Beetroot after 12 weeks

So here are the Alto F1 Beetroots after 12 weeks. I picked another few of the plants, and even though above the soil they looked promising, there was very little below the soil.

I've today planted a new variety of beetroot, being Cylindra Beetroot.  Like the Alto F1 variety, the Cylindra should produce long cylindrical roots, but hopefully the roots will turn out to be bigger than the F1.  I'll be keeping track of the progress.

First harvest of Beetroot

I took a look at the Alto F1 Hybrid beetroot this morning, and while some of the roots don't look up to much, some of them were showing quite a lot above the soil, as in the picture below.

Alto F1 Hybrid beetroot at 10 weeks

It's been 10 weeks since I planted the beetroot, and I've read guides saying they shall be ready for harvest after 72 days, so I thought I'd uproot a few of the largest to see how far down under ground the roots went.  Especially as some of the leaves are looking a little worse for wear - here's a photo of the beetroot plants from above.

Alto F1 Beetroot as seen from above

You can see a lot of marks on the leaves, and some going very brown.  I thought, therefore, that it was well worth picking a few to see how they are doing.

This is the result...

Harvested Alto F1 Beetroot after 10 weeks

You can see from the picture exactly how much of the beetroot was sticking out of the ground, and how much was below.  In truth, I'm a little disappointed as I was imagining great big roots burying down, and the result isn't great.  They are about two inches long.  I'm not sure how long the beetroot should be, but I was hoping for a bit more.  I'll leave the remaining beetroots in the ground for a lot longer, as these were the biggest of the plants.  I'll next harvest in two or three weeks and hope that the roots are a lot longer.

Now I just need to decide how to cook the beetroot.  I was hoping to pickle it, but there doesn't seem sufficient to allow that.

F1 Alto Hybrid beetroot update

You can see from the picture attached that the alto f1 hybrid beetroot is still growing strongly. I've invested in pickling jars now, ready for when they are dug up, but I think that will be a few weeks yet - I'd like them to grow to a decent size.

9 week old alto f1 hybrid beetroot plants

You can see that all plants now have some root, although some more than others.  I'm now searching for recipes for the beetroot, and have found some that sound pretty good, including several which would combine my horseradish and the beetroot.

Remember to click on the "Alto F1 Hybrid beetroot" link on the right of this page to see week by week how the beetroot has grown from seed to the date of harvest.

Starting to see some beetroot

Into week 8 for the first crop of beetroot, and I have finally spotted some root at the base of the leaves. In the photo below, you can just about see some fattening up of the stem at the bottom of the stalk.  I was worried last week that after nearly two months nothing seemed to be happening, but now it looks that we might have some beetroot to eat after all.

Beetroot after 8 weeks

Here's a close up of the root actually forming. Unfortunately the photo shows I need to do a bit of weeding around the plants.

Close up of the root starting to form.

 As I've mentioned before, this variety Alto F1 Hybrid, is supposed to be sort of sausage shaped, which makes it good for slicing into sandwiches and pickling apparently.  I can only hope then that this root goes down quite a way into the ground.  I'm not sure when to harvest this beetroot, but I'll leave it a few more weeks I think to allow it to fatten some more.

The leaves are still showing worrying dark patches on them, but I'm not overly worried as the plants seem to be growing well still. Supposedly the leaves are edible, but I don't fancy it myself.

Uh-oh, what's happening to the leaves?

Last week the seedlings were doing really well, but during this week, the leaves seem to have developed dark patches.  I need to do some googling to find out what browny red patches on beetroot leaves means, but the plants look healthy enough, so I'm not too bothered just yet.

7 week old alto f1 hybrid beetroot seedlings with worrying patches on the leaves

I did scrape a little soil away from one plant to see if any root was starting, but there was nothing obvious.  Must be more patient!

Beetroot Alto F1 Hybrid

The Alto F1 Hybrid beetroot went in around 6 weeks ago, and is seemingly growing nicely.  This variety, should give long tubular type roots.  I'm also growing the Boltardy beetroot which should be more like traditional beetroot in being small and round.

6 week old Alto F1 Hybrid beetroot seedlings

I had a go at thinning some of these plants this week, and was expecting some small roots, but they had absolutely nothing there at all, just a small spindly white root, which was disappointing.  Hopefully they will fatten up soon, or else i have discovered the only variety of beetroot that gives no fat roots.