RR Beets Flopped

[roymunson]

Planted 1/3 acre of RR beets at the end of May. Tilled, prepped, fertilized, and put urea down, broadcast, then cultipacked, and I think I had 4 plants come up.

The beets were a year old, but were stored in a dry, zip lock bag in my office at work until I planted them.
Not sure what I did wrong, but it's looking like a brassica fall plot.

Kinda bummed, was excited to see a bunch of footballs growing under the ground.

 

[bowhunternw]

I think that they require to be planted fairly deep. It would be my guess as to the poor germination.

 

[willy]

I don't think rr beet seed stores well. I have tried them the past two years and it was very spotty last year. I tripled the seed amount and ended up with even less this year. I did everything else like you did.

My dad planted from the same batch in his garden and his was the same experience. I'm not wasting my time with them anymore. I have to much rr resistant weeds to f with when I plant beets as it requires different herbicides than what my corn and soybeans need to stay on top of marestail and waterhemp.

I'm glad I hedged my bet on the beets this year and planted soybeans in the same plot. I would have killed the beans off it the beets had come on strong but that wasn't the case.

 

[Bill]

I have to much rr resistant weeds to f with when I plant beets

Me too. But they now have liberty link beets. I’m finding them even more elusive to find than RR beets though.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

The early plot I planted was looking halfway decent but It got weedy before I sprayed. I finally got around to spraying it last week so i'll go inspect it once I get a good burn down. The other plot I planted not long ago and I haven't noticed much going on there for weeds or beets. I had good luck with growing them 2 years ago and would just say to be patient. They grow SLOW.

 

[roymunson]

Not a huge deal, just wondered what I did wrong. I sprayed it a week after or so and there's no weed competition.

Maybe I shoulda run the drag over it when I was done, rather than the cultipacker

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I drug one plot and lightly tilled the other plot. Time will tell. There is always other plantings that can be surface broadcast into the weed free beet plots later in the year to fill in the bare spots. Hopefully your beets will pop and with an alternate planting later in the year you will have a "full" plot.

 

[mx1alex]

Not really familiar with beets but if they were treated then that might be the culprit. There's a reason seed dealers don't let you return treated soybeans.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Not really familiar with beets but if they were treated then that might be the culprit. There's a reason seed dealers don't let you return treated soybeans.

What issues could there be/are there with holding over treated seeds?

 

[mx1alex]

What issues could there be/are there with holding over treated seeds?

Many of the treatments can actually hurt the germ which is why a lot of seed doesn't get treated until right before it gets planted. If there's any micro-fractures in the seed coat then the chemical can get into the seed over time and kill the germ.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I checked on the plot I planted first after work yesterday. I hit the weeds with a high rate of gly and they are crispy. (with the exception of the big strip I missed, It is green and lush with lambs quarter and pig weed) I'm going again after work to hit that strip with gly before it gets out of hand. I didn't take any pics but I am going to have a full plot of beets. There will most likely be a few bare spots but that is perfectly OK. I will be able to go in this fall and add some diversity to the plot.

Beets are a heavy N user and I have applied zero N to this (or any other plot) in the past few years. Diverse covers and smart rotation is the key to soil building and eliminating inputs.

I'll update with pictures in a month after the beets are seeing good growth. They grow REALLY slow and a picture yesterday wouldn't have shown much.

 

[SWIFFY]

Roymunson, I had the identical experience as you! I planted 1/3 acre of RR beets about 4 weeks ago. They were from last year stored inside. I heard the seed coating will ruin the seed and that appears to be true! My plot as of 6/26... I found 1 beet lol

 

[roymunson]

Any updates on RR sugar beets this year? I put about an acre and a half in, kept it sprayed, and while I have some beets, I figured they'd be thicker and taller than they are. Rain was good, but I had to search for them and the tops are only about 3" tall or so

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I wasn't able to get mine in this year. I think 3" of growth is about normal depending on when they were planted. Keep them fertilized and sprayed. You will have football sized roots come November. Utilize the empty space with a September cereal and medium red clover combo for added food and spring soil coverage.

 

[BobinCt]

Roy-They grow very slow in the beginning. They hate weed competition so stay on top of that. Add Urea right before a rain. Don’t give up on em.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

July 28 of last year.


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[S.T.Fanatic]

August 6th


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[S.T.Fanatic]

September 7 after overseeing whitetail institute brassica (don’t recall what variety)

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[S.T.Fanatic]

You have plenty of time!!


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[roymunson]

ok, I look like i'm on pace for that. Just used to thicker growth from other plants.

I'll probably overseen come august/september