key growing information

Growing Beets From Seed

How to grow beets from seed for roots and greens: soil and temperature, transplanting versus direct sowing, succession planting, preventing scab and leaf spot, harvest and storage.

By Hensley’s Seed Co. September 3, 2026

Beets - Key Growing Information

A half-dozen freshly harvested, cylindrical beet roots with their nutrient-dense tops still attached.

SCIENTIFIC NAME:

Beta vulgaris

CULTURE:

The best beets grow fast in light or loamy soil with a pH above 6.0. Cool weather usually gives the deepest color, while sharp temperature swings can cause zoning, the pale rings sometimes seen inside the roots.

DAYS TO MATURITY:

Counted from direct sowing; take off 14–21 days for transplants.

TRANSPLANTING:

In early spring, start seed indoors or in a cold frame about 5–6 weeks before you plan to set plants out, once hard frosts are becoming rare. Sow 1/2" deep, 2–3 seeds per cell in 72- or 128-cell flats, and transplant 3" apart in rows 12–18" apart. Transplanted beets tend to be less uniform than direct-sown ones, and their roots intertwine, so you have to ease each one out while holding the others in place. The advantage is an earlier harvest when bad weather keeps you from sowing in the field.

DIRECT SEEDING:

Make the first sowings once the soil reaches 45°F (7°C). Plant 1/2" deep at 15 seeds per foot in rows 12–18" apart and thin to one plant every 3". For steady supplies of greens and baby beets, sow every two weeks until about 8 weeks before hard frosts usually arrive.

AVG. DIRECT SEEDING RATE:

At 15 seeds per foot with 18" between rows: 1,000 seeds sow about 66', 5,000 about 333', and roughly 436,000 seeds per acre.

DISEASE:

Consistent watering helps prevent scab, the same problem seen on potatoes, which leaves rough, raised brown patches on mature roots. Browning or breakdown inside the root usually shows up in alkaline soil after long hot, dry spells and is a sign of boron deficiency. Rotating crops guards against Cercospora leaf spot, which matters most for bunching beets and baby-leaf greens.

HARVEST:

Pull roots once they reach the size you want.STORAGE: Fresh market: wash bunches and keep them up to 10 days at 32°F (0°C) and 95% relative humidity. Winter storage: trim off the tops, wash, and hold roots up to 6 months at 32°F (0°C) and 95% humidity.

SIZED SEEDS:

Sized seed has been graded to a uniform size, which gives more precise spacing in mechanical seeders and a more even stand. Our beet seed is sized unless the product description says otherwise.

SEEDS/LB.:

About 37,000 on average.

PACKET:

350 seeds per packet, enough for about 23'.