Beetroot is a vegetable crop that people started growing two millennia ago. It has a unique ability to quickly acclimatize in both warm and cold climates. Beets are unpretentious, easy to care for. Breeders have bred many varieties of this vegetable, differing in ripening time, appearance, taste, yield and other characteristics. Read about the best varieties of beets in the article.
A bit of history
Sugar beet, as one of the plant species, was known to ancient people. This is evidenced by archaeological excavations: scientists find traces of fossilized seeds of culture. The existence of this root crop was first learned in the countries of the Mediterranean and Asia. For a long time, during the period of the birth of beets as a crop, people used only the leaves, and the root was used for medicinal purposes. Later, when the vegetable was brought by merchants to Europe, its benefits were highly appreciated here as well.
Over time, people learned that beets can be given to animals. So, German breeders in the 16th century bred fodder beet varieties. But before the appearance of canteens and sugar was still far away. It is known that even Napoleon made efforts to develop sugar beets, as he dreamed of destroying the British trade in this product. But the production of sugar extraction from this vegetable remained an expensive process for a long time. In our country, a sweet delicacy was an exorbitantly expensive pleasure, only people of the upper classes could afford to eat it.
Types of beets
Today, all the beets that people grow are conditionally divided into four large groups. Each of them has its own varieties and hybrids.
- Beetroot is exactly the kind of vegetable that is grown in households to meet the needs of the family. In this article, its varieties will be discussed. Root crops of this species come in different sizes and colors. They are distinguished by their sweet-tasting, juicy flesh, which lacks veins and villi.
- Fodder beet - farmers grow it, as it goes to feed livestock. Vegetables are large, rich in fiber, round, conical, oval in shape; by color - from yellow to burgundy.
- Sugar beet - field growers grow it on vast areas. Root crops are needed in large volumes for the production of sugar and other products. This root vegetable is easy to distinguish: it is white in color and has an elongated conical shape.
- Leaf beets - this variety is rich in nutrients. Differs in large tops which can be eaten. It tastes like spinach. The stems are white, pink, orange, yellow, burgundy.
Early varieties of beets: description
All table vegetables of this type are divided into three groups according to the ripening time: early, medium, late. In some varieties of beets, according to gardeners, not only root crops are suitable for consumption, but also tops, especially young ones. It is used to make cabbage soup and salads. This is one of the first vitamins in the spring from your garden. Beets of early varieties grow and ripen quickly. It is consumed fresh without any heat treatment. Harvest can be harvested in 2, 5-3 months. But these vegetables have a significant drawback: they are not stored much, they are not left for the winter. However, the advantage of early beets is also great: it ripens when there are no other vegetables yet. A description of some varieties is given below in the article.
Red balloon
This beetroot ripens quickly, it takes from 35 to 100 days for this process. The vegetable got its name due to its round, like a ball, shape. Its weight reaches 500 g. Inside and outside, the beets are colored red. Juicy pulp has a delicate, sweet taste. This cultivar lacks color and is resistant to frost and heat.
Egyptian flat
This variety of beets is characterized by high yield and lack of flowering. The fruits are oval in shape with a flattened center and uniformred-purple color. The tender and juicy pulp has a pink tint. The weight of the root crop reaches 300 g, sometimes the vegetable grows up to 1.5 kg. The ripening period lasts from 80 to 100 days. Fruits retain their taste and appearance during storage.
Libero
This beet variety ripens on the 80th day after germination. The red fruits are round in shape, smooth skinned, excellent in flavor and uniform in size. Their surface is smooth. The average weight of one root crop is 220 g. The dense pulp does not have ringing or it is extremely weakly expressed. This root crop prefers moist soil.
Beet mid-season varieties
These vegetables are well suited for winter sowing. Painlessly endure a dry summer in the absence of water. Root crops of these varieties are stored longer without losing their presentation. Below are the characteristics of beet varieties with medium ripening dates.
Bordeaux
This variety is the most common in Russia. It has been cultivated in our country for more than a century. The advantage of beets is the ability to grow and bear fruit on any type of soil. The vegetable has a good taste due to the high concentration of sugar and has dark red flesh. This variety is considered one of the most useful. If beets are sown in the summer, their shelf life is five months. This is a good indicator for this variety. Vegetables are suitable for processing of any kind. Harvesting is easy, as the roots are half submerged in the ground. If sowing is carried out before the onset of winter, then in the spring the vegetables will tolerate wellreturn frosts.
