Buying products on the market, we sometimes do not immediately understand why the cooked food turns out not so delicious, as always. Even ordinary beets will affect the taste of borscht if the root crop is not chosen correctly. For cooking, beetroot varieties are used, they can boast excellent taste and utility.
Table beet - a characteristic
To choose a delicious vegetable on the market counter, one must remember about the peculiarities of table beet. Do not chase the size - a large hefty root crop with a high degree of probability will apply to fodder varieties, your goal - the average size. The taste depends strongly on the timing of the ripening of the vegetable:
- early ripening varieties have time to ripen in 50-80 days, but they can not boast of high taste qualities;
- mid-ripening takes about 100 days to ripen, most among them are high-yield;
- Late varieties will be long and well kept, they will please with their own taste.
Productivity of table beets
Dacha rarely make long and careful selection of the variety. But any farmer who grows vegetables for sale will spend a maximum of time on this issue. The early varieties of beetroot will give quick profits, but not always a big harvest. It is important to find in the list of characteristics on the package cold resistance, a long period of storage and resistance to diseases and pests - all these are indirect guarantees of a high yield.
However, even with the choice of the right sort and the introduction of fertilizers, summer residents allow several typical mistakes:
- The choice of a place for crops in the garden does not change from year to year. Crop rotation is important and necessary, because it is a direct way to a quality vegetable. If in the current year the beetroot is planted in one place, then again it should appear only after three years.
- Predecessors for each vegetable directly affect growth. For beets, the areas where radish, salad and corn had previously grown up, will not work. Root crop is a lover of fertile soil, and the enumerated culture of it is greatly depleted.
- Seeds after germination need sufficient space for growth: the stronger the planting, the smaller the fruits become, the yield decreases.
Varieties of table beet
In any region of the country, dacha owners and farm owners have to select varieties by trial and error. The problem is that the same vegetable in one region can yield impressive harvests, and at the same time completely disappoint the gardeners from other areas. It is important not only to find the lists, where the best sorts of table beets are indicated, but also to inquire about the necessary conditions for better results.
Table beet "Bordeaux"
"Bordeaux" is both a variety and a sortotype. All varieties of table beet of this type will have approximately the same characteristics. The shape of the fetus is expressed, it is oval-round. Refers to the average in terms of maturation, and this is an opportunity for culture to accumulate in the pulp more sugar. The color of the pulp completely corresponds to the name: it is dark and rich in burgundy-red hue. Practically in all conditions, the beetroot is pleased with the quality of the abundant harvest, in winter the fruits are stored without changing the taste and appearance.
Table beet "Cylinder"
An unusual form of root crop is a distinctive feature of all representatives of the Erfurda varietal type. Many varieties of vegetables, among them beetroot, gardeners, begin to grow only after a period of time after their appearance on the market. The cylinder received its name deservedly, because its elongated form distinguishes it from the rest. And not even this made this variety in demand among gardeners:
- The keeping quality of the vegetable makes it possible to save the harvest in winter practically without waste;
- The beet is delicious and the heat treatment lends itself easily, which simplifies cooking and makes a suitable vegetable for canning.
Table beet "Mulatto"
"Mulatto" will please the truckers with its unpretentiousness: they grow it with high quality and yield indicators. Like all medium-sized varieties of table beet, "Mulatto" ripens in a hundred and thirty days after disembarkation. A distinctive feature of the root crop is the smooth, clean surface of the skin. Among the advantages of summer residents will be pleased:
- The fruit weight easily reaches three hundred grams;
- in the section of a beet full of burgundy color, it is not lost even during cooking;
- feature of the root crop in the absence of characteristic rings on the transverse section.
Table beet "Pablo"
An excellent solution for industrial scale. Among the hybrid varieties of vegetables, most are improved, and the table beet "Pablo" just such improvements attracted attention. The medium-ripening variety easily tolerates low temperatures and adapts to a lack of moisture. The main list of diseases remains "safe" for Pablo, this variety is an adaptant, and even the quality of the soil for it is not of great importance. Taking the fruit in your hands, you will feel the firmness and strength of the skin. This has made the root crop suitable for long-term storage without loss of taste.
