Beets are cool-season workhorses: roots, greens and a succession schedule all in one plant. Brilliant is a blend of red, golden and striped Chioggia types, so one row gives a mixed bunch and the goldens do not bleed on the plate. The greens are edible at any stage and the roots reach full size in 50 to 70 days.
Sow every two weeks from about a month before last frost until midsummer, then again in late summer for a fall crop. Each beet seed is a dried fruit cluster holding two or three seeds, so thin to one seedling per cluster at 3 to 4 inches; the thinnings are the first salad. Beets want loose, stone-free soil near neutral and steady water, since a dry spell followed by rain makes tough, cracked roots. Pull them at golf-ball to tennis-ball size; bigger gets woody.
Fall-harvested beets are sweeter than spring ones, because cold turns stored starch to sugar, and they keep for months in a cool cellar with the tops twisted off. Leaf miners tunnel the greens in early summer; a row cover at sowing keeps the flies off. Deer and rabbits graze the tops, so beets are not for an unfenced bed.
Damping Off
Seedlings collapse at the soil line with thin, water-soaked stems; seeds may fail to emerge or rot before sprouting.
Sow in well-draining mix, avoid overwatering, and ensure good airflow. Remove affected seedlings and let the surface dry between waterings.
Downy mildew
Yellowing on top of leaves with grey-purple fuzz underneath. Spreads rapidly in humid conditions.
Remove affected leaves. Improve air circulation. Avoid overhead watering. Copper spray as preventive.
Cercospora Leaf Spot
Small round spots with tan or gray centers and reddish-purple borders on leaves. Spots merge in severe cases, causing leaves to brown and die back.
Remove infected leaves and avoid overhead watering. Space plants for airflow and rotate crops. Apply a copper-based fungicide if the infection spreads.