Detroit
The maturity of this beet variety is a little less than three months (115 days). The bushes are of medium height. The shape of the roots is round, their surface is smooth, the color is bright red. The mass is small - 200 g. This beetroot is juicy and very tasty. It bears fruit regularly and steadily. Unpretentious in cultivation, unstable to the formation of arrows, bears fruit well and is preserved.
Beets of late varieties
These root crops are resistant to autumn and spring frosts, heat and temperature extremes. They are characterized by a long shelf life. If you place beets of late varieties in a cool pantry or cellar, they will lie without changing their taste and presentation until the next year's harvest. But these vegetables have a drawback: they ripen for a long time. However, when considered, on the other hand, this can turn out to be beneficial, since late varieties of beets make up the vitamin base in winter and especially in early spring, when other vegetables have not yet grown. Experts recommend growing late beets in warm climates.
Renova
The ripening time of this beet variety comes late, 110 days after the first shoots. Root crops are cylindrical in shape and pink in color. Their surface is smooth and even. The juicy pulp has an elastic texture and no rings. The yield is high from year to year, the shelf life is long - six months.
Citadel
This variety has some haulm. The vegetative period lasts up to 130 days. The root crop has a cylindrical shape, its length is 26 cm, and its weight is from 180 to 360 g. The pulp is red, there are no rings in it. This beet is grown in beds in the garden and in greenhouses. Root crops love light and moist soil.
Best varieties for open ground
These are flowering-resistant vegetables that are rarely affected by cercosporosis, tolerate heat and drought well. Watering and fertilizing with various fertilizers, both organic and mineral, are only welcome for these root crops. Vegetables should be stored without any waste. An example of favorite varieties for growing in their beds are: Borschovaya, Opolskaya, Odnorostkovaya, Bordeaux and others. But the best beet variety for open ground is Cylinder, as many gardeners believe. However, each grower chooses a particular variety depending on his preference.
Single Growth
This is a late variety, it does not need thinning. Four months after the shoots appear, full maturity occurs. Root crops have a flat-round shape, their weight reaches 240-580 g. Beets that taste good have juicy maroon flesh. This variety has a shelf life of up to five months. For growing vegetables, only cassette seedlings are used. This is due to the fact that the seed has a single sprout. Beetroot has an average resistance to overgrowth, but high resistance to variety diseases. With proper care of root crops, you can harvest a ton of vegetables from one hectare.
Cylinder
These roots ripen late. They have an unusual shape for their type of culture: spindle-shaped, cylindrical. The length of such beets varies from 25 to 32 cm. An odorless vegetable with a pleasant taste and bright pulp in the color of potassium permanganate. This variety is best suited for winter storage, which lasts seven to nine months. The root crop retains taste, useful properties and presentation. Many vegetable growers consider Cylinder to be the best beet variety. According to reviews, this is a culture resistant to heat and return frosts in the spring. With a high content of nutrition in the soil, it can give its owner a high yield: from a plot area of 10 m22 120 kg of beets are harvested.
Borscht
This beet belongs to mid-season varieties: it takes three to three and a half months from germination to harvest. Root crops are of the same size, their skin is thin, juicy flesh is dark crimson. Vegetables of this variety grow and ripen even under conditions that are considered unfavorable. If they are periodically fed, then here you can collect up to nine kilograms of vegetables per square meter of land. When sowing beets in the summer arrows are not formed. If this procedure is carried out before the onset of cold weather, in November, it will overwinter well. Stored for a long time, until spring.
The sweetest varieties of beets
Depending on the use, vegetable growers grow different varieties of root crops, but everyone wants to have sweet beets in their garden. Here are some varieties:
- Bravo - This beet is considered one of the sweetest. Root crops are quite large, reaching a diameter of 18 cm, their weight is from 300 to 700 g. Vegetables have a high yield: seven kilograms can be harvested from a plot of one square meter. Root crops are not afraid of bad weather, they are easy to care for. Vegetables perfectly retain their taste and commercial qualities during long-term storage. They are grown in regions with different climates.
- Mulatto - this variety is also one of the sweetest vegetables of this type. Seeds have high germination, and root crops have a pleasant taste, a leveled surface, approximately the same diameter (10-12 cm), and a rounded shape. There is no banding in the pulp. The mass of one beet is from 200 to 350 g. This variety has a high yield: six kilograms of fruit per square meter.
