing a trial harvest is one of the best ways to do this. You have to try to pull one bulb, after 9 to 10 weeks from sowing the seeds. Check the size of the beetroot. Remember that you can only harvest them if the size of the beetroot is like a golf ball.



Make sure that you will not damage the root when you are harvesting. Loosen the soil around the root when using a fork. Grasp firmly the stalks near the crown of the root and gently pull it out of the soil while scratching the dirt away with a trowel.



Heads up! Don’t wait too long to harvest. If the roots are already too large, you will have difficulties in harvesting them. The older they get the tougher and fibrous they become. The globe varieties of beetroot usually take around 10 weeks before they can be picked. While the cylindrical cultivars take longer because it reaches around 4 months.



For the beet greens, they are best picked when they are approximately 4 to 6 inches in height. Don’t forget to leave just a few inches of shoots from the top of the root to avoid bleeding.



To be able to have a good sized beetroot refrain from excessive removal of the greens. You can acquire the best taste if they are harvested in late spring and in late fall.