How to grow Beetroot (Boltardy)

Beta vulgaris

🥕 Vegetable 🌱 Grown each year

Beetroot Boltardy is a traditional old favourite, easy to grow and reliable, producing rich crimson globe-shaped roots with a wonderful earthy sweet flavour. This 'bolt resistant' variety has a long sowing season and can be grown in containers. Harvest roots when cricket ball size or smaller for best flavour and texture. Young leaves can also be picked for salads.

At a glance: Sow mid March to mid August, harvest from early May.

When to sow, plant and harvest

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Sow outdoors

Harvest

Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.

Growing Beetroot (Boltardy): what it needs

Light: Full sun · 6+ hours a day
Watering: Regularly
Soil: Well-draining, sandy loam · pH 6.0–7.0
Spacing: 10cm apart
In pots: Grows well in containers
Feeding: Avoid freshly manured soil. Feed with a balanced fertilizer if growth is slow.
Harvest: About 56 days from sowing
Hardiness: USDA zones 3–10
Difficulty: Easy

Step by step

Mid March – mid August · 4 weeks before the last spring frost
Sow Seeds Outdoors
Soak seeds in warm water for an hour. Sow thinly in rows 20cm apart, 2.5cm deep. Cover lightly with soil, firm gently and water carefully. Use cloches for early March sowings.
7–21 days after “Sow Seeds Outdoors” · Late March – early April
Check Germination
Seedlings should emerge in 7-21 days. Ensure soil remains consistently moist.
14 days after “Check Germination” · Early April
Thin Seedlings
Thin seedlings to 10cm apart when they are a few cm tall to allow roots to develop properly.
14 days after “Thin Seedlings” · Mid April
Harvest Baby Leaves (optional)
Pick a few small attractive baby leaves (5-8cm tall) for salads. Treat as 'cut & come again' leaves.
35–49 days after “Thin Seedlings” · Early May – late May
Harvest Beetroot Roots
Harvest roots when the size of cricket balls or smaller (baby beets) for best flavour and texture. Twist off the leaves, leaving a 2cm stalk to prevent bleeding.