Canteen "Egyptian" beets
"Egyptian" sortotype gave its name to its varieties. Among the representatives of this group of table beets, the "Egyptian Plain" variety is known. The shape of root crop gave the name and determined the main characteristic - it is rounded and noticeably flattened, the heads are small in size. Sortotype can boast of such features and advantages:
- The beetroot is delicious, its fruits are formed much early;
- light rings on the pulp are rare, she herself is purple-red;
- bloom and arrows are not characteristic for this variety, and this speaks for the tenderness and juiciness of the pulp;
- Leaving is sufficient for a long period, but in the description it is a grade for autumn storage.
Growing of table beets
Each culture in the description indicates conditions under which yield and quality will be maximized. For beets, the most important parameter is the soil: the technology for growing the beets of the dining room is simple, but you can count on success only after a competently prepared site. The introduction of fertilizing will significantly improve the yield, but the actual composition of the soil influences the weight of vegetables per hectare.
When it comes to sod-podzolic soils, the introduction of copper fertilizers raises yields at times, in some cases, speak of a tenfold increase in the indices. If cultivation is planned on leached chernozems, molybdenum and cobalt are added. It is important that the soil is not acidic, this is the only condition that remains fundamentally important.
When to plant table beets?
Useful and loved by all vegetables allowed to sow both in spring and winter. The terms of sowing of table beet depend on the desired crop, varieties:
- the early harvest is planted in autumn in early November, it is permissible to sow seeds in early April;
- if it is a harvest, which is planned to be stored for a long time, the crop sits for a period after the tenth of May and until the second decade of May (it is impossible to hurry, because the seeds in the cold soil will not yield fruit, but form peduncles).
Table beet - special care
To grow a table beet delicious and quality, you should avoid some gross errors:
- a lack of light in the early stages of growth will adversely affect the size of the fetus and the germination of the seeds;
- too much moisture is a more dangerous phenomenon than its lack, because rotting root crops will come quickly;
- The lowering of the temperature in the initial phase of growth leads to rifling.
Crop rotation is becoming a popular agrotechnical point among summer residents with experience. Previously, it was ignored, in our time this is the basis of the basics. Where aubergines, peppers or tomatoes grew, it is an ideal place for beet planting for the next season with composting . After the beet, almost all dacha cultures grow beautifully. This vegetable loves the light, the shaded corners do not suit it.
Table beet cleaning
A frequent mistake of inexperienced cottagers is the tearing of leaves in the summer. Some use greens to prepare summer soups, others mistakenly believe that this way the vegetable will give all the forces to the root and grow faster. In fact, this significantly reduces the quality and keeping quality of the root crop. All vegetables, and beetroot are no exception, they have their own terms for harvesting.
The beginning falls on the middle of September, for some varieties this is the end of the month, as ripening continues. Once outside the established 5 ° C and dry warm weather, this is a sure sign of the arrival of the harvest period. Experienced summer residents say that instead of cutting, it is better to twist the tops. The easiest way to store the harvest in boxes is mixed with sand. Experienced farmers have their secrets:
- In too warm autumn to keep the root in the ground undesirable, so the flesh will become stiff.
- Rainy autumn is a little hurrying the summer resident with the collection, because excess moisture will negatively affect the taste of the vegetable. Moisture will shorten the shelf life, in some cases lead to decay and cracking of the fruit.
- But the dry and moderately warm autumn will allow you to slightly shift the collection time, because in the ground beet the dining room will be preserved better than in the cellar.
Diseases of table beets
Most modern varieties are resistant to many diseases, but the summer resident is obliged to know how they look for a timely reaction. Features of table beet influenced the appearance of certain diseases:
- When there is a shortage of boron in the soil, phomosis begins. This is a characteristic problem, when in the period of growth on the street there are weather with a small rain and fog. On the leaves appear brownish and yellowish spots, then black dots. Avoiding problems will help to introduce into the soil borax.
- Cerco-spores or spotting is the result of incorrect agricultural techniques. Avoiding the problem will help planting on a site where previously grown crops that are resistant to cercosporosis, carefully getting rid of weeds. In the course are stable varieties and fungicides.
- If you grow beets in the lowlands, on the soil with poor aeration, do not get away from the corn root. This infectious disease destroys young plantings: the stems turn black, gradually dying. Avoiding the problem will help liming the soil, mulching peat.